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CLOSED – Since 1978
CLOSED – Since 1978
CLOSED – Since 1978
CLOSED – Since 1978
CLOSED – Since 1978
CLOSED – Since 1978
CLOSED – Since 1978
CLOSED – Since 1978
CLOSED – Since 1978
CLOSED – Since 1978
CLOSED – Since 1978
CLOSED – Since 1978
CLOSED – Since 1978

When Martin Paaskesen was growing up, he would have never thought that he would become an artist. The self-taught painter discovered his passion by coincidence – and feels extremely lucky to have a job where can he keep on surprising himself. We visited him in his studio in Copenhagen and talked to him about the importance of fun, Instagram rabbit holes and cooking pasta for his sons.

CLOSED – Since 1978
CLOSED – Since 1978
CLOSED – Since 1978

The
Interview

Is it true that you wanted to become a rapper and an actor before you discovered painting? Could you describe your creative journey?

Martin Paaskesen: I grew up in the hip hop subculture of my hometown Aarhus and I’ve always been a big fan of hip hop. It’s a community, a way of life – going to concerts, wearing these clothes. It stands for values that mean a lot to me: keeping it real – whatever ‘real’ means to you. There weren’t any creative minds in my family, and it was never in the stars to work within the artistic field, but I discovered through hip hop that I have something inside of me that wants to express something. I used to write lyrics and recorded one or two songs for fun with a friend, it’s not a thing that I ever pursued. But If I’m stuck with my paintings now, I still write – it’s like my mind wants to do something else.
After school, all my friends went to university, but I thought studying was boring. I worked as a waiter, in a warehouse, had jobs here and there. When I watched the Danish thriller “Pusher” it struck me: I want to act. I moved to Copenhagen and got into the Royal Academy of Performing Arts – a very intense education that matured me in many ways. In the third year, everyone does a solo show: you get your own room to create something – and I decided to explore painting. I wrote my own play, a story of a struggling artist. To prepare for my role, I visited a Danish painter. The first painting I ever did was in his studio at night, and I felt so nude to stand in front of a clean canvas. I had been naked on stage in front of several hundred people – but standing there felt like a much bigger deal! When I went ahead and painted, it immediately got under my skin. The solo show was a couple of months later – and I had painted a lot so the room would look like a studio. After the show, several people were impressed when they found out that I had painted everything myself – and even wanted to buy some of the paintings. This came as a total surprise. I continued school, but I just wanted to paint! After school, I found a studio and started to paint full-time.

How did you find your style as a painter?

In the beginning, I was influenced by the big names, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Picasso and so on. The more I painted, the more I figured out that I need to do my own thing if I want to make it as an artist. I kept exploring and gained more and more confidence in my own style. When I started out, I just put a lot of things on the canvas. Then I narrowed it down more and more. I see my own paintings as very expressionist, at least in the way they’re made. But I also like minimalism and I’m sometimes torn between these two very opposite styles. I like to include something mysterious, like a question mark. I like it when I see paintings that confuse me a bit: what is this, what does this element mean? What did the artist think when painting this thing?

How would you describe your creative approach when you start a new painting now?

I get into an idea that I like, put it on canvas, take a step back and observe what comes out. It’s almost like a dance between the artist and the work – the canvas tells me what to do and I see things I wouldn’t have imagined before. I start with an idea and it develops from there. Recently I’ve been painting shopping carts or bones, for example. If you explain our world and society, it’s consumerism – the shopping cart. The bones represent mankind. They could be banal objects – but they represent so much, even existential subjects. When people tell me that they think my paintings are very humorous, what I hear a lot, I take it as a positive thing because if you can talk about existentialism in a humorous way, I think it’s good.

How important is it to you to have fun when you paint?

If we don’t have fun, what’s the point? When I was younger, I only worked for the weekends, which I think, unfortunately, a lot of people do. This means you only have fun on the weekends. It’s different for me now: I do what I do, I’m the only one who decides what to do and how to do it. And having fun in it is very, very important for me.

What else do you enjoy about being a painter?

The freedom. And of course, that I’m lucky enough to work with a thing that gets me these highs. It’s a fantastic thing when you do something that can tickle your stomach! I feel like I’m surprising myself when looking at my paintings. I think it has something to do with my upbringing as it never crossed my mind that I could do these things. So, I’m just amazed sometimes. And that’s a very, very, very nice thing to have in your working life!

When do you work? Are you very free in your working hours?

I have two small children, so I’m not very free in my working hours. But I still feel like I’m working freely. I spend all the hours I have painting and then I pick up the kids. To be present as a father is extremely important to me. And I don’t think it takes anything away from my creativity. I have to be more efficient when I’m working – and for me, creativity and efficiency can go hand in hand. I think it’s important to give the brain a little bit of a pause sometimes. If I have ideas when I’m not at the studio, I just remember them or write them down, so I can work on them when later. Being a painter, a creative mind is something that is always there. It’s in my weekends. It’s there when I cook pasta for my sons. It’s just always a part of what I do.

How important is Instagram for your work?

Instagram is a huge thing in the art world. You can only skip it if you’re a big name. All of the people I’ve been working with, all the galleries, everything came through Instagram. It’s also important for inspiration, for following other artists, museums, and galleries. And it’s a gift because you can show your work a lot easier to a lot of people, worldwide. But of course, there are some downsides to it, and you have to be careful not to go down one rabbit hole, only looking in one direction because than you will only be influenced by that. It can be such a bubble.

You have been living in Copenhagen for more than 10 years now. How would you describe the city?

I think Copenhagen is the greatest city in the world. I’m really, really fond of it. There are a lot of cities I like – Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, New York, Barcelona. But growing up, becoming calmer as a person, I really adore this city. First off, it’s a very beautiful city. And I like the mentality here. The vibe is very good. It’s very open-minded, and it has four seasons that feel very different – it grows, and it goes down and goes up and goes down.

What are your favourite spots in the city?

The Latin Quarter, unofficially called Pisserenden. It’s in the city centre, but it’s one of the parts of the city centre which has this small community vibe: small streets with cafés, a lot of like local life. And I used to live here and then I coincidentally found my studio here. I’m very fond of Christianshavn as well – it’s a part of the inner city which has like a village feel. There’s so many! I also like Nørrebro, Refshaleøen…

How would you describe your style when it comes to fashion?

I like to dress a little bit toned down. I’ve never been very good at this whole peacocking thing. The main thing for me when putting on clothes is that I want to feel comfortable – not necessarily physically, but I need to feel like myself. I like when my outfits have a little bit of a streetwear edge – perhaps still influenced by my youth. I usually keep it rather simple.

Is it true that you wanted to become a rapper and an actor before you discovered painting? Could you describe your creative journey?

Martin Paaskesen: I grew up in the hip hop subculture of my hometown Aarhus and I’ve always been a big fan of hip hop. It’s a community, a way of life – going to concerts, wearing these clothes. It stands for values that mean a lot to me: keeping it real – whatever ‘real’ means to you. There weren’t any creative minds in my family, and it was never in the stars to work within the artistic field, but I discovered through hip hop that I have something inside of me that wants to express something. I used to write lyrics and recorded one or two songs for fun with a friend, it’s not a thing that I ever pursued. But If I’m stuck with my paintings now, I still write – it’s like my mind wants to do something else.
After school, all my friends went to university, but I thought studying was boring. I worked as a waiter, in a warehouse, had jobs here and there. When I watched the Danish thriller “Pusher” it struck me: I want to act. I moved to Copenhagen and got into the Royal Academy of Performing Arts – a very intense education that matured me in many ways. In the third year, everyone does a solo show: you get your own room to create something – and I decided to explore painting. I wrote my own play, a story of a struggling artist. To prepare for my role, I visited a Danish painter.

The first painting I ever did was in his studio at night, and I felt so nude to stand in front of a clean canvas. I had been naked on stage in front of several hundred people – but standing there felt like a much bigger deal! When I went ahead and painted, it immediately got under my skin. The solo show was a couple of months later – and I had painted a lot so the room would look like a studio. After the show, several people were impressed when they found out that I had painted everything myself – and even wanted to buy some of the paintings. This came as a total surprise. I continued school, but I just wanted to paint! After school, I found a studio and started to paint full-time.

How did you find your style as a painter?

In the beginning, I was influenced by the big names, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Picasso and so on. The more I painted, the more I figured out that I need to do my own thing if I want to make it as an artist. I kept exploring and gained more and more confidence in my own style. When I started out, I just put a lot of things on the canvas. Then I narrowed it down more and more. I see my own paintings as very expressionist, at least in the way they’re made. But I also like minimalism and I’m sometimes torn between these two very opposite styles. I like to include something mysterious, like a question mark. I like it when I see paintings that confuse me a bit: what is this, what does this element mean? What did the artist think when painting this thing?

How would you describe your creative approach when you start a new painting now?

I get into an idea that I like, put it on canvas, take a step back and observe what comes out. It’s almost like a dance between the artist and the work – the canvas tells me what to do and I see things I wouldn’t have imagined before. I start with an idea and it develops from there. Recently I’ve been painting shopping carts or bones, for example. If you explain our world and society, it’s consumerism – the shopping cart. The bones represent mankind. They could be banal objects – but they represent so much, even existential subjects. When people tell me that they think my paintings are very humorous, what I hear a lot, I take it as a positive thing because if you can talk about existentialism in a humorous way, I think it’s good.

How important is it to you to have fun when you paint?

If we don’t have fun, what’s the point? When I was younger, I only worked for the weekends, which I think, unfortunately, a lot of people do. This means you only have fun on the weekends. It’s different for me now: I do what I do, I’m the only one who decides what to do and how to do it. And having fun in it is very, very important for me.

What else do you enjoy about being a painter?

The freedom. And of course, that I’m lucky enough to work with a thing that gets me these highs. It’s a fantastic thing when you do something that can tickle your stomach! I feel like I’m surprising myself when looking at my paintings. I think it has something to do with my upbringing as it never crossed my mind that I could do these things. So, I’m just amazed sometimes. And that’s a very, very, very nice thing to have in your working life!

When do you work? Are you very free in your working hours?

I have two small children, so I’m not very free in my working hours. But I still feel like I’m working freely. I spend all the hours I have painting and then I pick up the kids. To be present as a father is extremely important to me. And I don’t think it takes anything away from my creativity. I have to be more efficient when I’m working – and for me, creativity and efficiency can go hand in hand. I think it’s important to give the brain a little bit of a pause sometimes. If I have ideas when I’m not at the studio, I just remember them or write them down, so I can work on them when later. Being a painter, a creative mind is something that is always there. It’s in my weekends. It’s there when I cook pasta for my sons. It’s just always a part of what I do.

How important is Instagram for your work?

Instagram is a huge thing in the art world. You can only skip it if you’re a big name. All of the people I’ve been working with, all the galleries, everything came through Instagram. It’s also important for inspiration, for following other artists, museums, and galleries. And it’s a gift because you can show your work a lot easier to a lot of people, worldwide. But of course, there are some downsides to it, and you have to be careful not to go down one rabbit hole, only looking in one direction because than you will only be influenced by that. It can be such a bubble.

You have been living in Copenhagen for more than 10 years now. How would you describe the city?

I think Copenhagen is the greatest city in the world. I’m really, really fond of it. There are a lot of cities I like – Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, New York, Barcelona. But growing up, becoming calmer as a person, I really adore this city. First off, it’s a very beautiful city. And I like the mentality here. The vibe is very good. It’s very open-minded, and it has four seasons that feel very different – it grows, and it goes down and goes up and goes down.

What are your favourite spots in the city?

The Latin Quarter, unofficially called Pisserenden. It’s in the city centre, but it’s one of the parts of the city centre which has this small community vibe: small streets with cafés, a lot of like local life. And I used to live here and then I coincidentally found my studio here. I’m very fond of Christianshavn as well – it’s a part of the inner city which has like a village feel. There’s so many! I also like Nørrebro, Refshaleøen…

How would you describe your style when it comes to fashion?

I like to dress a little bit toned down. I’ve never been very good at this whole peacocking thing. The main thing for me when putting on clothes is that I want to feel comfortable – not necessarily physically, but I need to feel like myself. I like when my outfits have a little bit of a streetwear edge – perhaps still influenced by my youth. I usually keep it rather simple.

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CLOSED – Since 1978
CLOSED – Since 1978
CLOSED – Since 1978
CLOSED – Since 1978
CLOSED – Since 1978
CLOSED – Since 1978
CLOSED – Since 1978
CLOSED – Since 1978
CLOSED – Since 1978