Ian Christensen

As a young man he trains as a window dresser, but chooses to paint and draw instead. In the '90s he works alongside, among others, the painter Tonie Plougmann. Several exhibitions follow. Ian travels and works for extended periods in both New York and Barcelona. In 1998 Ian trains as a web designer and slowly loses touch with painting. Instead, he becomes fascinated by the internet and the new, fast pace of technological development. Through the 2000s he works with video/sound, animation and graphics. Through his internet-based digital art, he explores both self-presentation and pornography. One work is exhibited physically in Helsinki in 2005. The rest has largely vanished into cyberspace.

In 2013, Ian Christensen returns to painting. Inspired by the city and its culture — tempo, movement, noise, waste, recycling and grey. Trips to the cities of New York, Barcelona and Berlin again prove pivotal, giving new content to the work. He introduces new themes, new colour combinations and materials. Ian works in an exploratory, repetitive manner. He experiments with movement — repeated, rhythmic strokes ranging from the monumental to the smallest mark. The colours are often expressive, either full of contrast or held within a muted scale. Ian Christensen works with oil, acrylic and spray paint on paper and canvas, often in large formats.