Artist Spotlight - Jorgen Folkersen — Contemporary Art Curator Magazine

Biography

The early years

I first of all painted because I could not stop doing it, However for many years my professional carrier as medical doctor and scientist limited the time I could spend on this. Since I still had an active professional life as a medical doctor and researcher, I chose to have an artist name (volkvard) in addition to my civil name: Jorgen Folkersen. Volkvard is an earlier version of my surname that was used in my family about 150 years ago.

Girl blowing flower seeds, 2019, Acrylic on canvas, 120x120cm

The first decades

I have now lived approximately 2/3rds of my life (statistically speaking). For 30 years, I painted semi-professionally until 5 years ago when I decided to become a full-time artist. Specific events in my life formed my relation to visual arts. In my first 20 years, I had a moderate production which I exhibited and sold to private company-based art clubs in the Copenhagen area.

Boy in the blue room, 1996, Acrylic on canvas, 120x90cm

After having done some surveys, I learned that specific paintings that were adored and loved by some, were often deemed disgusting or awful by others. There were also specific paintings which were deemed boring by some and very interesting by others. The general picture was clear: Art is not a democratic process.
“The value of an art work is created in the viewer’s mind only”

Standing woman, 2021, Acrylic on canvas, 120x90cm

I also examined what was the rationale for this difference. The big surprise and learning for me was: For most of my paintings, people were inspired to very different emotions. It was obvious that the observers were more often inspired by their own life and psychological experiences as compared to the intentions I had when I made the paintings.

Can-can, 1995, Acrylic on canvas, 120x90cm

The later years

For me it was very liberating to learn that any experience of art is strictly personal and cannot be democratised into common aesthetics or rules. Since I could only vaguely guess what exactly my viewers experienced, I had to give myself full freedom to paint what I personally felt passionate about – sometimes not knowing the origin of my own passions.

Contemplation, 2021, Acrylic on canvas, 120x90cm

I used to say that it came from the “universe”. Therefore, my conclusion is that the value of a painting is defined primarily by the single viewer and less by the artist or by the curators. This does, however, not render the curators useless. On the contrary, they have the formidable task to mediate all the different expressions to an extremely diverse group of art lovers.

Attractive man, 2020, Acrylic on canvas, 120x90cm

Artist Statement

The aim of my artwork

The aim of my artwork is to inspire the individual person to dig into their own emotional world. The human emotions are rich in variety and the very same painting can inspire a diversity of very different emotions, or perhaps no emotions at all. Therefore, the value of an artwork is primarily created in the mind of the viewer.

Woman with child, 2024, Acrylic on canvas, 90x77cm

I hope as an artist to be the catalyser of diverse personal experiences. In my view any intellectual interpretation of an artwork is less interesting, as it does not create a lot of value for the individual person. Bringing to the surface the emotions of the individual and accepting the rich diversity among us is the purpose of my art.

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