Oslo and Trondheim
In 1996 Gullvåg began commuting between studios in Oslo and Trondheim. He travelled to Madrid to seek out as many works by Goya as possible. Gullvåg considers these meetings with Goya as the most intense artistic experience he had during the 1990s. In Chair is an example of the many paintings inspired by Goya’s masterpieces.
From the mid 1990s we see an unmistakeable turn towards two areas that have for many years been neglected within Norwegian contemporary art, namely ecclesiastical art and portraits. Since 1995 Gullvåg has received commissions to create pictorial programs for churches throughout the country, and has since distinguished himself as one of Norway’s foremost creators of liturgical art. Parallel to this, he has also received acclaim for his portraits of well-known Norwegians such as Lucy Smith and Rolv Wesenlund. With his portraits of Arve Solstad (then editor of the daily newspaper Dagbladet) he made a whole exhibition entitled
12 Attempts to Portray an Editor.
Central works:
Wild Seedling I, 1998/99 (private owner)
Three Phases of Travel (collection of the artist)
Branch Bough/
Department/
To Be in Clover/
In Clover Stair Scene I, 1999
Chair Mirage (collection of the artist)
Chair Travel /
Journey in a Chair He develops his second literary series over Oscar Wilde’s novel
The Picture of Dorian Gray.