Reykjavík Grapevine - 03.06.2016, Blaðsíða 47

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stylish and casual atmosphere in the heart
of down town Reykjavík.
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Art Street50
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 7 — 2016
To the casual observer there seems
to be a multitude of small art gal-
leries dotting Reykjavík’s interior.
However, exhibition space in the
downtown area is still limited for
those looking to showcase work.
Harbinger Project Space opened
its doors two years ago, on what
co-founder Steinunn Önnudóttir
credits as a whim. And, although it
was originally conceived as a space
to present foreign and local work
equally, the pressure to provide an
inventive haven for Icelandic art-
ists appears immutable.
Despite this, Steinunn has
worked hard at bringing in foreign
artists: Harbinger’s current show is
by the Swedish/Indian artist Chan-
dra Sen. ‘Find Home’, the gallery’s
first-ever painting exhibition, runs
until June 11 and emphasizes Chan-
dra’s talents as a colourist. The ex-
hibition features a book of draw-
ings and eleven tempera paintings,
on either canvas or medium-den-
sity fiberboards. Although the di-
mensions of Chandra’s pieces vary
greatly, the size of her paintings is
usually inversely proportional to
the scale of her subjects. “Chandra
manages to display the vastness of
her subjects in tiny paintings much
better than had they been huge,”
Steinunn says. “So she’s playing
with scale in an intriguing way.”
What’s in a name?
A name did not spring fully formed
into the creator’s mind when con-
structing the project space. Rather,
Steinunn went through more of a
process of elimination than a cre-
ative development to find a suit-
able title. She decided against the
traditional path of naming gal-
leries after founders. But the less
formal practice of using onomato-
poeias or humorous redundancies
didn’t appeal to here either. She
finally settled on Harbinger after
what she calls a “desperate Google
chase.” In spite of this, there is
method to the seeming random-
ness. Steinunn counted off several
of the name’s attributes. It’s a word
that is not instantaneously recog-
nizable even to those who claim
English as their native language.
Because of this enigmatic quality
the true meaning of the word can
be adapted or ignored. Neverthe-
less, Steinunn is happy with the
term’s actual definition and wel-
comes the connotations it brings.
“Harbinger relates to the harbour,
a safe haven or a temporary shel-
ter, which was the intent with set-
ting up the space,” Steinunn says.
“Its archaic meaning is a bit relat-
ed to the avant-garde—the harbin-
ger is the front-runner who goes
ahead to provide lodgings for the
ones who are coming.”

Keep keeping on
Steinunn has several goals for Har-
binger, not least of which is foster-
ing a greater artistic community.
“Being an artist is a little narcis-
sistic,” Steinunn says. “It’s putting
your own need for expression above
society’s most easily recognisable
needs for useful subjects.”
She’s quick to clarify that art has
intrinsic value, to be sure, but that
much of the time individuals are
interested in themselves as artists
first and foremost, and their as-
cension in the art world. Collabo-
ration and community often play
second fiddle. “I think it would be
relieving for each individual artist
to be able to shift that focus,” she
says, “and I would love to see the
art that could come out of it.”

Harbing er is open Thursday, Friday
and Saturday from 14:00 – 17:00 and
by appointment.
SHARE: gpv.is/harbinger
Consumers
of Culture
Words KELLEY REES Photo ART BICNICK