Kenneth Varpe explores the very nature of painting through a series of meta-paintings in his exhibition at LNM. The works continue his ongoing investigation into how painting can be both image and object; a reflection on the act of painting itself.

The starting point are small, impasto paintings made quickly and spontaneously. These are photographed to capture the surface's reflections and shadows, and then translated as larger paintings. By scaling up, the immediate becomes something more processed — a play between the spontaneous and the controlled. The paintings are abstract compositions, painted with figurative precision.

The paintings are meta-paintings in the sense that they are self-reflective and, in terms of subject matter, appear to depict nothing other than themselves. They point inward, toward their own creation. In a mix of honesty and illusion, Varpe paints brushstrokes as trompe l’oeil; shadows and textures that appear to be thickly applied, but are in reality completely flat. The actual brushstrokes are harder to distinguish, while the illusory ones come to the fore. In this way, a play arises between surface and depth, between truth and deception.

Varpe draws impulses from art history, for example the open brushwork of Impressionism and the gestural energy of Abstract Expressionism, but without referencing specific works. Instead, the colours carry traces of visual memories. A specific red hue becomes an unconscious reference to a childhood photo upon the realization that his mother is pictured wearing the same red colour.

In recent years, Varpe has, in various ways, extended the pictorial surface — the canvas — out into the gallery space. This creates new spatial compositions and invites movement around and among the works, stimulating the viewer’s reflection on their own perception and perspectives. For this exhibition, he refers to a specific corner in LNM’s space, which is rotated 8 degrees in relation to the rest. Varpe extends lines from this corner to create a new play on perspective in the space, angling the paintings out from the wall. The paintings relate to each other according to their own internal logic, based on that one corner, but are slightly askew in relation to the rest of the room.

The exhibition is an exploration of how painting can be action, material, and image all at once.

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Kenneth Varpe (b.1978, Klepp) has an MA in Fine Art from Chelsea College of Art & Design (2001), and a BA(Hons) in Fine Art Painting from Grays School of Art & Design (2000). Solo exhibitions include the display of new works at Kunsthuset Kabuso, summer 2025, "That which reveals itself" at Haugesund Art Association 2023, "Fluid Pose" at Bryne Art Association 2020, and the group exhibitions Vevringutstillingen in 2024, Høstutstillingen 2022, "Fra Balkongen" Stavanger Art Museum, 2020.In addition to his own practice as an artist, he has also been involved in other aspects of the art field, in a span between production and dissemination, as well as through board positions in, among others, Young Artists' Association and Norwegian Visual Artists' Fund. Keneth Varpe is currently living and working in Copenhagen and Klepp.

The exhibition is supported by The Relief Fund for Visual Artists Fund (BKV).

Download a presentation of the exhibition as a pdf (in Norwegian)

Read Kunstavisens review of Kenneth Varpe's exhibition EXERCISES IN RE-VISION here (in Norwegian)