Press release

Published: 7 June 2024

Summer exhibition opens Saturday 15 June at 12.00
- paintings

MARIUS MARTINUSSEN

Art Gallery Linn is proud to present the exhibition Prisms, Portals, and Curtains

In the summer exhibition, Martinussen presents a collection of his latest abstract paintings. The exhibition, "Prisms, Portals and Curtains," explores complex geometric shapes, light reflections, and dynamic colour combinations. Martinussen’ s works, known for their prism-like diamonds, abstracted window curtains, and profound tunnel visions, invite the viewer to immerse themselves in a world of visual richness and discovery. Each painting challenges our perceptions of space and light, creating a unique aesthetic experience that touches both the senses and the imagination.

Marius Martinussen was born in Kristiansand and grew up in Arendal.

The exhibition shows series of images created using airbrush techniques and large amounts of masking tape. The precise lines create a clean and precise transition between monochromous colour fields. Martinussen is a skilled colourist, and his pictures are colourful and extravagant with a wide range of references to popular culture and advertising. The colour combinations create a dynamic expression that is reminiscent of the city's illuminated signs and graffiti.

In art history, Martinussen can be linked to American pop art, expressionism, and modernist abstraction. He approaches the issues and challenges of painting through formal experiments, but also through references to art history using different stylistic expressions and art theory. Each artwork in this exhibition is the result of careful and dedicated work in the studio. The layers of paint show the time and effort invested in each individual composition. The vivid motifs invite the viewer to join a visual journey where colours, textures, and geometric shapes merge.

In the series Multiverse, 40 small paintings in size 40 x 30 cm are shown. All the pictures are composed according to the same principle; the pages in the format are divided into the golden section, which in turn is divided into smaller parts, also according to the golden section. All the intersections are used to draw lines that form surfaces, which in turn form the basis of the composition. The process is repeated in each layer until the image is finished. The series is inspired by a thought experiment taken from the Netflix series "In Search of Eternity" (2022). In the TV series, prominent mathematicians, particle physicists and cosmologists take deep dives into infinity and its unimaginable implications for the universe.

The pictures with vertical stripes belong to the Curtain paintings series, where Martinussen adds vibrant colours and intricate geometric shapes. The dark areas give an effect that can be reminiscent of the shadow side of tree trunks, fire licking or folding in a stage curtain. The dualism between abstract and figurative, geometric, and organic, hard and soft transitions shows the intricate connection between culture and nature in his images.

 Marius Martinussen lives and works in Oslo. Educated at the Academy of Fine Arts in Trondheim and the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki. He has had many exhibitions both at home and abroad, including at Kunstnerforbundet, Kunstsenteret i Møre og Romsdal, Galleri F15, Galleri QB, Bomuldsfabriken, Kunstverket Galleri, Galleri Brandstrup, Trondheim Kunstforening, as well as exhibitions in Berlin, Amsterdam and Helsinki. His works have been purchased for many collections, including Arts Council Norway, Norges Bank, Trondheim Art Museum Sørlandet Art Museum and Haugalandmuseet-Haugesund Picture Gallery.

Marius Martinussen is available for interviews at Art Gallery Linn on Friday 14 June at 12-16 and Saturday 15 June at 13-15, mobile 917 34 176. https://www.instagram.com/mariusmartinussenart/

Opening speech by Tor Kristian Ludvigsen, Chair of the Culture and Sports Committee in Kristiansand Municipality.

The last day of viewing is Saturday 3 August 2024. 

PRESS CONTACT General Manager/Curator Anja Nilsen, mobil 477 18 166, art@online.no

Festningsgata 34 – Kristiansand, Norway
https://artgallerylinn.no/
https://www.instagram.com/artgallerylinn/