In recent years, Asmund Havsteen-Mikkelsen has become an increasingly prominent figure on the Danish art scene with his striking paintings of architectural landscapes, void of people. Now the esteemed German publishing house Kerber Verlag is casting light on the Danish artist with a comprehensive monograph aimed at the international art audience. The book is richly illustrated and contains an in-depth essay on Havsteen-Mikkelsen’s works by Michael Diers, art critic and professor at Humboldt University in Berlin.
Mentalscapes
‘MENTALSCAPES’, which is the title of the new monograph, is a term coined by Havsteen-Mikkelsen to describe his works, based on his continued examinations of architectural modernism as a contemplative space. His paintings are usually inspired by actual buildings, urban spaces or other phenomena with a similar character. And yet, his images have an alien aspect to them. Painted in a distinctive expression with compact, intense colour fields, the calm architectural structures without the presence of human figures above all appear as metaphysical spaces; pure pictorial spaces that encourage reflection and contemplation rather than suggesting human action or activity.
About Asmund Havsteen-Mikkelsen
Asmund Havsteen-Mikkelsen (b. 1977) graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen and the University of Fine Arts Hamburg. After a prolonged stay in Berlin he now lives and works in Copenhagen. His works are represented in several Danish collections of art, and over the years he has exhibited frequently both in Denmark and abroad. Havsteen-Mikkelsen has also created several distinctive decorative projects, including at the Danish upper-secondary school Nyborg Gymnasium and at Denmark’s Western High Court, both with support from the New Carlsberg Foundation.
