Henrik Sandner (b.1965) Danish Visual artist. Self-taught, but mentored by Danish Painter Nes Lerpa. I have exhibited in various galleries and museums in Europe, and I have been living and working with my art in Denmark, Greece, Germany and Israel for the last 35 years. I paint people; -their faces. I observe their decay, -their scars, their short-commings, -their mortality. But also their beauty, -their hopes, -their trust, -their uniqueness. In this case the paintings are portraits of some of the “village idiots” from a small Greek town. The little flattering name these people have been given reflects the attitude they are met with in the local society. But when you get to know them and their story the human being behind the façade starts to emerge. I am not striving to obtain a naturalistic depiction, but rather a “mapping” of the Essence of a person. I often go to cafés or parks to sketch the people I see. Some are recreated in my studio. My materials are mostly oil pastel on paper or oil on canvas.
