Morten Schelde
Formation Gallery
07 Mar 2025 – 19 Apr 2025
Formation Gallery is pleased to present Morten Schelde’s first exhibition at the gallery, Silent Impact. The exhibition features new drawings in both large and small formats, drawing from Schelde’s characteristic surreal imagery, where architecture, interiors, and landscapes—infused with a touch of unsettling atmosphere—play a significant role.
In Silent Impact, Morten Schelde explores a universe of neat middle-class houses in Risskov—houses that appear calm and orderly at first glance but contain an underlying unease. Wolves lurk outside, an asteroid is coming, and the owls watch silently. There is a sense of stillness before the storm—a quiet takeover, an invisible suspense that slowly but surely makes its entrance.
It is a silent drama in the suburbs, where Schelde observes and absorbs the atmosphere of the place. With his unique sensitivity to the poetic in the everyday, he captures not only the exterior of the buildings but also the psychology and tension beneath the surface. Having recently moved from Skagen to Aarhus, the artist views his surroundings with the curiosity and scrutiny of a newcomer, examining and reinterpreting them in a new, raw light—leaving the suburbs forever changed…
In his works, Morten Schelde experiments with colors, creating compositions often drawn in a single hue—as if the world is perceived through a filter. By working with a painted, wet background and drawing over it with a pencil, he creates a contrast between the wet and the dry, the fluid and the sharp. The result is a distinctive texture and depth that invites the viewer to come closer and explore the details of the seemingly familiar landscape.
Morten Schelde (b. 1972) was educated at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and The Funen Art Academy. His works are represented in several prominent collections, including Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Arken, The National Gallery of Denmark (SMK), West Zealand Art Museum, Museum der Bildenden Künste in Leipzig, and Ny Carlsberg Foundation. Schelde has exhibited widely both nationally and internationally, including at Overgaden (DK), GL. Strand (DK), Politiken’s Exhibition Hall (DK), Leipzig Museum of Fine Arts (DE), Galleri Arnstedt (SE), and Munch Gallery (NY, USA).
In 2009, Morten Schelde completed a major decorative commission at Frederik VIII’s Palace in Copenhagen, and besides that he has created several book and album covers. Most recently, he presented the exhibition The Eternal at Tegner’s Museum (2024).
