Morten Schelde: In the woods 

Morten Schelde, Crazy Horses, 2007, pencil on paper, 160x120cm

Morten Schelde: In the woods

Morten Schelde’s first solo exhibition in the UK is taking place across two venues in the North East; at Vane gallery in Newcastle upon Tyne and at the Sandford Goudie Gallery at the Customs House in South Shields.

Collaborative dialogue between the two venues has allowed the opportunity to bring together a significant selection of Schelde’s recent work. Already widely known in his native Denmark, with his work in the collection of many of the country’s museums, the Danish Arts Council has kindly provided the opportunity for both Vane and Sandford Goudie Gallery to produce an exhibition catalogue to mark Schelde’s UK debut.

Morten Schelde was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1972, where he currently lives and works. His work depicts the intersection of physical and imaginary spaces. His drawings, paintings and photographic works sample images from different media, collecting and combining them in the construction of new narratives and blurring reality and fiction in the process. Through this recycling and re-invention of images he explores the gap between romance and melancholy, belief and scepticism, mirroring and obstructing. However, this is not a nostalgia trip or ‘boy’s own’ adventure. Within his ‘inner landscapes’ Schelde creates a new universe, where the unfamiliar penetrates, populated by shadowy scenes, figures, and objects.

Using computer technology, his processes of drawing are expanded via this technology, where he often fuses photographic imagery with drawn lines, layering one form over the other to conceal or reveal thus creating compositions that have an intense multi-layered aesthetic. This exhibition consists of large-scale photographic prints that come together to form a mystical journey of travelling through the woods into spaces that both exist in reality but also within one’s mind’s eye. These luminous prints are heavily drawn, with imagery depicting real and fictional scenes that often contain hidden elements that describe at times a dark or playful humour. Other works in the exhibition are ‘pure’ pencil drawings made on paper but yet again, the narrative of the real against the unreal encircle the sheets on which they are revealed.

Morten Schelde has shown widely across Europe and the USA and is currently undertaking a commission to produce a permanent installation of site-specific work for the Crown Prince of Denmark at Amalienborg Royal Palace, Copenhagen.