Henrik Godsk (b. 1975, Hjørring) is of seventh generation travelling heritage, having grown up among his family’s roving fair in Denmark and Norway. His practice reflects pride in his upbringing and cultural identity, fusing folkloric and high art to create portraits that are directly reminiscent of the accentuated designs of the fairground.

In ‘New Horizons’ Godsk introduces the exterior world, an extension from previous work which has focused on the domestic and the figure. Presented through a window, the landscapes that lie beyond Godsk’s recognisable scenes are reminiscent of the environment he grew up upon. Rolling hills and organically shaped shrubs are painted with the same Scandinavian simplicity and Danish design that is found in the still life features in the foreground.

Progressing from solely figurative subjects towards more complex compositions, the works in ‘New Horizons’ meld landscape, still life and portraiture traditions. Godsk plays with the conventions of art history, offering a refreshing take on figure painting through the lens of his cultural upbringing on the land and his love of twentieth-century modernism.