Georg Óskar (b. 1985, Iceland) is a painter who lives and works in Oslo, Norway.
Óskar's practice is characterized by an inside-out, process-driven approach that prioritizes psychological presence and material honesty. His painting process is one in which internal psychological states, rather than premeditated composition, determine form. The paintings develop through a visible accumulation, rupture, and revision of material, leaving traces of both decision and collapse evident on the surface.
In his work, faces and figures emerge not as fixed representations but as raw moments of psychological presence. Paint functions as both a material and a register, conveying tension, vulnerability, and duration. Rather than resolving images toward clarity, Óskar allows instability and ambiguity to remain active within the work.
His practice is grounded in sustained engagement with painting as a physical and temporal process. Surfaces are built slowly, resisting narrative closure and rewarding prolonged looking rather than immediate recognition. The work privileges emotional depth and material honesty over stylistic coherence or spectacle.
Situated within a lineage of instinctive, materially driven painting, Óskar’s work remains rooted in lived experience rather than historical quotation. His paintings operate as sites of presence—attentive to inner states, time, and the limits of control.
Education
2016 — MFA, Bergen Academy of Art and Design, Bergen, Norway
2009 — Akureyri School of Visual Art, Akureyri, Iceland
2008 — Lahti Polytechnic of Fine Arts, Lahti, Finland
2009 — Akureyri School of Visual Art, Akureyri, Iceland
2008 — Lahti Polytechnic of Fine Arts, Lahti, Finland
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2025 — The Color of Fog, Richard Koh Fine Arts, Singapore
2025 — Gallery Port, Reykjavík, Iceland
2024 — Akureyri Art Museum, Akureyri, Iceland
2024 — Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo, Norway
2024 — Good Night Moon, JD Malat Gallery, London, UK
2023 — BGE Contemporary, Stavanger, Norway
2022 — L21 Gallery, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
2021 — Pain Thing, JD Malat Gallery, London, UK
2019 — Richard Koh Fine Arts, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2018 — Galerie 95, Bienne, Switzerland
2017 — Akureyri Art Museum, Akureyri, Iceland
2025 — Gallery Port, Reykjavík, Iceland
2024 — Akureyri Art Museum, Akureyri, Iceland
2024 — Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo, Norway
2024 — Good Night Moon, JD Malat Gallery, London, UK
2023 — BGE Contemporary, Stavanger, Norway
2022 — L21 Gallery, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
2021 — Pain Thing, JD Malat Gallery, London, UK
2019 — Richard Koh Fine Arts, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2018 — Galerie 95, Bienne, Switzerland
2017 — Akureyri Art Museum, Akureyri, Iceland
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023 — Summer Exhibition, JD Malat Gallery, London, UK
2022 — Contemporary Chaos, Fondazione Made in Cloister, Naples, Italy
2021 — Remaster, Tou Ølhallene, Stavanger, Norway
2020 — Migrant Bird Space, Berlin, Germany
2018 — Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium, Vestfossen, Norway
2018 — Dada Post, Berlin, Germany
2017 — Accessing the Memory I, Project Space, Beijing, China
2022 — Contemporary Chaos, Fondazione Made in Cloister, Naples, Italy
2021 — Remaster, Tou Ølhallene, Stavanger, Norway
2020 — Migrant Bird Space, Berlin, Germany
2018 — Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium, Vestfossen, Norway
2018 — Dada Post, Berlin, Germany
2017 — Accessing the Memory I, Project Space, Beijing, China
Art Fairs
2025 — Art SG, Singapore (Richard Koh Fine Arts)
2025 — Art Basel Hong Kong (Richard Koh Fine Arts)
2022 — Untitled Art, Miami, (USA, JD Malat Gallery)
2021 — KunstRAI, Amsterdam, Netherlands (Galerie with Tsjalling)
2025 — Art Basel Hong Kong (Richard Koh Fine Arts)
2022 — Untitled Art, Miami, (USA, JD Malat Gallery)
2021 — KunstRAI, Amsterdam, Netherlands (Galerie with Tsjalling)
Publications
2020 — Your Dream is Dead, Kerber Verlag, Germany
Grants & Awards
2024 — Icelandic Working Grant, Iceland
2023 — Billedkunstnernes Vederlagsfond, Norway
2021 — Billedkunstnernes Vederlagsfond, Norway
2020 — Icelandic Visual Arts Fund
2016 — Arts Council Norway, Diversestipend (Newly Graduated Artists)