ArtistNorwegian
Bjørn Carlsen
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Bjørn Øivind Carlsen was born on 4 September 1945 in Oslo and spent his formative years immersed in the Norwegian post-war art scene, drawing early inspiration from the Post-Impressionist tradition. Vincent van Gogh and Paul Cézanne shaped his initial understanding of color and form, while Norwegian predecessors - Lars Hertervig, August Cappelen, Edvard Munch, Arne Ekeland, and Knut Rose - showed him what a distinctly Nordic sensibility might look like in paint.
He received his formal training at Statens håndverks- og kunstindustriskole in Oslo from 1965 to 1967, studying under Finn Faaborg and Gert Jynge, before moving to the Painting Department at Statens kunstakademi (1967-71), where he worked under Aage Storstein and Alf-Jørgen Aas. He returned to the academy between 1974 and 1975 to study printmaking under Arne Malmedal, adding an etching and graphic dimension to his practice that would inform his compositional thinking as a painter. He later taught at Statens håndverks- og kunstindustriskole and served as a substitute professor and senior lecturer at Statens kunstakademi between 1984 and 1985.
Establishing himself around 1970, Carlsen developed a figurative language that sits at the intersection of Surrealism and Expressionism. By the late 1970s, his work resonated with the neo-expressionist current then emerging internationally, and critics have often noted an artistic kinship with the British painter Francis Bacon in his treatment of the human figure. His canvases are populated by doll-like, caricatured, and frequently morbid figures caught in scenes of anxiety, sexuality, and violence - yet tempered throughout by an absurd, almost liberating dark humor. Works such as 'Kadaveret suges' (1983) and the monumental 'Konstruksjon for tilgivelsen av Adolf Hitler' (1988, oil on canvas, 175 x 476 cm, now in Nasjonalmuseet) demonstrate the scale at which he could operate both physically and conceptually.
His museum representation is anchored at Nasjonalmuseet for kunst, arkitektur og design in Oslo, which holds seventeen published works spanning from 'Mørk gris' (1974-77) through to 'Skaperen' (1989-90), among them 'Mottagelsen' (1987) and 'Objektsamler' (1988). He was also associated with Kunstnernes Hus and Kunstnerforbundet, showing in solo and group exhibitions throughout his career.
On the Nordic secondary market, Carlsen's paintings appear most consistently at Grev Wedels Plass Auksjoner in Oslo, which has handled the majority of works attributed to him on Auctionist. His 1992 painting 'Kaos' achieved 140,000 NOK at Blomqvist, while 'Den gåtefulle' has sold for 70,000 NOK and 'Figure Composition 1990' for 54,000 NOK at Grev Wedels. The 1975 work 'Wondering About the State of Things' reached 48,000 NOK in 2024, suggesting ongoing collector interest in his career-spanning output. Carlsen died on 25 November 2024 in Oslo.