Reykjavík Grapevine - 09.05.2014, Page 19

Icelandic Art,
If There Is Such
A Thing
As it approaches its third
decade, i8 Gallery has
transcended its roots
By John Rogers
Additional reporting by
Anna Andersen, Burke Jam
and Larissa Kyzer
Photos By Ari Magg
On the ground floor of a grey apartment building, across
from Reykjavík’s old harbour, around the corner from
the Reykjavík Art Museum, and a five minute walk from
the heart of the city’s centre, sits a quiet gallery space
which takes its name—i8—from its original location at
Ingólfsstræti 8.
So unassuming is its exterior that you’d be forgiven for
missing i8 altogether, but step into its brightly pristine and
cube-like interior on any given day and you’ll find your-
self surrounded by works of art by Iceland’s most brilliant
talents and other visionaries and innovators from around
the world.
Just last month, guests poured into i8 to see a new work
by seminal artist Hreinn Friðfinsson. Plucking bottles of
Heineken and water from a giant tub of ice by the door,
members of Reykjavík’s art community chatted cheerful-
ly while making their way around the five-screen video
exhibition. Entitled “A Portrait of a Sculptor as a Sculp-
ture, For a Sculpture by the Sculptor” the show featured
Hreinn’s friend, the sculptor Kristinn E. Hrafnsson, knit-
ting a hat, skating in wide, giddy circles around Tjörnin,
vigorously hula-hooping in front of a beautiful shoreline
and sunset, and jumping, somewhat precariously, on a
trampoline. It was a distinctly festive atmosphere, with
children skipping around their parents’ legs and bottles
clinking, and just one of the many exciting openings that
i8 will have this year.
Nineteen years since it first opened its doors (coinciden-
tally with a show by Hreinn), i8 has become internation-
ally known and respected for its ambitious programme
and strong conceptual aesthetic. It was high time that we
chat with Börkur Árnason, the man running Iceland’s
foremost independent gallery and representing 20 artists
internationally.