Visual artist Alf Magne Salo (1959-2013) was born and raised in Kåfjord. His abstract paintings depict the northern landscape through light, shapes, strong colours and contrasts.
Salo's driving force was the aesthetic, and he had a vision of perfect artistic expression. In his earlier paintings, the darkness of the northern season is reflected in dark tones and colours, while his more recent paintings, with intense yellow colours, focus on the bright season with the midnight sun.
Impressionism, modernism and cubism were art movements that inspired Salo. He was also inspired by the organic forms found in duodji and, according to Salo himself, the Sami aesthetic is represented in his paintings. The light, contrasts, colours, shapes and power of the paintings provide an intense experience of both the light and dark sides of nature and human existence.
Salo studied at the Funen Art Academy in Odense, Denmark, from 1979 to 1983. His works are represented in several exhibitions with Sami themes:
- Mu geaidnu - my way (2006)
- In the shadow of the Midnight Sun (2007-2008)
- Gierdu : movements in the Sámi art world (2009-2010)
- Being apart (2009-2010)
Salo had a separate art exhibition at the Sami Artists' Centre in 2007, and he is represented in several public collections here in the region, including the North Norwegian Art Museum, Troms County Council, Sparebank 1 Nord-Norges kunststiftelse and RidduDuottar Museat - the Sami collections.
He has also decorated several public buildings such as Nordland Hospital in Bodø, Tromsø Tinghus and the Centre for Northern People in Manndalen. He designed the poster for the Riddu Riđđu Festival 1999 and also designed the stage for the Riddu Riđđu Festival.
In 2014, Kåfjord paid tribute to the artist through a memorial exhibition at the Centre for Northern Peoples.
More about Alf Magne Salo:
Memorial exhibition for Alf Magne Salo, Centre for Northern Peoples 2014
Commemorative exhibition for Alf Magne Salo, NRK Sápmi
