ARS FENNICA 98, Peter Frie: LANDSCAPE
ARS FENNICA 98, PETER FRIE: LANDSCAPE
October 11, 1998 – November 15, 1998
PETER FRIE
Press Release:
The ARS FENNICA art award, annually presented by the Henna and Pertti Niemistö Fine Arts Foundation, was granted in March 1998 to painter Peter Frie (born 1947). Frie, who resides in southern Sweden, was selected from among nine Nordic artists. The selection was made by Jeremy Lewison, the director of collections at the Tate Gallery in London. Lewison has also written the text for the exhibition’s accompanying publication.
The exhibition tour starting on October 11 at the Pori Art Museum is the first major retrospective of Peter Frie’s work in Finland and elsewhere. In this award exhibition, Peter Frie presents entirely new works, including landscapes painted in Finland during the summer of the same year. From the artist’s earlier work, a selected compilation of Norwegian landscapes from 1997 and landscapes painted in the Netherlands in 1995 will be displayed.
Peter Frie’s paintings are rooted in the long tradition of landscape painting, particularly in the way he portrays landscapes as emotionally charged moments. The paintings convey a strong sense of place, but they also carry symbolic meanings that a direct connection to a specific place might obscure. Frie does not replicate views but paints memories. “I do not paint landscapes as such; I project my own mental states onto them: I depict a landscape where I would like to be at the moment of the creation of the work,” says Peter Frie.
Frie often integrates the painted subject into the white surface of the canvas, leaving the ‘empty’ space as a balancing and emphasizing element for the landscape theme. “The large white areas surrounding the image give the landscape space to expand; they are like blinds behind which the landscape continues. At the same time, they focus the image, sharpen the gaze, and strengthen the viewer’s emotional experience,” describes Jeremy Lewison in his article.
After Pori, the exhibition will be shown at the Hämeenlinna Art Museum from November 21, 1998, to January 17, 1999, and at the Jyväskylä Art Museum from February 20 to April 5, 1999.
The exhibition is open Tuesday to Sunday from 11:00 to 18:00, and on Wednesdays from 11:00 to 20:00, with free entry from 18:00 to 20:00. Exhibition tours are held on Wednesdays at 18:00. For inquiries and group bookings: Pori Art Museum, Eteläranta, 28100 Pori. Tel. (02) 6211081, fax (02) 6211091, email: taidemuseo@pori.fi.
Translated with ChatGPT