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Reinhardt
Sobye
Norwegian artist, Reinhardt Sobye, sees quietly and deeply into the void of humanity's presumption. A self-taught artist once painting in gouache and drawing in pastel, Sobye now processes his art work by manipulating his paintings, drawings, and photography with a computer. The result is art work that brilliantly reflects the devastation creeping into our landscapes by humanities disregard for the environment. With deep insight, Sobye captures extremely realistic portraits of the unguarded and innocent, illuminating with compassion the alienation of people low on the social ladder. Sobye unclothes the reality of war and oppression in all its nakedness; in beautifully composed space. He beckons the viewer into the vast, false structure that holds up our civilization.
The Secret Ocean, November 2011
Three galleries across the globe; Gallery Ramfjord in Oslo (Norway), Box Heart Gallery in Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania), and Toho Gallery in Tokyo (Japan) will simultaneously exhibit artwork from Reinhardt Sobye's recent body of work, "The Secret Ocean," this November, 2011.
"The Secret Ocean," a series of large-scale photographs manipulated with charcoal and pastel, visually describe one woman's emotional journey through domestic abuse, sexual violence, marital manipulation, divorce, and finally independence.
Born in 1956 in Oslo Norway, Reinhardt Sobye began his career as an artist just before completion of psychology studies at the University of Bergen. Based on self-study and an exceptional drawing talent, Sobye created the pictorial art of his own world view, often characterized by realistic depictions of the sick, the elderly, or the homeless uprooted because of war and disaster.
While his beautiful and poetic landscapes bear an eery sense of something about to be destroyed by human intervention in nature, Sobye also captures universal love and power through his sensual depictions of women and children. A recurring theme in his artwork is the exposure of innocent children to discrimination, destruction, and disguise and how a mother's love can alter this exposure. About "The Secret Ocean"
Sobye writes, "Motherly love for your children will render you a hostage and become your enemies preferred instrument for torture." However, it is through this love that a woman is able to build independence and become a living illustration of what is unobtainable for her abuser's thwarted, barren mind.
Not only does "The Secret Ocean" depict the private world where abuse takes place and the suffocating feeling of being drown in despair and hopelessness, but it also presents a rise to the surface, an emotional state where the pattern of abuse is broken and the victim reclaims her power.
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