Up, 2019
Acrylic on Canvas
15"3/4 x 12" (40 cm x 30 cm)
Thomas Gransley - a Neo-expressionist Master of Spontaneous Form and Color
Born in 1967 in a small town outside Kolding, Denmark. Since he was 17 he was taken by this urge to paint “I felt a huge creative power inside of me. Being a sensitive kid I always felt the urge to express myself. I would draw but not very well, until one day I started painting and working with colors and that gave a new meaning to my life”. His work sold fast, surprising positively the artist.
Granslev attended Art School developing different techniques but most of his work was self-taught.
Life circumstances changed Granslev plans for a while. He had to work on different jobs including in the music industry for about 10 years. But life, emotions - including crises - and experiences are the driving force of his work. The rush to paint again stroke Granslev 25 years ago.
“Circumstances of life put different colors and forms into my work”. Nature also plays a huge part on his work and inspiration: “I enjoy very much to be outdoors. I appreciate the various colors found in nature, the shadows and light. Many times I use my camera to take pictures of things that might seems simple, but to me they are small pieces of magic. I try to capture this in my paintings. So I work with both detail and the bigger picture”.
Many artists have inspired him. Egon Schiele, important Austrian figurative painter known for his intensity, was the first who really touched Granslev. The work of the Danish painter, poet, sculptor and film maker Per Kirkeby, became a strong inspiration among others. The first time he saw Van Gogh in Amsterdam he felt astonished and more and more compromised with his passion for painting. But it did not stop there, after 25 years of carrier Granslev still finds new inspiration as part of his routine.
Picasso said he had to paint his whole life to learn how to paint like a child. Gransley has apparently been there already due to his expressionist spontaneity.