Entrée is proud to present Early, a solo exhibition by Bergen-based artist Mathijs van Geest. Bringing together both new and reimagined works, the exhibition unfolds a careful arrangement of shifts in perception. Through precise and often understated gestures, overlooked situations are discovered with renewed intensity.
With an open title, Early inhabits the liminal space preceding the main event, that moment of time where anticipation is shaped by uncertainty and possibility. Early points to how language can suspend, obscure, or even distort our experience of what is to come.
In his artistic practice of objects, words and spatial interventions, Mathijs van Geest constructs conditions for proposals, concepts, and imagined scenarios to emerge. These often subtle and open-ended gestures originate from small moments of non-alignment, non-compliance and a certain unwillingness taking place in everyday life. It is within these instances of hesitation, potential failure, doubt, or ‘the almost’ that meaning becomes particularly charged. Such moments have the potential to quietly disrupt established structures and reveal alternative ways of relating to the world, however modest their scale.
With a background in graphic design, Mathijs van Geest studied visual art in Rotterdam and Bergen. He has participated in several solo and group exhibitions such as Tag Team and Visningsrommet USF in Bergen, the Norwegian Sculpture Biennial in Oslo, Høstutstillingen, Vestlandsutstillingen, and Sørlandsutstillingen, Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo; Peach, Rotterdam, Ancien Musée de Peinture, Grenoble; and EKKM Museum of Contemporary Art, Tallinn.
Mathijs van Geest has initiated and collaborated on several artist-run projects and initiatives, including The /// Project, Apis Press, and Katla. He was the director of Hordaland kunstsenter from 2018 to 2026 and is currently the director of KRAFT in Bergen.
Mathijs van Geest, Early, exhibition view Entrée.
Mathijs van Geest, This, than that (2026). Entrance fence removed and hung inside, 91,5 x 100 x 26 cm.
Mathijs van Geest, Don’t ask, I won’t do it (2026). Used box, cardboard, coffee pod, tie band, pencil sharping, 21 x 22 x 19 cm.
Mathijs van Geest, I woke up and it was all … (2026). C-print, glass, L-hooks, 24 x 17,3 cm.
Mathijs van Geest, You’re a stronger person than I am (2026). Used box, cardboard, coffee pod, tie band, pencil sharping, 16 x 37 x 28,5 cm.
Mathijs van Geest, Early, exhibition view Entrée.
Mathijs van Geest, A day-to-day, that whole time (2026). Extension cable, found image, LED night lamp: on at dusk and off at dawn, 350 x 170 cm.
Mathijs van Geest, Morning to myself (2026). C-print, glass, L-hooks, 24 x 17,3 cm.
Mathijs van Geest, Let her do the talking (2026). Used box, cardboard, coffee pod, tie band, pencil sharping, 27 x 18 x 26 cm.
Mathijs van Geest, You didn't have to (2026). Two pencils with the inscription Not this time.
Mathijs van Geest, My mouth in your words (2026). Silkscreen, A3 poster, ed. 40.
Mathijs van Geest, We did not leave just yet (2026). C-print, glass, L-hooks, 24 x 17,3 cm.
Mathijs van Geest, A few days together (2026). Stickers on gallery window.
Mathijs van Geest, Thanks, that sounds great (2026). Found basket hanging upside down from gallery sign, 19,5 x 19,5 x 7 cm.
Mathijs van Geest, Early, exterior view Entrée.
Mathijs van Geest, A day-to-day, that whole time (2026). Extension cable, found image, LED night lamp: on at dusk and off at dawn, 350 x 170 cm.
Mathijs van Geest, A day-to-day, that whole time (2026). Extension cable, found image, LED night lamp: on at dusk and off at dawn, 350 x 170 cm.
