Trude Viken: Behind the Facade
Thirty-Year-Old Woman is from the poetry collection Obra (Mariposa Azual, Lisbon 2000) by Adília Lopes, a Portuguese poet who writes about her world as she experiences it. Her poems include vivid memories, yet she does not try to make them aesthetically appealing or elevated. Such is also the case for the artist Trude Viken (b. 1969, Lødingen in Nordland, Norway), in her forceful, vulnerable portraits and figural compositions. The portraits – called Diary Notes – are direct, honest and revealing encounters with herself and her relation to the surrounding world; these are portraits most of us can recognise as being of ourselves. They appear more in the form of masks aiming to show what we hide underneath more-or-less successful facades.
Trude Viken: ARTIST’S STATEMENT 2018
I started on the “Diary Notes” in 2014. My idea was to paint a series of small self-portraits in the A4-format. My gaze was soon turned around, and what was intended as self-portraits turned into something else. The paintings became expressive experiments as part of a process to find my own, artistic expression.
Trude Viken: ARTIST’S STATEMENT 2021
Although Trude Viken is showing portraits and figural compositions in medium to large formats, she had her artistic breakthrough with the series “Diary Notes”. It started in 2014, and her idea was to paint a series of small self-portraits in the standard A4-format. Her gaze was soon turned around, and what was intended as self-portraits turned into something else. The paintings became expressive experiments as part of a process where the goal was to develop her own, artistic expression.
Trude Viken: DOUBLE PORTRAITS
OTP Copenhagen is proud to present ‘DOUBLE PORTRAITS,’ a solo exhibition of new works by the Oslo- based painter Trude Viken (b. 1969, Lødingen; NO), marking the artist’s first solo show in Denmark and debut exhibition with the gallery.
Trude Viken: Bak Fasaden
Diktet er hentet fra portugisiske Adília Lopes diktsamling Obra (Mariposa Azual, Lisboa 2000), som skriver om sin verden, slik hun kjenner den. Det inkluderer sterke minner uten forsøk på å estetisere eller opphøye – lik det kunstneren Trude Viken (f. 1969, Lødingen i Nordland, Norge) gjør i sine sterke, sårbare portretter og figurkomposisjoner. Portrettene – også kalt dagboksnotater – Diary Notes - er direkte, ærlige og avslørende møter med henne selv og forholdet til omverdenen; portretter som de fleste av oss kan kjenne oss igjen i. De fremstår mer i form av masker, som vil vise og formidle det vi skjuler bak mer eller mindre vellykkede fasader.