3 Watercolors

 

 

The Horse and the Tiger

 

The Hare and the Tiger’s Justice

 

The Hare and the Tiger

 

Tiger fables is a common title I have given to my 42 watercolors inspired by Æsop and Jean de la Fontaine’s fables. I have selected about 200 fables which I think are interesting and suited my painting language. Many of the fables seemed to be similar when they were translated into Danish, French and English. It turned out that there were sometimes up to 6 variations of the same story. but I realised that Æsop is the original master of animal fables, which have later become an inspiration to most of the animal fables in Europe.

Through a thorough study of these selected fables, I experienced more and more how profound they were in their content, and I wanted to interpret them in my own way. And they became pictures…

During my work with the animal fables I have had many experiences in connection with the world we live in. This is partly true of the great international political problems, partly the close day-to-day situations which I have experienced in a different way seen in the light of the fables.
To get as close as possible to the original text of Jean de la Fontaine (1621-1695) I have read these in the original language. This is Old French, but I was so lucky as to have Anna Christoffersen to make a Danish translation as well as write the short texts to each picture. La Fontaine’s fables are originally written in verse and are often cryptic even surrealistic. There are ambiguities in the selection of the animals, – they can have different symbolic meanings than they do in Danish.

In the case of Æsop (about 600 BC) I have chosen the fables that are about animals. The short and precise texts of the fables contribute to opening the action in the pictures and give meaning to the different animals’ interaction and symbolic meaning in the picture.

Via these numerous drawings and pictures that I have made, I have moved further and further inside my own fabulous world. So that the lion has been replaced by the tiger

 

 

Uffe Christoffersen

5 Watercolors

 

 

TIGER FABLES

If tigers could paint…

 

An unnecessary bother

 

The sick Tiger

 

The old Tiger

 

Four Bulls and the Tiger

The Tiger in Love

 

 

 

 

 

Focus of Attention

 

I live in a village which functions for part of the year as a collection point for sheep. More than ten thousand sheep arrive at the place in great lorries. The lorries have several storeys so there can be quite a lot of sheep in them. The columns of lorries always arrive in the autumn after the sheep have been up in the mountains to graze. After arriving they are divided up into smaller flocks which go round the countryside, driven by a shepherd and 4-5 dogs, which are unbelievably good at defending their flock against attack from strange dogs, foxes and thieves. The dogs keep the flocks together, too. 

Sheep are exposed to many dangers, animals of prey are not limited to one place. They are everywhere, disguised or not so disguised. Wolves in sheep’s clothing. You can recognise them by their instincts. by their ruthlessness. Here and now. By their mode of attack. 

My own dog once ran off to chase sheep. It came home covered in blood to be met with a face expressing surprise and worry. I thought I knew the dog. But nature has its own cycle. Even though a dog can be calm and disciplined, a role model for other dogs, it has its aspects, just as other species have theirs. Its behaviour can seem unpredictable and intangible. My eyes seek out this focus when the schism between nature and culture has to stand its test.

www.uffechristoffersen.dk 

One Man Show:
Uffe Christoffersen
“THE SEVEN TIGERS”
In the period: 29th September – 13. October 2007

Galerie Birch
Bredgade 6,
DK- 1260 Copenhagen
Denmark

Tuesday-Friday:
11:00-17:00
Saturday:
11:00-15:00

www.galeriebirch.com

Catalog:

Download PDF. 744 KB

uffe-christoffersen-the-seven-tigers-2007.pdf

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