XGeo
At the end of 2000 I began to experiment with combining the two opposites of abstract painting, action painting and geometry, using the splash of paint as the extreme of abstract expressionism and perpetual patterns as the extreme of geometric art.
I see the act of splashing as an exrovert approach to painting -a happening, as the perpetual patterns are an introvert approach to painting -a non-happening.
These experiments are ongoing and still relevant in my art.
The eternal redefinition of painting.
When, in the spirit of de Kooning, American Pop painter Roy Lichtenstein painted his giant version of a broad Abstract Expressionistic work in his typical comic-strip style, he was reinterpreting post-war heroic painting with the technique of Walt Disney. Younger generations were diverted by his invention but devotees of Abstract Expressionism were not amused. They saw Lichtenstein’s act as a smear on previous generations. In the same way, JBK Ransu’s painting Nike & Adidas - not to mention his lozenge compositions paradoxically executed with a stain painting technique - can be seen as a gibe at the highly geometric art of the past decades. But at the same time one must not forget the simple fact that all artistic development is, in one way or another, a perversion of the art that precedes it. Thus was Manet accused of defiling the Venetian artists of the Renaissance with his Olympia, and even Picasso faced strong criticism when he unveiled his controversial revisitation of Las Meninas by Velázquez, his predecessor and fellow-countryman. People are slow to understand the mechanisms of artistic development. But from that standpoint JBK Ransu is perfectly lucid. He actually allows himself to examine and draw conclusions from what he sees. This means that his work is not only innovative in its own right, but that it also casts unexpected light on the art that it stems from. His work proves yet again that painting is above all a meditation in visual clothing. Seen in this perspective, his visual references are not just ironic but poignant. They give us an insight into art history, while at the same time offering us a window to the products of his own creativity.
Halldór Björn Runólfsson.
Hin stöðuga endurskilgreining málverksins
Þegar bandaríski poppmálarinn Roy Lichtenstein málaði í sínum dæmigerða myndasögustíl risastóra útgáfu af breiðri, expressjónískri abstraktsveiflu í anda de Kooning var hann að túlka hetjumálverk eftirstríðsáranna með tæknibrögðum Walt Disney. Yngri kynslóðinni þótti uppátækið skondið en unnendum expressjóníska absraktmálverksins var ekki skemmt. Þeir litu á háttarlag Lichtenstein sem grófa sneið í garð fyrri kynslóðar. Með sama hætti mætti taka Nike & Adidas-málverk JBK Ransu - að ekki sé talað um tíglaslettuverkin - fyrir háð í garð sletti- og strangflatalistar liðinna áratuga. En um leið mundum við gleyma þeirri einföldu staðreynd að öll listræn þróun er með einum eða öðrum hætti rangsnúningur á fyrri listsköpun. Þannig var Manet sakaður um að klæmast á list feneyskra endurreisnarmálara með Ólympíu sinni og meir að segja Picasso fékk það óþvegið þegar hann opinberaði sína umdeildu útgáfu af Hirðmeyjum Velázquez, forvera síns og samlanda. Menn ætla seint að skilja hvernig þróun málaralistarinnar artar sig. En í þeim efnum er JBK Ransu með allt á hreinu. Hann leyfir sér nefnilega að athuga og draga ályktanir af því sem hann sér. Þetta veldur því að verk hans eru ekki einungis nýstárleg í sjálfu sér, heldur bregða þau óvæntu ljósi á þá list sem þau eru sprottin af. Á verkum hans sannast enn og aftur að myndlistin er öðru fremur íhugun klædd í sjónrænan búning. Þannig séð eru myndrænar tilvitnanir hans ekki háðskar, heldur hittnar. Þær veita okkur innsýn í listasöguna um leið og þær opna okkur leið að afurðum hans eigin sköpunargáfu.
Halldór Björn Runólfsson.