Reykjavík Grapevine - 05.01.2018, Blaðsíða 36

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Icelandic Art
Powers Up
Berg Contemporary has international ambitions
Words: John Rogers Photo: Art Bicnick
Exhibition
Ingunn Fjóla Ingþórsdóttir and
Þórdís Jóhannesdóttir opens at
BERG on January 12th
Berg Contemporary sits discreet-
ly on Klapparstígur, just metres
away from the bustle of pedestri-
ans and traffic of Hverfisgata. Lo-
cated in a multi-floored building
that was once a glass factory, it
holds several crisp, spacious, im-
maculately maintained gallery
rooms and offices, and a year-
round exhibition programme.
The soft-spoken and mild
mannered owner and director of
the gallery is Ingibjörg Jónsdót-
tir, an artist, teacher, and cura-
tor with several decades of ex-
perience. The project is, for her,
a labour of love that’s been long
in the making. “I studied in Ice-
land, Mexico and Denmark,” says
Ingibjörg. “I’ve taught here at the
Icelandic College of Arts & Crafts,
and later at the Icelandic Academy
of Arts when that started around
the year 2000. I’ve curated shows
at the Reykjavík Art Museum, and
abroad, and collected art for a
long time. So running a gallery
was the last thing I wanted to try.
It was a thread I needed to pull at.”
Surprising space
The gallery opened in summer
2016 after a long period of plan-
ning, and a search for the right
space. Today, Berg represents
eleven artists, from Iceland and
abroad. “I like the idea that when
artists make an exhibition for
this gallery, they make some-
thing they wouldn’t have if the
gallery wasn’t here,” says Ingib-
jörg. “I know from curating and
hanging my own shows that
the space is very important. It
changes things. I’ve always been
excited, when we start to mount
an exhibition, about how it will
turn out. It always surprises me.”
Despite this long-held wish,
Ingibjörg didn’t embark on the
journey lightly. “I wanted to be
sure it was something I real-
ly wanted to do, because it’s a
big commitment to the artists
and collectors,” she says. “It’s
not something you just give up.”
Opening doors
The role of gallerist has many fac-
ets, from programming the space
and organising the business to
networking, curating, promot-
ing and mentoring. ”I want to
be encouraging, inspiring and
supportive, helping artists along
and trying to open doors for
them,” says Ingibjörg. “As I teach-
er I wasn’t very dominant—it
was more about having conver-
sations, and helping artists to
find the things inside them. The
things that are already there.”
“And of course, it’s about com-
municating with the outside art
world, to create opportunities for
exhibitions and things like that,”
she continues. “I’ve been an artist
myself, so I know what it means
to have that kind of support.”
International flavour
Berg has quickly become a go-
to for contemporary art in Rey-
kjavík, hosting lauded exhibitions
by, amongst others, Finnbogi
Pétursson, Dodda Maggý and
Haraldur Jónsson, and taking
steps out into the world at inter-
national art fairs. But the space
is still evolving, with a video
projection space and a residen-
cy apartment planned in 2018.
“We’re preparing an apart-
ment here so we can have artists
in residence,” says Ingibjörg. “It’s
healthy for the community of art-
ists here to have people visiting
from abroad. I don’t think there
are borders in art. There are many
interesting Icelandic artists of
course, but we have also artists
from Japan, the USA, Germa-
ny, and other countries. I think
it enriches the cultural life here,
and it allows bridges to be built
and connections to be made.”
Ingibjörg Jónsdóttir
i8 Gallery
Tryggvagata 16
101 Reykjavík
info@i8.is
t: 551 3666
www.i8.is
ROBERT IRWIN
until 27 January 2018
Open 11:30-22:00
saegreif inn. is
Geirsgata 8 • 101 Reykjavík • Tel. 553 1500 • seabaron8@gmail.com
An absolute
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Saegreifinn restaurant (Sea Baron) is like none other
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