Marianne Aulie

Marianne Aulie
Marianne Aulie and Aune Sand
Born	(1971-10-23)October 23, 1971
Nationality	Norwegian
Occupation	painter

Marianne Aulie (born 23 October 1971 in Lørenskog) is a Norwegian painter and former model.

Born 23 October 1971 in Lørenskog, Marianne Aulie is a Norwegian contemporary artist, primarily known for painting and performance art. Aulie’s large, colorful and expressive paintings explore the neo expressionist, action paint and neo pop art movements. Aulie is also known for her controversial performance art and guerilla marketing tactics to draw attention to her work, often employing nudity and dramatic gestures to do so.

Early Life & Career

Aulie grew up in Lorenskog, in Greater Oslo, Norway. In the mid 1990s she met the twin of Norwegian artist Vebjørn Sand, Aune Sand, while he was making his debut feature film Dis in Cairo, Egypt. After helping Aune make the film and with his encouragement, Aulie returned to Norway to pursue her ambitions in art.

In Norway Aulie, pregnant with her first child, juggled three odd jobs while she applied for the Bergen Academy of Art & Design. After nearly being admitted twice in a row, Aulie decided to try and sell her paintings rather than continue to pursue a professional education. Of this time she said:

“When I was so close to the goal and not yet admitted to the Academy, I decided that I must show my child that I am strong enough to support us. I gave myself two or three years to pursue art. I had an easel in the corner of Galleri Sand at Grünerløkka. Vebjørn and Aune’s big brother, Håvard, sold pictures from the gallery to companies around Norway. One day he brought my pictures too. When a business bought all 10 of my pictures, I realized: I could live off my art.”

Galleri Sand in New York

In 2008, Vebjørn Sand, together with his twin Aune Sand and Marianne Aulie, opened Galleri Sand in New York to work there fulltime and ultimately showcase their work. On opening night in October of 2009 they sold paintings for over 3,700,000 kroner.

Art as Merchandise

In 2010, Galleri Sand was hired to open Allkopi concept stores for 1 million NOK. Allkopi, Norway’s largest graphic chain and a traditionally business to business company, was looking to break into the consumer market at the time. Given Galleri Sand’s creative reputation, they were contracted to help build brand awareness for Allkopi with the Norwegian public. As part of the partnership Allkopi also bought the rights to print graphics based on Aulie paintings, and images based on Aune Sand’s films onto various materials from aluminum to glass and traditional print.

To promote the partnership, Allkopi CEO Christian Paulsen “bought” a pair of Aulie’s underwear as part of the deal. In a publicized gesture, Aulie pasted her panties onto a picture and swung a paintbrush over them to symbolically establish art for the partnership. Of the move Aulie said, “The act of handing over my underwear is a symbolic acton. It’s performance art combined with painting. It’s about expressing the person I am. A symbol for being a strong and free woman.”

Triumph of the Optimist

Aulie’s trademark series of paintings are “Triumph of the Optimist” and “Narrespill”. The paintings feature clown-like figures as the focus. Of the figures Aulie said, “These are good creatures. Beings that want good. They are naive, but very kind. So the ‘Triumph of the Optimist’ is all about building each other up,"

Aulie summarized the ultimate purpose of her trademark work with: "We have to see each other and those who are unseen. And together perform the victory dance of the optimists. We have to separate from the cynicism, egoism, and materialism that we see in our society. We believe in the triumph of kindness, that to be good and tender is a victory.”

External links

• Aulie's official website