NILS OLAV BØE

A fog hangs over the mysterious black-and-white photographs and film sequences. They exert a fascination that we cannot escape. Where are these worlds? What are we seeing? Everything seems real and unreal at the same time. Between mountain slopes, we see a glacier pouring into a lake, the moon in the midst of a cloud illuminated by its light, an area enclosed by a low wall, perhaps an ancient site. Blurred and pixelated, we see short films with similar motifs: a lonely iceberg in the water, walls and stones in no man’s land.

Nils Olav Bøe’s puzzles are created in a completely playful manner. In his studio, he builds small models out of cardboard, plasticine, and other simple materials. He also uses a brush to paint delicate cloud formations in the distant sky onto cardboard. These miniature worlds serve as motifs for his photographs.

The artist himself says he wants to find images for inner states of mind. This explanation seems to make sense and lets us look twice. Maybe this is what states of minds look like; perhaps that is what makes the works so fascinating. Something within us is addressed that lies beyond the tangible. Bøe’s visual orchestration of image, film, and sound opens up the possibility of seeing inner spaces and states – including within ourselves.

Nils Olav Bøe (*1958) lives and works in Oslo. Educated at art academies in Oslo and Bergen. Bøe had a number of exhibitions, including in Berlin, New York, Rio de Janeiro, London, Houston, Reykjavik, Stockholm and Oslo. In 2013 he participated in the exhibition „international discoveries”, Photo Biennial Houston, USA and in 2015/16 at the Norwegian Sculpture Biennial, Vigeland Museum, Oslo. His work has been purchased by public collections such as the National Museum in Oslo, the Oslo Municipal Art Collection, the Gothenburg Art Museum, Sweden, the Sogn og Fjordane Art Museum in Førde in addition to national and international collections.