Incubus’ Choice: Close-up on John Gormsen

What message(s) do you want to express through your work?

Each work depicts a state of mind, thus a completly different expression for each part of my life, each day, week and month… My feelings, my desires. So it is quite difficult to talk with a precise voice about my expressions and messages. My last collection Select & Precious, which can be found in the news column of my website, is a bit different, as I express myself in the “precious”. Gold in its many carats, silver and copper represent our “precious little things”, those we hide inside of us, we show scarcely and to selected persons. An episode of our life, a secret, a true love, or only something precious to us.

Which artists inspire you? Who are your masters?

I always try to not get my inspiration from other artists. I think it is a lack of inspiration to use something already worked on. My inspiration comes from everyday life, from nature mainly… An oddly-shaped branch, the ground on which we walk, the sky, even my windshield when it’s raining. Inspiration can come from a shape or a group of objects, an association. And you may find something completely different on my canvas… But the most important inspiration is in nature.

What have you gained by being on the internet?

A lot of contacts with wonderful people, exchanges of ideas or simply critics, good and bad… hahahaha
I do like when people send me messages to tell me they like my art. It’s very simple.

Did the internet enable you to meet new models, to find new exhibit places?

No models, as I do not need them anymore, neither in the past.
No places, at least not directly. Contacts took time and some others have seen my work, so indirectly, yes.
An upcoming big solo exhibition in Amboise, France, has been realized this way. A first contact on the net, and then ongoing contacts… But I have many visits on my website, proposals not yet fulfilled, maybe some will never be… Who knows… Maybe something will happen from this interview… ha ha ha

Has your work ever been censored? If so, how did you deal with it?

YES!!! I will not give any name… During a big annual contemporary art exhibition in Rouen, my Red male has been refused as “too risky”… And at the same time, I had three other nude paintings accepted for the same exhibition… My reaction… Courbet, one hundred years ago… We are in the “ridiculous”. Go see my site. You will see my nudes are not that risky… Rather very “sober”. Anyway… The jury is the only unhappy one in this affair… hahaha…

What projects mean a lot to you at the moment?

I have opened a gallery with my husband (in Denmark, two men can get married… true happiness) in Avignon this year, in a historic area. We did a lot and we still work hard to make knowing this place of art and exchange. We have many other projects, but first our gallery/workshop, nicknamed by my husband Laurent Gatelier love, as there is no creation without love, no good vibration, nor magnetic energy. Hahaha. And my health, to recover and be back in great shape. Those are the priorities of the moment.

Could you tell us a few words about the place you live/work in?

Come see us, everybody is welcome. Our gallery is located at the 51 bis, rue de Limas, 84000 Avignon.
I always have a good coffee or a white wine in a cool place. Nothing else to add about our place, but the exchange, the good mood, the conviviality…

Close-up on…