Bostad explores the themes that are central to her artistic endeavours: the inner psyche, memories and human interaction. She blends her colours by pouring paint directly onto the canvas using a variety of tools, seldom using the paint brush – to create diverse, versatile effects, resulting in broad expressive strokes whose vibrant colour emanates from the surface. She expands the Nordic Colour tradition in a bold new direction, blending tone to tone pastels with sparks of fluorescent and manifesting her own personal psychic state onto the canvas.
Bostad works and lives in Horten, Norway. She was an Art Director for 10 years working on visual projects in film, illustration and concept building in Oslo. Since pursuing painting full time, she has exhibited her work in Oslo, London, LA and New York, Annecy, Singapore and Dubai. Curators and galleries in Europe and the US have praised her emotionally charged, contemporary abstract paintings for their vibrant and strong qualities.
In 2017 Rebecca Wilson of Saatchi Art picked her as one of the “4 Must-See Artists”. She made her debut in the New York art scene with a group show at Madelyn Jordon Fine Art and a solo show at Spotte Art and “En Verano” in Los Angeles. She also spent five weeks in New York at ESKFF/MANA Contemporary as artist in resident at their Summer 2018 Program. She has had numerous solo and group shows in Norway, including KHÅK Kunsthall Ålesund and Gulden Kunstverk. Her latest series of work, Conversations in the Room, Words and New Voices examine how conversations have changed and evolved during and after the pandemic. One of her artworks, Words 3, was selected as the cover image of Affordable Art Fair Hampstead 2022.
For her debut at London Art Fair, Bostad delves into her personal life to explore conversations of the past through her memories. In the process, she confronts her challenging upbringing caused by mental health issues on her maternal side that has deeply scarred her childhood and continues to affect her life. Her one salvation was the presence of her grandmother, who provided the semblance of a home and haven to the frantic family life. As a tribute to her grandmother, Bostad has created her most personal work to date to commemorate the “gifts” her grandmother has bestowed, symbolised by her strong views on living harmoniously in nature.
Bostad is currently at a pivotal point in her artistic life. In the past, art was her escape, reflected in her work’s myriad of colours and abstractions. She is now at a point in her life where she can not only accept her past but embrace the fear that has engulfed her life and not let it consume her. Watch this space as Marit Geraldine Bostad rises above the madness and soars…
The Gift 1 Acrylic on canvas, framed H155 x W125, £6500 BUY
Healing Acrylic on glass, framed H52 x W52, £2200 BUY
Eternal Acrylic on glass, framed H52 x W52, £2200 BUY
Resilience Acrylic on glass, framed H52 x W52, £2200 BUY