Cal Henrik Max Magnus Norman (born July 30, 1973) is a
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
artist
An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...
,
painter
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...
, and
sculptor
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
.
Norman was born in
Sundsvall
Sundsvall () is a city and the seat of Sundsvall Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden. It has a population of 58,807 as of 2020; more than 95,000 live in the municipal area. It is Sweden's 21st largest city by population.
History
Th ...
,
Medelpad
Medelpad ( or ) is a historical province or ''landskap'' in the north of Sweden. It borders Hälsingland, Härjedalen, Jämtland, Ångermanland and the Gulf of Bothnia.
The province is a part of Norrland and as such considered to be Northern Sw ...
, he currently resides in
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
. He paints
visions and dreamlike images as accurately as possible, which results in paintings with a
photorealistic quality. His works are intended to spread virally among social networks on the Internet; his art and stunts often deal with everyday events spiced up with a touch of the absurd.
A few examples of such works created for the Internet are the illustrated essay
The LED (minor) Artcrime Tutorial and the
Moose graffiti' stunt, where the artist sneaks up on a wild moose and paints graffiti on it. His sculpture and plastic arts projects have received some exposure in Sweden, such as his art project that consisted of a woodpecker placed on a traffic camera on the
E4 near
Stockvik
Stockvik is a locality situated in Sundsvall Municipality, Västernorrland County, Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingd ...
.
In another of Max Magnus Norman's art projects the artist created an unknown (but huge) number of plastic monkeys, about 1 metres in length. One night in early May 2009 he put up these monkeys in different settings all over the small city Sundsvall. One monkey was riding a crocodile in the middle of the central stream Selångersån and one was placed upon a traffic light making it look like the monkey controlled the traffic, some monkeys were even placed under water. A few of these monkeys still remain, amongst other one flying 20 metres up in the air, holding a beer can above the intersection Köpmangatan-Thulegatan.
In 2008, a statue of his, "Kuken ska ha sitt," which includes a 30 cm. long penis, caused some local outcry which was noticed by the Swedish press: the "obscene sculpture" drew notice and commentary from the two largest Swedish papers,
Aftonbladet
''Aftonbladet'' (, lit. "The evening paper") is a Swedish daily newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. It is one of the largest daily newspapers in the Nordic countries.
History and profile
The newspaper was founded by Lars Johan H ...
and
Expressen
''Expressen'' (''The Express'') is one of two nationwide evening newspapers in Sweden, the other being '' Aftonbladet''. ''Expressen'' was founded in 1944; its symbol is a wasp and its slogans are "it stings" or "''Expressen'' to your rescue".
...
. As it happened, Norman's sculpture coincided with a few other "phallic" Swedish works of art that year, including a full-frontal nude Jesus; the fact that Norman's sculpture was provided with a warning for the young enhanced its reputation, as well as that of the artist.
Alchemy
In 2014 Max Magnus Norman published the book ''Magnum Opus'' (2014, ) where he describes how he unsought managed to create The
Philosopher's Stone. The book, written in Swedish, is built up as a manual on how to reach spiritual and physical enlightenment, layered with self biographical anecdotes. The book is written with serious intent and received a few positive reviews in Sweden.
References
External links
Max Magnus Norman
{{DEFAULTSORT:Norman, Max Magnus
1973 births
Living people
People from Sundsvall
20th-century alchemists
20th-century sculptors
20th-century Swedish painters
21st-century alchemists
21st-century sculptors
21st-century Swedish painters
Fantasy artists
Swedish alchemists
Swedish male painters
Spiritual teachers
20th-century Swedish male artists
21st-century Swedish male artists