Nils Erik Gjerdevik 1962-2016
04.10.2016
Nils Erik Gjerdevik
(1962 Oslo – 2016 Frederiksberg)
En af dansk samtidskunsts mest fremtrædende billedkunstnere Nils Erik Gjerdevik er pludselig afgået ved døden.
Nils Erik blev født i Oslo i Norge, men flyttede som barn med familien til Danmark, hvor han siden har boet og arbejdet fra atelieret i de funkisinspirerede omgivelser i Valby. Arkitektur, design og kunst har spillet en betydelig rolle i Nils Eriks liv og kunstneriske praksis. Nils Erik var yderst videbegærlig og besad en enorm interesse for sine kunstnerkollegers arbejde, som han for mange har haft en uvurderlig betydning for.
Nils Erik Gjerdeviks kunstneriske praksis blev gennem flere årtier karakteriseret ved at undersøge forholdet mellem former, farver og mønstre. Ved at arbejde ud fra en gennemgående undersøgelse af abstraktionens potentialer, blev der trukket på kunsthistoriske referencer fra konstruktivismens lineære strukturer til art nouveau og minimalismens stringente systemer. Et helt særligt og yderst personligt formsprog, som Nils Erik udtrykte gennem maleri, papirværker og keramiske skulpturer.
Nils Erik har gennem årene udstillet både nationalt og internationalt samt skabt en række udsmykninger. Herunder bør nævnes Folketinget, Videnskabernes Selskab og Hamar Kulturhus i Norge. I sommeren 2016 afsluttede Nils Erik en imponerende jernskulptur i Rønne. Et værk, der ikke kun tog udgangspunkt i samhandel og transport til og fra Bornholm, men som også er blevet en milepæl for øen og et punktum for en smuk og betydningsfuld kunstnerisk karriere.
Nils Erik efterlader sig samlever Birgitte Prins og deres 15 årige datter Agathe, samt sønnen Asger på 30 år, der studerer ved kunstakademiet i London.
Nils Erik Gjerdevik, Echo no. 8, 2016, Oil on Canvas, 190 x 190 cm
Nils Erik Gjerdevik
(1962 Oslo – 2016 Frederiksberg)
One of the most prominent Danish contemporary artists Nils Erik Gjerdevik has died very suddenly.
Nils Erik was born in Oslo, Norway, but moved as a child with his family to Denmark, where he has lived and worked ever since. His studio was is located in the Functionalist neighborhood in Valby, Denmark. Architecture, design and art have played a significant role in Nils Erik’s life and artistic practice. Nils Erik was extremely inquisitive and showed a great interest in his artist colleagues’ work, to whom he has had invaluable impact on.
Through the past decades Nils Erik Gjerdevik’s art has been characterized by an ongoing investigation of the relationship between form, color and pattern. Working from a consistent investigation of the potentials of abstract art, he drew on art historical references from the linear structures in constructivism to art nouveau and the stringent systems of minimalism. A significant and extremely personal expression that Nils Erik expressed through painting, work on paper and stoneware sculptures.
Nils Erik has exhibited both nationally and internationally. He has created several public commissions including the Danish Parliament, The Royal Academy in Copenhagen and The Cultural Institute Hamar in Norway. During the summer of 2016 Nils Erik completed an impressive iron sculpture in Rønne. A sculpture, that was not only based on the trade and transport to and from Bornholm, but also became a milestone for the island and now an ending for a beautiful and significant artistic career.
Nils Erik leaves behind his partner Birgitte Prins and their 15 year old daughter Agathe, and his 30 years old son Asger, who is currently a student at the Royal College of Art in London.
