We’re not going to lie, some days you think Instagram was made purely for selfie queens, thirst traps and all that eggplant-related fuckery. And to be honest, we’re not complaining. The Game can just keep on keeping on and we’ll be there for him. But sometimes Instagram throws up something a little different. Sometimes it introduces you to cute Norwegian artist like Lars Korff Lofthus.

How long have you been making art?
 What/who inspired you to make it?
I’ve been making stuff for as long as I can remember. After graduating from the National Academy of Art and Design in Bergen I eventually moved back to the small village I came from, in the fjords of western Norway. I came out late and, in a way, invited the whole village to take part in it, which is kind of fucked up. But it was also a way for me to be in control of my own story and keep putting my ass on the line, literally. Another reason to move my practice to the countryside was the amount of affordable large empty buildings to work in.
My inspiration can be everything from bad TV, people I meet or hiking in the mountains. For the last few years I´ve been looking a lot at Nikolay Astrup. He´s the Norwegian painter people mention after Edward Munch. Astrup has the same universal existentiality at play- only he lives in the middle of fucking nowhere and paints nature more than people. There are several shows with his work opening abroad these days. In February the Dulwich Picture Gallery in London is showing a selection of his work. I like how he devotes his attention to something peripheral and still manages to be “central” and universal.

Nikolay Astrup

What’s your preferred media?
I come from painting and have just finished touring a group show with four Norwegian painters, showing large-scale paintings. But I do whatever feels right for a given project. Sometimes I make small drawings, small watercolourings or greasy crayon on wood.

You feature a lot of men. Is there usually a model in mind?
Haha. People keep asking me if I use my boyfriend as a model. He’s quite woofy. I do draw him sometimes, but not for the more out-there, sexualized work I put out. He probably wouldn’t mind, though.
But the web is packed with tumblrs of men who don’t hesitate to expose themselves. I’m into the more bearish guys, and I find the recent questions around masculinity very interesting. These days a butch-looking gay guy can get criticized for playing a role and making it harder for the more queeny guys, and vice versa. People can say ‘But you don’t look gay.’ That pisses me off. I look for imagery of people who don’t necessarily fit the standards of beauty but who look amazing in their own right.
In Norway people know me for my extravagant over-the-top landscapes. Slowly people will have to deal with more of my queer shit. More early/mid-career artists in the queer field need to take their work outside instagram and start educating a common audience.

What have you been working on recently?
Lately I’ve been searching through public digital archives to find historical imagery of men in countryside folk culture. I’m looking to introduce more narratives to my paintings. I try to employ alternative stories on what men in their national romantic costumes were occupied with. I find the idea of the tableau, the staged theatrical scene interesting, and a good position to look at men and nature.

Norwegian Public Digital Archives

What does 2016 hold?
I do a lot of curating these days, although I don’t consider myself a curator. Next week the annual Western Norway Art Exhibition starts touring. Together with a colleague we’ve tried to select work from artists who deal with the notion of ‘The local.’ I’ve also been elected for the National Jury, which means I get to choose work for the annual Autumn Exhibition in Oslo, the largest venue for contemporary art in Norway (since 1882). I´ll try not to fuck it up.
In February I will do an artist-in-residency program in Berlin. In August I’m also showing work in the Norwegian Drawing Biennale.

Lars Korff Lofthus – Berre Hogd

I see you like John Waters. What is your favourite John Waters film?
I like them all but I just watched Serial Mom again and it’s hilarious! It’s like he is pleasing a big audience and still fucking us over. I want to do that.

Lars’ website: http://larskorfflofthus.no/
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