This exhibition marked the first presentation of Hans Petterson and Nils Erik Gjerdevik at Stalke and reflected the gallery’s continued engagement with painting in the mid-1990s. The exhibition brought together two distinct yet related painterly positions, both drawing on popular culture, intense colour, and a renewed interest in the narrative and sensorial potential of the image.

In Politiken, Malene Vest Hansen described the exhibition as “a very extensive show — there is truly a great deal of painting,” highlighting Petterson’s “lively fabulation in a naively drawn serial style,” while characterising Gjerdevik’s work by its strong emphasis on form and its exploration of “colouristic border zones with shrill, candy-like colours.”

The reviewer also pointed to the productive tension between the two artists, concluding: “Two painters who complement one another.”

The exhibition was received as a clear signal of painting’s renewed energy and relevance at the time, and it inscribed both Petterson and Gjerdevik into Stalke’s early history as a gallery actively engaged in the artistic shifts of the 1990s.

Exhibition views from Stalke Kunsthandel: first image shows works by Hans Petterson, second and third images feature paintings by Niels Erik Gjerdevik.

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