Nils Olav Bøe
Nils Olav Bøe’s artistic practice operates at the intersection of sculpture, scenography, and spatial installation. He creates physical miniature worlds and staged situations to explore the shifting relationship between reality, fiction, time, and perception.
Through meticulous constructions of miniature tableaux and model-like architecture, Bøe creates fictional spaces that nevertheless appear deeply familiar. These constructed environments occupy an ambiguous space between the real and the imagined.
The camera does not document an existing world, but records the outcome of an extensive conceptual and material process. Photography and film form an integral part of the construction of a new spatial reality.
Within this process, scale becomes unstable. The miniature exceeds its physical dimensions and opens onto an imagined architecture into which the viewer is invited. The works are presented as large-scale photographs, video projections, and spatial installations, often in dialogue with abstract, minimalist sound works. Sound introduces an additional temporal and spatial dimension, bringing the elements together into an immersive, multisensory experience.
Biography & CV
Born 1958. Lives and works in Oslo, Norway.
Nils Olav Bøe is a Norwegian contemporary artist working across installation, photography, and sculpture. With a career spanning over four decades, Bøe has exhibited extensively both nationally and internationally, including solo exhibitions at Galerie Albrecht (Berlin), Vigeland Museum (Oslo), and Reykjavik Museum of Photography. His works are represented in major public and institutional collections, most notably the National Museum (Oslo), Oslo Municipality Art Collection, and Gothenburg Art Museum (Sweden).
SOLO EXHIBITIONS (Selection)
2026 "Sonate II", Galerie Albrecht, Berlin
2024 "Sonate", Hovedøya Arthall, Oslo
2023 Buer Gallery, Oslo
2022 Gunnar S Galleriet, Høyanger
2020 Shoot Gallery, Oslo
2018 Shoot Gallery, Oslo
2015 Semmingsen Gallery, Oslo
2013 Reykjavik Museum of Photography, Iceland
2010 Alte Schule Gallery, Berlin
2008 Red Door Gallery, Zurich
2008 Sogn og Fjordane Museum, Førde
2007 Field Gallery, Berlin
2007 Brandstrup Gallery, Oslo
2006 Anders Svor Museum, Hornindal
2006 Laznia Centre for Contemporary Art, Gdansk
2005 Blickensdorff Gallery, Berlin
2004/05 Vigeland Museum, Oslo
2004 Brandstrup Gallery, Oslo
2002 Brandstrup Gallery, Oslo
2000 Gallery Olle Olsson, Stockholm
1999 Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo
1998 Haugar Vestfold Art Museum, Tønsberg
1997 Gulp Gallery, Reykjavik
1996 Østfold Artist Center, Fredrikstad
1995 The Viewing Room, Kulturhuset, Bergen
1993 Galleri K, Oslo
1991 U.K.S., Oslo
1989 Wang Art Store, Oslo
1988/89 Norwegian Technical Museum, Oslo
1986 Henie-Onstad Art Center, Oslo
GROUP EXHIBITIONS (Selection)
2026 "Where we are", Sogn Kunstsenter
2025/26 "Apocalypse. From the outermost dome to climate threat", Gothenburg Art Museum
2024 Buer Gallery, Oslo
2023 Buer Gallery, Oslo
2021 Shoot Gallery, Oslo
2020 "Return to sender", Kunstplass 10, Oslo
2019 Shoot Gallery, Oslo
2015-2016 "Norwegian Sculpture Biennale", Vigeland Museum, Oslo
2015 Gothenburg Art Museum, Sweden
2014 No.sphere, New York
2013 "International Discoveries IV", FotoFest Gallery, Houston, Texas
2013 "Nostalgia", Pie Factory Gallery, Margate, England
2013 "The Northern Lights", Cass Gallery, London
2012 Gallery.NO, New York
2010 Marziart International Galerie, Hamburg
2007 Field Gallery, Berlin
2007 Art League Houston, USA
2006 Central Exhibition Hall, St. Petersburg
2006 Arkhangelsk Museum of Art, Russia
2006 Novosibirsk Art Museum, Russia
2005 B4-Video, Kunstcenter Berlin
2005 Museum der Moderne, Salzburg
2004 "Norwegian Pictures", Galleri Asbæk, Copenhagen
2003 "Class of 2003", Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium
2002 Museu de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2002/03 "Norwegische Bilder", Kulturabteilung Bayer, Leverkusen
2002 "Husesyn", Uppsala Art Museum, Sweden
2000 "Modellmakerne", Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo
1998 "Fellessentralen", Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo
1996 "Brudd", Bergen Kunstforening
1996 "Jubilee Exhibition", Norwegian Sculptors Association, Henie-Onstad Kunstsenter
1995 "Art in a department store" (with S. Påhlsson), Steen & Strøm, Oslo
1992 Kulturhuset, Stockholm
1991 "Just arrived", Museum of Contemporary Art, Oslo
1991 "Art Triennial for the Baltic States", Vilnius
1991 "Aurora 4", Nordic Art Biennale, Suomenlinna
1986 Video installation, Gallery F-15, Moss
1985 Gallery Rotor, Gothenburg
Statens Høstutstilling: 1982, 1992, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2009, 2017
DECORATIONS / PUBLIC COMMISSIONS (Selection)
2017 "EPHEMERALITY, A Permanent Collection", Faculty of Art and Design, Bergen
2014 St. Olavs Hospital, Trondheim
2011 Arbeidermonument, Gjøvik
2009-2022 Oscarsborg Fortress
2005 Høgskolesenteret i Harstad
2005 Elvebakken Upper Secondary School, Oslo
2003 Hotell Refsnes Gods, Moss
2001 Huseby Kompetansesenter, Oslo
1999 Nye Rikshospitalet, Oslo
1989 Televerket, Førde
COLLECTIONS / PURCHASES (Selection)
National Museum, Oslo (2002, 2024)
Oslo Municipality Art Collection (2005, 2018, 2024)
Gothenburg Art Museum, Sweden (2014)
Sogn og Fjordane Art Museum (2006)
Statoil Art Collection (2003)
Bank of Norway, Oslo (2001)
EDUCATION
1983-1985 State Academy of Fine Arts, Oslo
1981-1983 Western Art Academy, Bergen
CONTACT
Email: nilsolav@me.com
Phone: +47 911 76 056