Nils Erichsen Martin (Norwegian, b. 1969) is a ceramicist producing graphic, figurative sculptures and bas-reliefs infused with the playful gestures and signs of everyday identity. Martin’s aesthetic lifts from consumer culture, Cubism, drawn animation, and graphic advertisement. Often comic in appearance, his porcelain and stoneware troupe of characters is comprised of martial artists and skateboarders, snooker players and pranksters, among a host of other personas. As participants in street sports and youth subcultures, these characters perform an irreverent and flippant nonchalance, often posing and showing off or reclined in supine indolence. Cartoon-like, their jagged haircuts, elongated fingers, cylindrical limbs, and rounded body parts set them apart. Occasionally, Martin returns to the smooth curves of these sculptures, incorporating drawings on the porcelain surface with oxide pencils. The division between two-dimensional perspective and three-dimensional rendering is muddied, each glimpse of a character superimposed on a subsequent one, giving the impression of dynamic motion as in a comic strip, a kickboxing match, or a strobe-lit music video.
Martin holds a masters degree in ceramics from the Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry. He has exhibited widely in Norway and internationally, including at the CLAY Museum of Ceramic Art, the Kunstbanken Art Museum, the Sørlandet Art Museum, the Jingdezhen Ceramic University Art Museum, the Suzhou Jinji Lake Art Museum, and the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts. From 1994–95, he was a visiting artist at the Leedy/Voulkos Art Center in Kansas City, MO. Martin received the ten-year national grant for established artists in 2014 and again in 2023.
EDUCATION
1993
MFA, Ceramics Department, Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024
Pop Cowboy, Grenland Art Hall, Porsgrunn, Norway
2018
Loose Fit Supertight, Format Gallery, Oslo, Norway
2013
Pop from the Barricades, Format Gallery, Oslo, Norway
2009
Veldig Krig, Kunstnerforbundet Gallery, Oslo, Norway
2007
Re-arment Time, Blomqvist Auction House, Oslo, Norway
2002
Men of Steel, Bomuldsfabriken Art Hall, Arendal, Norway
2001
Apollo 13, Format (Kraft) Gallery, Bergen, Norway
2000
Boy Pranks, The Norwegian Drawing Association, Oslo, Norway
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024
Lys, SKOG Artspace, Oslo, Norway
2023
Keramikk Ringebu 1993-2023 (Ringebu Ceramics 1993–2023), The Centre for Ceramic Art, Ringebu, Norway
2022
Skulptursti (Sculpture Trail), Wergelandshaugen Art Center, Eidsvoll, Norway
2021
As Far as My Eyes Can Sea, Bomuldsfabriken Kunsthall, Arendal, Norway
Happy Go Nothing, Studio 1/2, Oslo, Norway
JDZ International Ceramic Art Biennale, Jingdezhen, China
Less than 0,002 mm, Hå Gamle Prestegård, Jæren, Norway
Galleri Villvin, Risør, Norway
Hvitsten Salong, Hvitsen, Norway
2020
IAC New Members Exhibition, Beijing Guozhong Ceramic Art Museum, Beijing, China
2019
Ceramic Momentum, CLAY Museum of Ceramic Art, Middelfart, Denmark
2018
Chart Design, Copenhagen, Denmark
2017
Annual Exhibition of Contemporary Arts and Crafts, The Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, Oslo, Norway
2016
Annual Exhibition of Contemporary Arts and Crafts, The Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, Oslo, Norway
2015
Annual Exhibition of Contemporary Arts and Crafts, The Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, Oslo, Norway
Transformator (Transformer), Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo, Norway
Bomuldsfabriken Kunsthall, Arendal, Norway
Hydrogenfabrikken, Fredrikstad, Norway
2014
Beyond G(l)aze, Jinji Lake Art Museum, Suzhou, China
Transformator (Transformer), Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo, Norway
SOFA Chicago
2012
Collect, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
2011
Annual Exhibition of Contemporary Arts and Crafts, The Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, Oslo, Norway
2010
Essens (Essence), Kunstbanken Art Museum, Hamar, Norway
Kuben Art Museum, Ålesund, Norway
Telephonebooth Gallery, Kansas City, MO
2009
Annual Exhibition of Contemporary Arts and Crafts, The Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, Oslo, Norway
Telephonebooth Gallery, Kansas City, MO
2008
A World of Folk, Stavanger, Norway
Telephonebooth Gallery, Kansas City, MO
2007
Meccano, Sørlandet Art Museum, Kristiansand, Norway
Telephonebooth Gallery, Kansas City, MO
2006
World Ceramics, Steninge Castle, Stockholm, Sweden
2004
Østlandsutstillingen Annual Art Exhibition, Kunstbanken Senter for Samtidskunst, Hamar, Norway
Vårutstillingen (The Spring Exhibition), The Norwegian Drawing Association, Oslo, Norway
2003
Trolls, International Traveling Exhibition by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
2002
Norwegian Ceramics, Munich, Germany
2001
Sotheby’s International Young Art, Sotheby’s, Tel Aviv, Israel
Vårutstillingen (The Spring Exhibition), The Norwegian Drawing Association, Oslo, Norway
Østlandsutstillingen Annual Art Exhibition, Norway
The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, New York, NY
1999
Ceramic Millenium, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1998
Annual Exhibition of Contemporary Arts and Crafts, The Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, Oslo, Norway
Talente (Talents), Munich, Germany
1997
Tendenser (Trends), Gallery F-15, Jeløya, Norway
1995
Brytninger (Wrestling), Nordenfjeldske Kunstindustrimuseum, The National Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, Trondheim, Norway
Leedy/Voulkos Art Gallery, Kansas City, MO
1994
Vi Blomstrer (We Flourish), The Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, Oslo, Norway
PUBLIC COMMISSIONS
2016
Bodø High School, Bodø, Norway
2015
Bodø High School, Bodø, Norway
2014
Bodø High School, Bodø, Norway
Vennesla High School, Vennesla, Norway
2003
Mysen Primary School, Mysen, Norway
COLLECTIONS
Bank of Norway
REV Ocean
SKMU Sørlandets Kunstmuseum, Kristiansand, Norway
St. Olav’s Hospital, Trondheim, Norway
The City of Oslo, Norway
The Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, Oslo, Norway
The National Museum’s Drawing Collection, Oslo, Norway
The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The North Region Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, Trondheim, Norway
The Vest Region Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, Bergen, Norway
GRANTS & AWARDS
2023
Ten-Year National Grant for Established Artists
2014
Ten-Year National Grant for Established Artists
2013
Study Grant from the Arts and Crafts Fund
2012
Study Grant from the Arts and Crafts Fund
2011
Unrestricted National Grant
2009
Two-Year National Work Grant
2006
Three-Year National Work Grant
2003
National Grant for Material Costs
2002
One-Year National Work Grant for Younger Artists
2001
National Grant for Travels
The City of Oslo Culture Prize
Steen Gallery, Spring Exhibition, First Place Prize
2000
National Grant for Debutants
One-Year National Work Grant for Younger Artists
1999
One-Year National Work Grant for Younger Artists
1998
National Grant for Young Artists
Third Place Prize, Steen Gallery, Spring Exhibition
1994
National Grant for Material Costs
