Martin Whatson

Norwegian stencil and street artist Martin Whatson restores color to a drab world, juxtaposing grayscale compositions of dancers, animals and art history icons against prismatic eruptions of graffiti scribbles.  

Martin discovered Oslo’s dynamic urban art culture while studying art and design at the city’s Westerdals School of Communication, producing his first stencils during the winter of 2004 and making his first group show appearance two years later. He has since headlined solo exhibitions in Tokyo, London, Los Angeles, Paris and Brussels, and collaborated with brands including Norwegian furniture designer Eikund and Japanese apparel maker Wind and Sea.

Martin made his Vertical Gallery debut in late 2014 as one of 50 artists featured in ‘ARTmageddon,’ and returned a few months later for our second anniversary group show ‘2 for 2.’ He remains a staple of our programming efforts, headlining the solo exhibition 'RE:TURN' at SCOPE Miami Beach 2021 and appearing in our anniversary group shows in 2025 and 2026.