Karin Broos

Feb 19 - Mar 27, 2011

Karin Broos is mostly known for her paintings featuring motifs from her home, her studio and the nature of Värmland. These environments return in her latest pieces but she is also turning her eyes towards the country on the other side of The Baltic Sea, Latvia.

The people and the situations in the paintings appear to be frozen. What happened before and after the captured moment? The people in the paintings are surrounded by empty and quiet settings, facing away from the observer and appearing to be alienated from each other with an almost Edward Hopper-like narrative.

The body language and the gazes hint at a tension; hidden underneath the surface are conflicts and dark moods. Nature and the environment often come across as threatening. It can be the reflections on the water that is hiding something underneath the surface, the total darkness of the tree line along the horizon or the long shadows being cast on the pier, details that enigmatically let the viewer detect a disharmony.

The paintings can also be seen as ordinary memories of everyday life, without conflicts or something threatening, just situations as they happened that are actually peaceful and calm. Broos has an ability to find motifs and situations from everyday life and her surroundings that are emotionally charged with strong metaphorical qualities.

By using photographs as an original and then repeating the motifs in series Broos is exploring the differences between photography and painting. Her photorealist way of depicting her surroundings brings to mind a tradition of Scandinavian painters like Anders Zorn, Wilhelm Hammershöj and P.S. Kröyer.

Karin Broos is trained at Konstakademie St. Joost in Breda and Koninklijke akademie voor kunst en vormgeving in ’s Hertogenbosch, Holland. Broos had a national breakthrough with her exhibition at The Kristinehamn Art Musem in the Fall of 2008 and the first exhibition with the artist at the gallery in February 2009.

Other Exhibitions:
Karin Broos