Reykjavík Grapevine


Reykjavík Grapevine - 05.01.2018, Blaðsíða 36

Reykjavík Grapevine - 05.01.2018, Blaðsíða 36
Art Find today's events in Iceland! Download our free listings app - APPENING on the Apple and Android stores 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 must-try! Saegreifinn restaurant (Sea Baron) is like none other in Iceland; a world famous lobster soup and a diverse fish selection.
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Reykjavík Grapevine

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