A Swedish artist’s colourful, chaotic paintings set against the background of the Grand Mosque remind Abu Dhabi art fans that it truly is a Crazy Earth.
All art tells a story, but when you spot the electrifying abstract portrait hanging in the Fairmont lobby, you’d never guess the narrative behind it.
The portrait is part of a 38-strong collection by Swedish artist Peter Skold, entitled Crazy Earth, The Art Way, which is on display from now until April 1. The canvases – ranging from just over one square metre to three metres tall – decorate the hallway facing Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in a new exhibition.
The paintings demonstrate Peter’s signature technique of dripping paint onto a canvas, rather than using a brush, to create an image. Peter developed this style – aesthetically captivating as it is – out of necessity rather than artistic preference, when a war injury rendered his right arm permanently numb.
Growing up in Sweden, Peter’s decision to join the army was somewhat foreign to most of his family and friends. Peter was posted to Bosnia during the war of 1993 where he experienced the terrors of a country in conflict – bombs, combat, injuries and death. It was during this time that he suffered an injury – an iron bar hit him in the head – which put him in a coma for four days in 1995. Once he came to, he had to relearn how to speak and read.
Though Peter was able to quickly regain his reading and writing ability, the damage took from him his previously fluent command of English. Now, he can understand English, but he can’t speak it so he conducts his interviews through the use of his personal assistant, Sven Hagnell.
‘He turned to painting to heal himself,’ says Sven. ‘The art made the recovery process quicker because he could express himself, at a time in his life when the old ways of speaking and writing no longer worked.’
The blow severed the nerves of Peter’s right shoulder, leaving him without feeling in his right arm. He’d always had an affinity for the arts, drawing and painting from an early age. But with the near total loss of most of his motor skills, he had to develop a new way of creating art, and so he began experimenting.
Eventually he embraced a technique that involved him lying the canvas, or metal, which he also likes to paint on, on the ground and dripping paint 10cm above it using a pipette that he created himself. Standing above the work and dripping around it from all sides, he creates large, gestural sketches that at first look abstract but come together to form a recognisable image.
Peter painted only dark, depressing images until 1999, when his wife brought him three new cans of paint. One green, one red and one yellow. She also told him that he was going to be a father. It was then that he reintroduced bright, joyful hues to his work.
Today, Peter’s paintings explode with a vibrant energy and employ a range of colours and subject matter. His pieces look like a mix of Jackson Pollack and Francis Bacon, wildly imaginative and lively.
The graffiti-like canvases lining the Fairmont overwhelm the eye. Looking at the sketchy, dripped on paint, the viewer hesitates at each canvas before the triumphant discovery of each image, be it a face, body or animal.
Meeting the unassuming, kind-eyed blond Swede, and seeing the fun and energetic artwork that he has created over the past three years, it’s hard to imagine that he comes from such a tormented background. But his discomfort with talking about his wartime memories is palpable as he tenses up and takes on a distant look.
Still, when Peter speaks about his projects, which include decorating exteriors for companies such as Audi automobiles, Fender guitars and Roshults furniture, he lights up. His passion for his work is clear.
All pieces are for sale starting at Dhs96,965. Crazy Earth, The Art Way will be on display from now until April 1 at Fairmont Bab Al Bahr, Al Maqta, www.fairmont.com (02 654 3333).
