Morten B. Masri (b. 1977) is a Danish painter and sculptor, who lives and works in Copenhagen. He graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 2014.

According to Masri, his works are concerned with “potential experiences”: That which is not, but might come to be. His paintings, often monumental in both scale and subject, seek a liminal position between Man and the world; between belief and knowledge; between cognition and fact.

Masri’s universe utilizes seemingly incompatible historical elements to a great extent and without shame: Ancient Greek statues are placed carelessly in the wide-bellied wooden boats of the Danish Skagen painters, as if they were all variations on “Nike of Samothrace”, familiar scenes from the most iconic paintings of the Romantic era are emulated in the foreground, and behind his towering sculptures, the skillful painter pays tribute to the main protagonists of the Color Field movement. The works bear titles such as “The Terminal Beach” – a J.G. Ballard reference – and “Heavenly Widened Roses” – a line from Lou Reed’s “Sweet Jane” – and quotes in the paintings themselves paraphrase everything from Brian Eno to Ekelöf.

Morten B. Masri revels in the fragmented and poetic; that, which was once dubbed postmodernism, but which ought more fittingly be labeled bricolage. The point of this atomization, de-hierarchization and juxtaposition of seemingly contradictory elements, is to force the viewer to see anew and thereby hopefully perceive the world differently. The individual components aren’t necessarily important to the painter; rather, they act as exemplary forms that help structure the composition of the painting. It is about provoking curiosity and facilitating contemplation through equal parts recognition and confusion. And of course, as we all know, the devil is in the detail.

Morten B. Masri's work has been exhibited in the Dalian Art Museum in China; at Viborg Kunsthal, Denmark; with Copenhagen's Kunsthal Charlottenborg and at Volta, Basel. In 2014 he had his first major solo with the now defunct LARM gallery.