Karen Aarre
(She/her)
Address: Havna allé 10, 0373 0373
The studio is open Sunday 27 April from 12-17
My work highlights the magical encounters between people and nature – where the senses are awakened, and where wonder, contemplation, and poetry arise. Parks and gardens are often the starting point for my work. These spaces reveal complex histories of power, status, human needs, and the rise of modern science. They also serve as reflections of human creativity, dreams, joy, and imagination.
I draw inspiration and knowledge from my experience as a former documentary filmmaker and from my studies in Social Anthropology.
painting, drawing, printing
This Evening I Am the Moon (One Day You'll Dance For Me), Karen Aarre, olje på linlerret, 150x100 cm, 2023, Høstutstillingen 2024. Fotograf: Nanna Wessel Sundt
With the Lifelife in My Palm, Karen Aarre, olje på linlerret, 150x100cm, 2024. Fotograf: Nanna Wessel Sundt
Habitat, Karen Aarre, olje på linlerret, 160x120cm, 2024. Verket er del av St Antony's College Art Collection, University of Oxford. Fotograf: Nanna Wessel Sundt
What Is the Scent of Time?, Karen Aarre, olje på linlerret, 80x60cm, 2023. Fotograf: Nanna Wessel Sundt
In my studio
Take the tube to Blindern station, and walk a couple of hundred meters down the cul-de-sac, Havna allé. This is Norway’s best-preserved street of Bauhaus architecture from the 30s, with 13 colourful villas signed by the architects Korsmo and Aasland. In the honey coloured villa of no. 10, I have a studio with its own entrance. The studio consists of a smaller room where I do my intaglio printing, as well as a larger room where I paint.
I am happy to show visitors the processes of copper etching and oil painting. During the open studio, it will also be possible to buy some smaller works, look at paintings, browse through my art bookshelf, or sit on the sofa with a cup of coffee and have a chat about art.
A warm welcome to a visit that includes art and a bit of architecture thrown in!
Planned projects and exhibitions
Solo show Galleri Briskeby 26th April – 25th May 2025
CV
Curriculum Vitae
Karen Marie Aarre
b. 03.02 1972, London
Contact: Havna allé 10, 0373 Oslo, Norway
Tel +47 99720771
Website: www.karenaarre.com
Instagram: @karen.aarre
Membership
NBK, BO, LNM
Solo exhibitions
2025 Galleri Briskeby, April-May.
2024 Presentation of paintings at UiO’s conference Eco-Emotions on Air, Litteraturhuset, September.
2024 St Antony’s College, University of Oxford, UK. November. Exhibition entitled “The Sound of a Bird Flying Low Across the Garden”.
2022 Edvard Munch’s Winter Studio, Ekely. Oct 2022. Curator: Oda Broch. Exhibition entitled “Portretter”
2022 Galleri Briskeby. Exhibition entitled “Horticultura”. May-June 2022.
2020 Asker Kunstforening, Vollen, Norway. Exhibition entitled “Florilegium”.
June-July 2020.
2020 Galleri Briskeby. Exhibition entitled “Pinnsvin”. May-June 2020.
2019 Galleri Briskeby, Oslo, Norway. Exhibition entitled “Botanica”. May-June 2019.
2014 Edvard Munch´s Winter Studio, Ekely, Oslo, Norway. October 2014. Exhibition entitled “White Beginnings”. Curated by Joakim Borda-Pedreira.
2013 Centro Cultural de Cascais, Portugal, July 2013- Sept 2013. Exhibition
entitled “The Sky Begins at Your Feet”. Curated by Fundacao Dom Luis I.
Collective exhibitions
2024 Høstutstillingen
2023 Khaak Kunsthall Ålesund, Norway “Sommerutstilling med maleri i fokus”. June-August
2023 Galleri Briskeby, Oslo, Norway. Christmas exhibition “Exit”. December
2022 Galleri Briskeby, Oslo, Norway. Summer exhibition. June-August.
2021 Ljungbergmuseet, Sweden. September- November. The Nordic competition The Carlsberg
Foundations’s portrait award, “Portrait Now!” Juried exhibition.
2021 Fredriksborg Castle, Denmark. May-August. The Nordic competition The Carlsberg Foundation’s
portrait award, “Portrait Now!”. Juried exhibition.
2021 Galleri Briskeby, Oslo, Norway. Summer exhibition. June-August.
2020 Galleri Briskeby, Oslo, Norway. Christmas exhibition. December.
2020 Galleri Briskeby, Oslo, Norway. Summer exhibition June-August.
2019 Galleri Briskeby, Oslo, Norway. Summer exhibition June-August.
2019 Ljungbergmuseet, Sweden. September- November. The Nordic competition The Carlsberg
Foundations’s portrait award, “Portrait Now!” Juried exhibition.
2019 Fredriksborg Castle, Denmark. May- August. The Nordic competition The Carlsberg Foundation’s
portrait award, “Portrait Now!” Juried exhibition.
2017 Galleri Briskeby, Oslo, Norway December-January.
2017 Dronning Sonja KunstStall, Oslo, Norway July-September.
2017 Oslo Open. Art festival.
2016 Oslo Open. Art festival.
2015 Rådhusgalleriet, Oslo, Norway February 2015. Juried exhibition entitled “Kunsten å falle”.
2014 Akershus Kunstsenter, Norway. December 2014.
2014 National heritage fortress Forte de Oitavos, Cascais, Portugal. Sept-Dec 2014. Exhibition entitled
“Ultramarine”.
2014 Palacio do Egipto, Centro Cultural de Oeiras, Portugal. Sept-Oct 2014. Exhibition entitled “Lendo
as Estrelas”.
2013 WOA- Ways of Art, Alcabideche, Cascais, Portugal. Exhibition entitled
“One Ocean Four Views”.
Private and public acquisitions and collections
St Antony’s College Art Collection, University of Oxford
Universitetet i Oslos Kunstsamling – three paintings bought by Naturhistorisk museum (The Natural
History Museum), Norway, 2019.
Coleccão Fundacão Dom Luis 1. Portugal, 2013
Câmera de Cascais, Museu do Mar. Portugal, 2014
The Children’s Ward, Rikshospitalet, Norway, 2015
Dronning Sonja KunstStall, Norway 2017
Publications
2020 Children’s book “Pinnsvin”, author Henrik Hovland, illustrator Karen Aarre. Ena forlag.
2020 Feature, two drawings chosen for “The Best of Drawing. Special issue Strokes of Genius
Competition Winners” Artists Magazine.
Education and Work experience
2011-2012 Faculdade das Belas Artes (Faculty of Fine Arts), University of Lisbon, Portugal. Final year
(BA) visiting student of painting.
2000-2009 Documentary film director, producer, researcher, and video journalist for BBC television,
NRK (Norwegian public broadcaster) and TV2 Norway.
1996-2000 DPhil Social Anthropology, University of Oxford, UK.
1994-1996 MPhil Social Anthropology, University of Oxford, UK. Awarded Distinction.
1991-1994 BA Honours Development Studies and Social Anthropology, School of Oriental and African
Studies, University of London, UK.
1990-91 Vrije Academie voor Beeldende Kunsten (The Free Academy of Visual Arts), The Hague, The
Netherlands.
Short courses
2017 The sustained pose. Portraiture. Slade School of Fine Art, University of London.
2016 Contemporary portraiture, Slade School of Fine Art, University of London.
2012 Painting the face. Portrait course at The Prince´s Drawing School (now, The Royal Drawing
School), London.
2010 Silkscreen printing, Norske Grafikeres Verksted.
2007 Videojournalism – filming and editing, NRK.
1988-90 Private drawing tuition with Hans Normann Dahl at his studio in Oslo.
Press
2022 Aftenposten article 21st April 2022
https://www.aftenposten.no/oslo/byliv/i/g6n7qJ/oslo-guide-det-er-vaar-i-luften-og-i-kunsten-dette-er-noen-hoeydepun?fbclid=Iw
AR1lEm1eezjcAwpBX—TFG0miJFuhjWrOMHwGKhjilwMJbcWksD1ovKMJrU
2019 Portrait interview in Aftenposten by Heidi Borud. Article entitled “Det kan være bare en eller to
millimeter på et øyelokk som avgjør bildet”, 30. November 2019
https://www.aftenposten.no/kultur/i/0nq8kM/karen-aarre-det-kan-vaere-bare-en-eller-to-millimeter-paa-et
-oeyenlokk-som-avgjoer-bildet?
2019 Article about women artists and botany in the journal Biolog, by Professor Inger Nordal. The article
reviews the“ Botanica”-exhibition and the exhibition “Flora” at Stavanger Museum.
2019 Palmebladet “Kunst og botanikk”. Review of the “Botanica” exhibition by Dag Inge Danielsen.
2019 Aftenposten, review by Heidi Borud “Fem utstillinger du bør få med deg denne
Våren” (“Five exhibitions not to miss this spring”) 2. May 2019.
https://www.aftenposten.no/kultur/i/b5O6yv/Fem-utstillinger-du-bor-fa-med-deg-denne-varen?spid_rel=2
2013 Correio de Manhã, review “ Karen Aarre mostra pintura en Cascais” 23. July 2013
https://www.cmjornal.pt/cultura/detalhe/karen-aarre-mostra-pintura-em-cascais