In 1969 Gunner debuted on ‘Den Fri – Efterårsudstilling’, later the same year he also participated in ‘Poex’ there. ‘Den Fri’ is a Danish artists’ association, founded in 1891 by artists in protest against the admission requirements for the Kunsthal Charlottenborg. Modelled on the Salon des Refusés, it is Denmark’s oldest association of artists. He also travels to Paris to see the retrospective of Max Ernest, in Musée de l’Orangerie in 1971, which becomes a significant inspiration.
In this period Gunner finds real confidence in his style and career. He develops a new way of creating work. Using water baths with oil paint to create surrealistic patterns and spectra of light, which he manages to manipulate into landscapes and figures. However, the process was very space consuming and Gunner starts having concerns about working with oil paints and living in a polluted city with a small child. His concerns about the environment was increasing, as a consequence the family decides to move to the countryside where there is more space to work and easy access to nature.