AUGUST THUNBO: BENEATH THE SURFACE

August Thunbo b.1999 / Beneath the Surface

The care for the forgotten, the respect for the unseen, the exaltation of the discarded. This is where August Thunbo's energy is ignited, where his wonder begins. And it is with these feelings that he transmits the sensory onto his canvases. Crumpled garbage on the sidewalk, a forgotten umbrella on a hook, shadow play on a wall, stains on a floor. Or one of the old masters' still lifes from a book. He finds it fascinating how humans instinctively try to add meaning and logic to what we see but do not understand.

The filtering of reality changed like a revelation when Thunbo visited Barcelona in Spain and Genoa in Italy at 14. The omnipresent architecture of Gaudi, Dali, and Picasso blew away the curiosity and hunger that already existed in the young boy: the warm colours, the crooked shapes, and the deep respect for the value of aesthetics. Much later, a study stay came in Vienna, and here, the encounter was with, for example, Schiele and Hundertwasser.

Today, Thunbo describes his foundation as two pillars: his Nordic background and the refraction of light by darkness in Per Kirkeby, Michael Ancher, Marie Krøjer, and Munch, and the colour and wildness of the South.
The colours play a central role in Thunbo's universe of abstract elements, which sometimes assume a kinship with recognisable forms such as people, buildings, landscapes, plants and animals. Thunbo wants to draw attention to our fragility and changes in state. Light and darkness in eternal interaction. "I see myself as a facilitator of a dialogue or a drama, which I give nerve on the canvas. The atmosphere can be pleasant and gentle, but a shrill voice can also come in and disturb the peace. It can be in a living room or life. And it could be inside me.”