Per Ekros

Per Ekros has been drawing since about 3 years of age. He has always been fascinated by faces, expressions and bodies. Animals are an intrinsic part of his life, and they form naturally and intuitively as the subject matter of his artworks. Per grew up being inspired by wildlife programmes and documentaries by Jaques-Yves Costeau and David Attenborough. His heart lies within the animal kingdom and our consumption of their environments, which impacts him deeply and his work is a reflection of this.

‘I want my pictures to engage and enable us all to reflect on how we treat the animals on our planet and how important they are for our survival. So, maybe we can change some of our natural behaviour and instincts for the better.’

Per Ekros has a daily ritual of sketching, primarily in charcoal and pencil. During his process he gradually begins to scale down and simplify, so the anatomy and characteristics of his subject are refined and reduced with one strong focus.

‘I don't try to paint nature motives naturally, I want some kind of abstraction in my pictures. The backgrounds are patterns and colours, not photorealistic nature. That puts more focus on the leading character in the picture. I just love oil colours, so most of my pictures naturally are oils. I think oil give a lot of experimental freedom and possibility to add new transparent layers on the old ones.
Ink and water is the big exclamation mark in my life and my newest friend. Ink combined with water is an absolutely fantastic medium to be spontaneous with. The polar bears I created for the exhibition King without Kingdom are all, with the exception of one, made with ink and water. As you can't control this process completely, it's fantastic when you lose a bit of control. It's a completely opposite working process compared to oil, and I suppose thats why simply I can't be without it.’

View the new solo exhibition of NEW ARRIVALS by Per Ekros at the Nordic Art Agency gallery on the ground floor until November 13th.

View the NEW ARRIVALS digital exhibition catalogue below.