BIOGRAPHY

CV

Vibrating Artwork

Maria Marstrand’s new works vibrate, breathe and assume such vivid forms that you can hardly believe your own eyes. It is also almost inconceivable that each of them consists of well over a hundred thousand repetitions of the little ‘double pearl’, as she herself calls her pattern motif.
It is this unique pattern that Marstrand uses to describe the strongest and most universal sense of them all: love. Or perhaps more precisely the infatuation, because Marstrand’s ambition with the spiral works is to recreate the buzz in the stomach you feel when the infatuation strikes the legs away under one.
In that perspective, Marstrand is in an artistic family with other soul painters, such as the Surrealists and the Expressionists who dominated the art world on both sides of the Atlantic in the mid-20th century. But her expression is quite different. At Marstrand, there is no psychophotography, no big arm movements. Her working method is more reminiscent of Eastern meditation than of Western Expressionism.
She also finds inspiration in the world around her, as it is lived, rather than in the works of other artists. The structure and color of the Sahara’s grain of sand is thus rediscovered by Marstrand in the golden wallpaper on which she performs her works. The meeting with Marrakech, where she has been received with open arms, is also an important source of inspiration, as seen in `white girl with african hair,` where a Nordic face is endowed with hair belonging to the African continent.

Here the duality is immediately readable, while in other of her works it is more understated. It is about the details, the beauty and the magic you meet in the medina, where new worlds open up behind every gate, every corner, in every meeting.
A deeply felt humanism is thus the foundation on which Marstrand creates his art, but it does not mean that the works are harmless. Instead, they entice us with their beauty and vibrate with an inner force reminiscent of that of love. Maria Marstrand tells at once about emotions we all recognize – and does so in her very own way with porous poetry and the mystery of the patterns.

Trine Ross, 2015

Marstrand and sensuality

Zeitgeist is perhaps one of the most foolish rulers of contemporary art. It It dictates that art should preferably move in a certain direction, and far to many artist who are seeking fame and fortune – let themselves be tempted to easily by the sort of art dictated by the zeitgeist.

Fortunately, there are many artist who still paint from their heart.Who let their inner voice and instinct determine what direction their art will evolve into,and who have an artistic compass that leads them safely towards the desired outcome.

One such artist is Maria Marstrand. She is definetively standing outside the zeitgeist. She is her own being, and thank goodness for that. Her works is both expressionistic and impressionistic, with surreal undertones but timeless at the same time. She often paint large paintings where big faces observe the viewer. And yet it is wrong to dwell on the subject, at first. Because the strength of her work lies somewhere else: Namely in sensuality.It is as she paints with her emotions and her senses. There is an extremely strong form of authencity in her work. You feel moved, stop and let the thoughtfulness assert itself. You feel like closing your eyes, and you let your hands touch her paintings, as it speaks to all the finest aspects of your senses.

In her latest paintings, she has dissolved the motif in favour of a kind of fractal pattern, as beautiful as frostwork on a window in winter. Some might think that the world we now find ourselves in is a completely different world to the real one. We could choose to say that the artist expands reality, or perhaps leads us to a more dreamlike version of the unknown reality. For the artist herself, it´s solely about the truth, the kind of truth that rises above terrestrial life and into a transcendent universe.

In the past years, Maria Marstrand has surpassed herself in her technique and patience her quest to describe, among other things, the act of falling in love. Her incomprehensible spirals capture the viewer and draw us into a vibrant and living universe. Her almost mathematical calculation of an interation technique to describe a very specific feeling makes her work alluring and electrical. You get immediate urge to state that these works of art represent an important part of her life right now, as something that is mastered in order to be affirmed.

Beauty is an important feature of her paintings and drawings. But it is not only a type off beauty that captivates or dazzles. It is the type of beauty that makes yearn for an understanding of the inner nature of things. Maria Marstrand is like a patient scientist wishing to initiate us into the world´s mysteries and inner truths. The road leads us through description and sensory perception. Here we have to find the key to ourselves to beauty`s inner and outer sides. The other sides can be quite macabre here. One thing is what attracts us, another thing is what, in reality, is the artist´s practise, and what she is trying to tell us, and makes us feel.

To Maria beauty and aesthetics lie equally in the obscure detail and the patterns that we don not always see at first glance. The cavities in her works of art, and what we cannot see with the naked eye, emphasises everything  unspoken. And this is where she, in her quiet and unobtrusive way, expands our experience of reality. The past has shed a light, which makes the present – and the moment that we have here and now- the most superb. Not only has the artist committed to all these elements, but she has also committed to the back of her works of art, that consist a beautiful old wallpaper that she has found. These stem from different centuries , and help to elaborate on the work of art, or to illustrate the time from where the artist practise originated. You may be wondering where all this comes from ? Maria Marstrand is a selftaught artist from a family that also includes the great Golden Age painter Wilhelm Nicolai Marstrand. She has been drawing since she was a very small girl, and she started as a painter when she was just 10 years old. She has always known that she wanted to be an visual artist, and she most certainly chosen to go her own way. The origins of her ancestors from the Golden Age, and Maria Marstrand`s own experiences and spiritual approach to life have left their clear marks on this artist. With her, an almost magical world has opened up where everything is brought into play, and where her works of art seem almost spiritual. Let me put in this way :

At it best, art plays with the sublime, and it is this kind of sublime experience that we encounter with Maria Marstrands works of art. If we momentarily compare with classical music, with her, it is the rests, the delicate transitions, and the quiet passages that you encounter. She forces us to stipend feel. Think, feel, sense.

You could call it poetry, or more precisely poetry of the moment. Which is the same as eternity´s poetry. Sense it for yourself.

Ole Lindboe 2013

Editor: Magasinet Kunst/  The Art Magazine The author of numerous books with biographies of danish and foreign artist.

Maria Marstrand – An attempt at analyzing an artist’s oeuvre 

I had the great pleasure of discovering Maria Marstrand’s aeuvre thanks to a strong recommendation from a fine collector friend of mine who knew her work would appeal to my sensibility.

The most value one can find in an artwork stems neither from its form nor content, but its electrical charge. And in the case of Marstrand’s aeuvre, whether it be her paintings or large-scale drawings, the work emits a force that is at once poignant and powerful and at the same time feminine and floral. This The muses she makes deliver a message that is at once monstrous and transcendent, There’s a joyful expressivity and undeniable poetry to her work which emanates a pure and raw sincerity.

This talented artist has a great future ahead of her.

Deborah Zafman

Galerie Deborah Zafman Paris 2010

CV

Education

2001 – 2002: Art history UCPH

1994 – 1996, Studies with Norwegian artist Håkan Nyström

1988 – 1991, Studies/courses at Århus Academy of Art, Denmark

1977 – 1978, First courses in oil painting, Island of Funen,  Denmark

Other

2002- 2006 BACH/ Den sociale højskole- The social Academy Copenhagen DK

1994-1998, Jordemoderskolen i København, Midwife Academy Copenhagen DK

Exhibitions

2025: Solo show from may 8. Copenhagen, Denmark

2023: Solo Show from May 19. Voice Gallery, Marrakech, Morocco

2017: Group Show Kunstnernes efterårsudstilling KE17, Fall Exhibition Copenhagen, Denmark

2016: Group Exhibition: Empreintes Museum La Palmeraie, MB6 Marrakech Biennale 2016/ Curator, Mahi BineBine

2015: Group Show from Juli 15th – august 15th BCK Art Gallery, Marrakech, Morocco

2014: Solo Show THE COBRA ROOM : The 15th – 26th of October, Copenhagen, Denmark

2014: Group Show in Company w. Amparo Sard May – september BCK Art Gallery Marrakech, Morrocco

2014 : Group Show In company with Ib Monrad Hansen 25 april Grand opening/ The white Wall Project, Copenhagen, Denmark

2014: Group Show W5 MB4 Marrakech Biennale 2014  28th Feb.

2014: BCK Art Gallery, Marrakech, Morocco

2014: Group Show Gallery Delano Dec 2013 – Feb 2014, Marrakech, Morocco

2013: Group Show DEN FRIE  KE 13 Oslo plads 1 2100 Copenhagen Ø/ Fall exhibition/ Grand Opening d. 11th of October 5 pm running until the 10th of november, Copenhagen, Denmark

2013: Solo Exhibition 28th June/ Gallery Art Market Copenhagen, Denmark

2012: Solo Exhibition Galleri Art Market 28 sep. Copenhagen, Denmark

2011: Solo Exhibition 1 lombardstreet v Søren Jessen 4.11 2011, London, UK

2011: Art Event Charlottenborg Copenhagen/ 11´th oct 7-9 pm. Copenhagen, Denmark

2011: Solo Exhibition Galerie Sainte Colombe, St Paul De Vence 17- 30 sep. France

2010: Group show Grand opening v. Hans Alf Gallery, Kødbyen Copenhagen Denmark

2009: Group Show Deborah Zafman Gallery, Paris, France

2009:  Group Show in company w. Gallery artist, Douglas MC. Dougal, Kim Myung, Frank Fisher, Anders Moseholm, Frodo Mikkelsen, Maria Rubinke, Hans Alf Gallery, Kødbyen Copenhagen, Denmark

2008: Group Show in company w. Gallery artist, Kim Myung, MC Dougal, Frank Fisher, Hans Alf Gallery, Kødbyen Copenhagen, Denmark

2008 : Group show at Galerie Jerome in company w. Gallery artist, Jens Birkemose, Kurt Trampedach, Copenhagen, Denmark

2007 : Group Show Galerie Jerome, Copenhagen Copenhagen, Denmark

2006 : STATENS MUSEUM FOR KUNST/ Denmark’s National Art Gallery purchases oil painting 2006, Copenhagen, Denmark

2005: Solo show The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts & school of Architecture/ June 2005 Copenhagen, Denmark

2004: Group show Luftkastellet Art Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark

2004: Solo Exhibition Galleri København, Copenhagen, Denmark

2003: Solo exhibition Grand opening Galleri København, Copenhagen, Denmark

2002:  Group show in company with artist from the gallery, Kim Myung, Anders Moseholm, Douglas MC Dougal, Frank Fisher Galleri København, Copenhagen, Denmark

2002: Solo Exhibition Galleri København Copenhagen, Denmark

2002: Solo Exhibition Kunstforeningen på Møn Denmark

1999: Group show Gallery Gershwin, New York/ New Wave underground event NYC, USA

Donations: KEY ISSUES Marstrand: Homeless people

Terms & Conditions

For the customer to notice important: All rights reserved by Maria Marstrand.

The artist alone is allowed to print cut and reproduce her work in other ways, materials than seen or bought from the Studio & Galleries. When ordering artwork, the customer pay a deposit equal to half of the purchase price. Rest when the work is delivered. When the deposit is paid, it is a confirmation of the purchase of the artwork.

PLEASE NOTE; when deposit has been paid, the money can not be refunded.

If the customer change their mind doing the process, or no longer wish to get the artwork, the deposit is not refundable. Further more when notifying the artwork is done, the artist is entitled to claim the remaining amount for the art piece.

PLEASE NOTE; when the artwork is ready for delivery, please note to collect the artwork and payment within 14 days. If the art piece is not collected and the customer are not returning calls or further communication within 30 days, the art piece will no longer be available, and the deposit lost.  

It is not possible to exchange the Art Piece.

The customer is always recommend to frame the paperworks with Museum Glass/ akryl true-vue 99%. To avoid any impact or possible fading from sunlight towards the piece. From the acquisition date from the studio to the customer, artist disclaim any responsibility for the protection and possible impacts of the works. We always recommend the customer to go to our website and read all the information regarding the pieces.

There is no guarantee that the artwork will not change over time.

If the customer should choose to deliver an art piece to our studio, for further assistance repairs or other service, the artwork will only be returned back to the customer, when approved of by the artist.

By accident or destruction all rights are reserved to the artist regarding wanting to repair the piece, or perhaps offer the customer another piece. Our customers will be informed further about the procedure. These rights described will fall out to the artist advantage with particular prevail, for the artist freedom and reputation of the artist and her work.

Regarding our waiting list, it is always in our best interest to deliver the Art Piece within reasonable time. However, it is not possible to determine a precise time frame, dealing with unique art pieces.

The waiting time is approximately one year 2026.

Please note that the waiting time may change along the way due to exhibitions etc. 

Please note that no compensation can be given for any waiting time.

Reservations are made for illness injury etc.

Consulting regarding specific art pieces, an amount of € 600 will be invoiced if not pursuing the art piece. 

Showing and delivery of art pieces takes place on Fridays.

The customer is responsible for the framing & transportation.

The studio is closed on weekends.

Dont hesitate to contact the studio on thursday’s 4-5 pm by phone or by e-mail.

Studio visit at friday’s 4-8 pm.

PLEASE NOTE: The atelier is closed indefinitely until 1.1. 2027.

We kindly ask you for your patience during this period and refer you our advisers regarding all contact and questions regarding exhibitions, custome artworks etc.

Thank You,

Atelier Maria Marstrand