August 1 - September 20, 2015

Opening Reception- 
Saturday August 1, 7-10pm

Suprimitive

Atle Østrem

ASBURY PARK, NJ  – Exhibit No.9 is pleased to host urban artist Atle Østrem’s second solo exhibition at the gallery - "SUPRIMITIVE” -  a mix of paintings and prints on paper and canvas inspired by a mix of urban culture, everyday social issues, all viewed through the artist’s unique style and perspective.

"Atle’s work pays homage to graffiti’s history and his own start as a graffiti artist in Norway. The intricacies, overlapping figures, characters and stories are all interconnected with both humor and stark seriousness. His work is playful and distinctly identifiable, with layers of story telling true to his artform. We are thrilled to have his second solo exhibition with us” - Tom White, Director

Atle Østrem, from Stavanger, Norway, has been painting graffiti since the mid-1990s and creating artworks on paper and canvas since 2000. Østrem has rapidly established a name for himself within the urban art community in Norway. Among numerous gallery shows, he has also been commissioned by private collectors throughout Europe, along with commissions to paint Stavanger Prison and the University of Stavanger. He was invited as one of two Norwegian artists for Komafest, where street and urban artists, curated by Pøbel, are invited to paint on abandoned houses in Vardø, Norway.

Fascinated by the contrast between ugliness and beauty, he explores the "beauglyful" zone where they intersect. His strong iconic existential characters are at once playful and dark, childlike and thoughtfully provocative. They inhabit an interior world and capture those fleeting elements of daily life and emotion, that once we shine a spotlight on them, have the power to show us what it means to be human. Østrem does not consider himself a street artist, nor a fine artist, but something in between. Something beauglyful.