Fredrik Værslev

Born in Moss (Norway), in 1979, lives and works in Drøbak, (Norway).

Fredrik Værslev’s paintings are inspired by three essential aspects of life in suburban housing estates: the house itself, the garden, and the garage. After studies in Malmö and Frankfurt, Værslev began work on a series called the “Terrazzo Paintings.” Here he took an interest in a traditional tiling technique, pavimento alla Veneziana, which has been used in Italy since the 15th century as an inexpensive alternative to marble tiling. It consists of bits of marble mixed with clay, water and goats cheese, sand-blasted and assembled in layers. Værslev’s paintings imitate both the appearance of this material and gradual weathering of its surface. He begins by uniformly spraying industrial paint onto the surface, then adds various products found in his parents’ garage: anti-corrosion paint, anti-rust spray, fixatives, etc. For practical reasons, these paintings are done directly on the ground in the garden and are therefore vulnerable to the changing weather and to all kinds of accidents that add a random, ornamental aspect to what the artist does himself.

At Espace Croix-Baragnon Fredrik Værslev is producing a new installation comprising, among others, several four-handed “shelf paintings” made with various collaborators.