.............................................................................................................REWIEVS
Eva Furseth in Numer, Magazine
of the Norwegian Drawing Association,
no 3, 2000
Lars Staffan Evjen's (1945) charcoal drawings are surely a prime example
of delicacy, they are soft as silk and all bear the title - The Silent
Interior. The drawings are very similar; we look through a dark doorway
at a fragile wall, a motif whitewashed of detail. Slight shadows play
over the walls, and in the snow decked foreground we glimpse footprints
that guide us towards a yawning darkness beyond a door. A tense atmosphere
rests in the works; and we realise that there is nothing normal about
this doorway before us, but rather a symbol of something new and strange.
However the silent contemplation which Evjen's works induce is sadly interrupted
by a large video installation in the neighbouring room ....
Gunnar Danbolt, catalogue introduction 1999
Evjen's work is visual
poetry… his visual universe, far removed from contemporary restlessness
and distraction, harbours none of today's easy or vain solutions. Evjen's
world intimates that for those who are patient, aware and tolerant, reality
is not in fact spent.
The misty contemplation of these charcoal drawings becomes enhanced as
we consider Evjen's work in dialogue with that of Gerhard Richters, Vilhelm
Hammerhøjs, and Vermeer.
Åsmund Torkildsen, Drammens Tidende, 16 Oct. 1999
Much of Evjen's work
is reminiscent of the large, sober photographs of today. However due to
his drawing medium, he has more accurate control than a photographer over
the direction of his materials towards his almost literary vision of silence.
It is therefore we see how the strong light in the doorway and the dark
room beyond, turns silence into a form of expectation, origin, and renewal.
To portray the latter in a drawing medium is no easy task. Evjen has done
a remarkable job.
Ingun Bøhn,
Numer, no 3, 1999
It is rarely we witness such impressive skill as in Lars Staffan Evjen's
The Silent Interior. In this unique and almost surrealistic motif, an
ascetic interior furnished with one object- a huge cube with a labyrinth
décor - Evjen practises highly professional dexterity in his use
of charcoal. Within this unusually alluring drawing the eye has space
to wander, in the labyrinth, in restlessness, in rest, through unanswered
questions and secrets. In this atmosphere that incites unrest, I find
an echo of the photographic art of the 1940s and 50s.
Øystein Hauge, Bergens Tidende, 4 Sept. 1999
In the spring, Lars
Staffan Evjen established himself with a monumental presentation in Bergen
Kunsthall. The Silent Interior is something more and greater than an ordinary
charcoal drawing. By virtue of itself as both wall and furniture, Evjen's
work has a unique allure, more playful and much less serious than other
contemporary Norwegian artists.
Siri Skjold Lexau:
Exhibition in Bergen Kunsthall 1999
As on previous occasions Evjen displays an extraordinary sense of light
and shadow. A familiar interior is treated with a subtle sensitivity to
the nuances between the whitest, formless light, and the deepest shadows
... Sometimes the interiors give the impression of recent activity, but
usually they are completely still. The silence is intense. The most striking
aspect of the work is that it vibrates in its own soundlessness, which
in turn creates a throbbing serenity in the exhibition space. It is very
rare that such a mellow expression has such a strong impact on an open
space.
Siri
Skjold Lexau, Bergens Tidende, 5 March 1997
These are not drawings created from an intuitive process; they are measured
and calculated, planned, polished and double checked. Anything of coincidence
in Evjen's works is allotted the strictest control. But the simply quiet
and beautiful is rare… These drawings bear an interesting duality.
They are precise, figurative renditions of the physical reality they represent,
and simultaneously they embody a reality which cannot be portrayed. Trails
lead us into invisible realities. Shadows hide events we cannot see. They
are also unusually beautiful, created with a precision that is very unusual
today.