Margrethe Aanestad (b. 1974, Stavanger, Norway) lives and works between Stavanger, Norway and New York, USA. Her practice encompasses drawing, painting and sculpture. Aanestad studied fine arts at the Rogaland Art College and graduated with a BA from the University of Stavanger. Aanestad has exhibited worldwide. Solo exhibitions include YI GALLERY, NY (Forthcoming, 2024); Abingdon Studios, Blackpool, UK (2019); Kunsthall Stavanger, Norway (2018); Dimensions Variable, Miami, FL (2015) and Open Source Gallery (2013) in New York, NY. She participated in group shows and art fairs in California, New York, Miami, Copenhagen, Tokyo and multiple cities in her native Norway. In 2011, Aanestad co-founded an artist-run gallery, Prosjektrom Normanns. in Stavanger, which she co-directed until its closing in 2020.


In her work, Margrethe Aanestad aims to carry through a nerve–a personal and visceral presence that allows the viewer an immediate entry into a space of deep contemplation: steadiness, silence and chaos. “It’s about eliciting a sensation that opens up for presence.” Through a ritualistic and meditative approach, Aanestad creates abstract drawings and paintings with the external expression of an inner attentiveness, plumbing the depths of herself and the shared human condition. Her rigorous and spare compositions vary from large scale pastel drawings to improvisational brush strokes on raw canvases. Often subtly referencing the landscape and celestial sphere, her work remains wholly non-representational, transcending physical realms while inviting perceptual encounters.