Reykjavík Grapevine - 07.10.2016, Side 28

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Art 28
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 16 — 2016
It could have been awkward, but in-
stead, Inga María’s stay at a summer
house in þingvellir became a weekend
of bonding and sharing, like-minded
women connecting as artists and,
more deeply, as friends. Inga was in-
vited by a friend, but didn’t know the
host or the other two women there.
Everyone was agreeable—even the
weather was cooperating, a miracu-
lous occurrence in Iceland. The five
women spent most of the weekend in
and out of the hot pot on the deck. Inga
María felt a connection with the host,
Caroline Vitelli. They seemed to fit to-
gether, in personality, in values, in as-
pirations—one of those rare moments
where you find someone so similar to
you that you can become close friends
after a weekend. As soon as Inga María
returned home that Sunday evening,
she started researching Caroline on
Facebook, Instagram, the usual ave-
nues. That’s when Inga María discov-
ered that her art, Inga María’s art, had
been exhibited and sold as prints in
Switzerland by Caroline—before ei-
ther of them had ever met.
Inga María’s full name is Inga
María Brynjarsdóttir. She’s a visual
artist here in Iceland. The first thing
you notice about her when you meet
her are her eyes. She has this look
about her like she wants to tell you
the best story you’ve ever heard. She
started telling me this story over a
year ago. This story about stolen art,
attempted reconciliation, fake Face-
book accounts, hospitalization and,
finally, her choice to move on.
Moving back and forth between Ice-
land and abroad, I never got a chance
to sit down and write this story. Last
winter I met Inga María in a tiki bar
downtown called Bar Ananas. She had
a dead rat in her purse, a piece of her
new art project. We decided then and
there, over mojitos and a rodent car-
cass, that this story was too interest-
ing not to tell.
Googling Caroline /
Confronting Caroline
“While I was looking Caroline up on-
line, I bumped into a drawing of mine,”
says Inga María, elbows on the table
and leaning forward with enthusiasm.
“At first I thought it was a Google mis-
take. You know when your search re-
sults get mixed together or whatever,
but no. It wasn’t.” Inga María found a
series of images by Caroline Vitelli that
had been exhibited in Switzerland in
2011. Inga María had originally exhibit-
ed her work in 2008. Caroline and Inga
María did not meet until March 2015.
“It was basically my work,” laughs
Inga María. “Except it wasn’t done
in charcoal, like I did, it was done in
pen and pencil with some grey tone
smeared in. I found it hilarious at
first.” It was surreal. The art Caroline
had supposedly copied was from the
first exhibition Inga María had ever
done. The originals were in the homes
of friends, family and her ex-boy-
friend. Inga María confronted Caro-
line. It was awkward.
“She was selling prints of my draw-
ings on her website. It was not good,”
says Inga María. “I decided to confront
my friend Harpa Einarsdóttir, the one
who invited me to the summer house
in the first place. Her and Caroline
were living together here in Iceland.
They had become really close, like soul-
mates. They had gotten matching tat-
toos.” Caroline had moved to Iceland
and was trying to find ways of stay-
ing here. She was applying for artist
residencies and looking for work. Her
boyfriend was Icelandic.
Harpa confronted Caroline and
showed Inga María the Facebook mes-
sages they had sent each other. At first,
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GPV.IS/TSF
Words
YORK
UNDERWOOD
Additional Research
And Transcribing
SIGNE SMALA
Art
INGA MARÍA
BRYNJARS-
DÓTTIR
The Short
Friendship
Of An Icelandic Artist With The
Woman Stealing Her Art