Maarit Murka

1981– · Estonian artist (born 1982)
Allee galerii; Eesti Kunsti Oksjonid; Eesti Kunstiakadeemia muuseum; Eesti Kunstimuuseum; Haus Galerii; NOBA

member of Estonian Artists' Association · trained at Academy of Fine Arts of Helsinki · trained at Estonian Academy of Arts

Maarit Murka (1981) is a painter working in printmaking, installation and video. Her work is characterised by use of narrative, film-like seriality, and extreme technical detail. Murka is considered one of the most skilled photorealist painters who, having mastered this painting technique – and manipulating it, for example, in her series “0.34” (2009) –, has moved on to other means of expression, like spatial installations, use of different media and life situations. For example, during a research trip to the Helmand province in Afghanistan, she documented the daily life of Estonian soldiers and contemporary tactical war strategies, resulting in an ephemeral spray painting, a series of photographs and paintings (2013–2014). Her interest in military themes is also evident in series such as “Short Art Film” (2009) and “Targets” (2011), where Murka depicts a game of positions and wordless communication. In the exhibition “Contact” (2014) Murka interpreted political contacts that are expressed in militaristic form. Exhibiting black and white flags of NATO member states, she was referring to the organisation's principles based on rules and clearly stated activities, where differences between members have been levelled out. Dripping cans of various coloured paint hung from the ceiling hint that a perfect system could never exist. Murka's work often conveys a film-like seriality, best visible in her 16-piece series of paintings, exhibited together with video and installation at the show “Hairpower” (2010). The paintings depict a still from the 1928 French film “The passion of Joan of Arc”, where the heroine's hair is cut prior to her execution. This scene shows the humiliation of a person, but Murka adds other symbolic meanings to the hair, making it simultaneously repulsive and attractive. For the show “Objects in Mirror Are Closer than They Appear” (2013) Murka painted an anonymous and taped-up object from every side, and with the positioning of the paintings, created an illusion reminiscent of a display case. The relation between reality and painting was also in focus in “Sisus” (2015), where Murka was working in deconstructing painting. In her eyes already the surface of a painting is a site of numerous compromises, enough to enhance its nuances. The process of painting becoming a painting is dependent on quotidian and earthly conditions, often by chance: what is the material, how many times the surface has been coated, etc. The series of multi-surfaced paintings “Minus” (In me) takes the viewer right inside the work, as the surface is reflective and the.

18 auction lots · 8 sold · 2005–2026 · €652 – €24,100 — as the auction houses published them; not a valuation

Coming up at auction: 30.10.2026 Vaal galerii: Piiritaja, starting price €350 · 31.10.2026 Eesti Kunsti Oksjonid: A Maze, starting price €4,600 — all coming sales

For sale now

18 works at Haus Galerii, NOBA, €650–€6,800. Prices as the galleries state them.

Positsioon 5
€650 · NOBA ↗Ikkagi inimene
€900 · NOBA ↗Welcome to 3
€900 · NOBA ↗Welcome to
€900 · NOBA ↗Welcome to 2
€900 · NOBA ↗16 shots before 2/2
€1,400 · NOBA ↗16 shots before 8/2
€1,400 · NOBA ↗16 shots before 3/2
€1,400 · NOBA ↗16 shots before 6/2
€1,400 · NOBA ↗Mirror mirror
€2,600 · Haus Galerii ↗Kogemus
€2,800 · NOBA ↗Short Art Film – based on a true story 3
€4,700 · NOBA ↗

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Short Art Film – based on a true story 3
2009 · NOBAShort Art Film – based on a true story 4
2009 · NOBAShort Art Film – based on a true story 2
2009 · NOBAShort Art Film – based on a true story 6
2009 · NOBA16 shots before 2/2
2010 · NOBA16 shots before 8/2
2010 · NOBA16 shots before 3/2
2010 · NOBA16 shots before 6/2
2010 · NOBAKogemus
2010 · NOBAMirror mirror
2013 · Haus GaleriiPunane
2015 · NOBAKonverteeritud I. 2010 - 2023
Haus GaleriiTarget 6
2026 · Haus GaleriiPositsioon 5
2015 · NOBAIkkagi inimene
2017 · NOBAWelcome to 3
2017 · NOBAWelcome to
2017 · NOBAWelcome to 2
2017 · NOBA

18 works with a picture; the first 18 here, all in the catalogue. Pictures for public-domain works, live gallery listings and the works galleries and artists show on their own pages, from those servers.

Similar artists — same period, media and subjects: Meiu Münt · Priit Pajos · Mall Nukke · Nelly Drell · Einar Vene · Valdek Alber

Also trained at Academy of Fine Arts of Helsinki: Herbert Lukk · Kuutti Lavonen · Jalmari Ruokokoski

Also in Estonian Artists' Association: Vive Tolli · Mare Vint · Priidu Aavik · Marju Mutsu · Endel Taniloo

Contemporaries in NOBA: Al Paldrok · Tiiu Kirsipuu · Martin Lazarev · Kaia Otstak · Pille Johanson

By decade: 2000s · 2010s · 2020s
By medium: Painting · Print · Drawing · Mixed media
Where the works are: Tartu Art Museum · Art Museum of Estonia · Estonian Academy of Arts Museum

← Maarika Tang · All artists A–Z · Maarit Mälgi →

Museum records from MuIS and the EKM Digital Collection; gallery stock from the galleries' own catalogues; auction results as Haus Galerii, Vernissage, Allee galerii, Vaal galerii, E-Kunstisalong, Eesti Kunsti Oksjonid and Kunstikoda published them, and the lots Osta Noort Kunsti offered (it publishes no results). Full catalogue · Corrections, removals, questions: info@museaal.ee · Privacy