Oliver Bak, Crystals (2023). Oil on linen. 61 x 76 cm. Exhibition view: Caves in the Sky, CASSIUS&Co., London (9 March–25 May 2023). Courtesy CASSIUS&Co., London.
Exhibition view: Oliver Bak, Caves in the Sky, CASSIUS&Co., London (9 March–25 May 2023). Courtesy CASSIUS&Co., London.
Exhibition view: Oliver Bak, Caves in the Sky, CASSIUS&Co., London (9 March–25 May 2023). Courtesy CASSIUS&Co., London.
Oliver Bak’s solo exhibition Caves in the Sky (9 March–25 May 2023) opens in London at CASSIUS&Co.
Interest in the young Danish painter’s work has soared in the last year or so following his show at ADZ Gallery in Lisbon in 2022.
Flowers, figures, and beasts appear in shifting tones and layers of impasto that shimmer across the canvas.
Although ostensibly monochrome, such is the skill of Bak as a colourist; iridescent flecks of paint counteract with cool soft hues underneath, revealing an astonishing tonal range.
A debt to Gustav Klimt is apparent, and the weirdness of Kai Althoff comes to mind, but Bak’s paintings are immediately recognisable as his own with recurring motifs and poses throughout his oeuvre. These images envelop us with a ghostly energy that is unnerving and soothing at once.
Several drawings shown alongside Bak’s paintings reveal him to be just as gifted with pencil and pastels as he is with oil paint.
Main image: Oliver Bak, Crystals (2023). Oil on linen. 61 x 76 cm. Exhibition view: Caves in the Sky, CASSIUS&Co., London (9 March–25 May 2023). Courtesy CASSIUS&Co., London.
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