Ever-inspiring pop art-artist Pauline Boty has been a source for several musical projects, and more to come!
Keep scrolling for more info about the different projects.
Photo: Thor Egil Leirtrø
Since discovering her in the beautiful book “Talking to women” by Nell Dunn in 2021, the british pop art-artist Pauline Boty has been a great source of inspiration for Jenny. She has composed several pieces about Boty, including a 20-minute piece for big band and orchestra commissioned by Det Nye Norske Storband, and full concert piece for Starlight Big Band premiering at Dokkhuset in Trondheim in November 2022, which was revised and recorded with as Jenny Frøysa’s Artful Ensemble. The record “Pauline Boty: bring her out! was released on March 13th on Particular recordings collective, and the band went on tour in Norway in April 2026, to great acclaim.
Photo: Thor Egil Leirtrø
Musically, Jenny has tried to imitate one of Boty’s media, the collage. Boty mixed elements from popular and mass culture (so-called “low” culture) with elements from “high” culture. She would use pictures and scraps from newspapers and magazines, adverts, and even bus tickets, combining them with paint. Jenny has transferred this technique into music: she draws inspiration from music played on radio, film, TV-series, and also from literature and this she transfers onto a traditional big band soundscape. The overriding themes of the music are both Boty’s life and art, but also the structural issues that perhaps determined her professional destiny. This draws parallels with current challenges of today.
Photo: Thor Egil Leirtrø
Through the interest for Boty, Jenny got in touch with other Boty-fans from London, who made a documentary about the forgotten artist called “I am the sixties”, which aired on BBC in 2024. Some of Jenny’s music from the Starlight Big Band concert is featured in this film. In July 2023, Jenny and best friend/colleague Jakob Nordli Leirvik (Subcurrent) went to London (by train!) to play at the unveiling of Boty’s blue plaquet (made possible by volunteering Boty-fans and friends) at her Chelsea home.
Christopher Gregory has made this wonderful website about Pauline, check it out!
The inspiration persists, the music evolves. In January 2025, Jenny took a new 7-piece bandto Øra studio in Trondheim to record the renewed versions of the big band music. The album “Pauline Boty: bring her out!” by Jenny Frøysa’s Artful Ensemble was released on March 13th on Particular recordings collective, on CD, vinyl and Bandcamp. Check it out here!
Photos: Øra studio
