Reykjavík Grapevine - 09.11.2018, Síða 36

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Árni Paints
The Sea
An oceanic new exhibition looks at
one of painting’s classic subjects
Words: Claudia Schultz Photo: Art Bicnick
Exhibition
‘Öldur Aldanna’ is open from Nov.
10th at 16:00 until Nov. 30th at
Listamenn Gallerí, Skúlagata 32. The
opening will also feature musician
Högni Egilsson.
The entrance to Gallery Port—
through a narrow passage leading
off Laugavegur—has that special
feeling of leading to something
hidden away. Once inside, how-
ever, the wooden floors and high
ceilings create an airy exhibition
space.
Árni Már Erlingsson is the art-
ist who owns and runs the gallery.
I find him sitting
in his office—a
little mayhem of
creativity—wear-
ing a striking red
hat. Every inch
of the space is
filled with paint
and empt y cof-
fee cups, and the walls are lined
with paintings. He smiles and wel-
comes me inside.
Ocean spirit
Árni is working on his upcoming
exhibition at Listamenn Galleri,
located not far away on Skúlagata.
“The concept of the exhibition is
the sea,” he says, gesturing to the
paintings leaning against the gal-
lery wall. “I really love the sea. I
started to go sea swimming three
years ago. It started out as being a
challenge and I like that. And then
I just got hooked on it.”
Árni doesn’t only feel connect-
ed to the sea through enjoying it.
“I also have some spiritual ideas,
just about life,” he says. “I like hav-
ing something more powerful in
my life than myself. Some years
ago, I tried to fig-
ure out what that
could be. Basic re-
ligions don’t work
out for me. I was
standing in a gar-
den in Germany,
and I thought: ‘Of
course! The sea,
the nature, all of these things,
they’re much more powerful than
me.’” He laughs, almost blushing.
“It’s such a cliché, being an artist
and having all those ideas about
nature.”
Content of his
current artwork
Árni approached this classic sub-
ject from some characteristically
interesting angles. “When mak-
ing art, I don’t want to do a bunch
of paintings just by taking photos
of the sea,” he explains. “I want to
create a resemblance of it, in col-
ors, in brushstrokes.” He points to
the tattoo on his arm—three wavy
lines in different shades of blue.
“I’m doing three paintings show-
ing these waves,” he continues. “It
will show an adding up of waves—
the rising of the sea levels.”
The exhibit will also include
screen prints. “They include
waves, but they look more like a
musical .WAV file,” he says. “I don’t
just want perfect little waves, like
they’re supposed to be.”
Don’t take it so
seriously
So, what does Árni want people
to take away from the exhibition?
“First of all, I’d like people not
to take it so seriously,” he says.
“Sometimes there’s some huge
concept and you have to know the
artist and his works, but some-
times it’s just about going in there
and enjoying it,” he smiles. “Or
not! You don’t need somebody else
to tell you about the reasons why
a painting is nice. It is about what
you take out of it yourself. It’s shal-
low, it’s not deep art. I just wanted
to do something nice.”
“It’s such a cliché,
being an artist and
having all those
ideas about nature.”
Sometimes, we all get the blues
i8 Gallery
Tryggvagata 16
101 Reykjavík
info@i8.is
t: +354 551 3666
www.i8.is
MAGNÚS INGVAR ÁGÚSTSSON
ÖRN ALEXANDER ÁMUNDASON
ELÍSABET BRYNHILDARDÓTTIR
EMMA HEIÐARSDÓTTIR
UNA BJÖRG MAGNÚSDÓTTIR
SIGURÐUR ATLI SIGURÐSSON
Formation
15 November 2018 - 12 January 2019
VISIT KÓPAVOGUR
CULTURE HOUSES
AND EXPERIENCE
Cycle Music and Art Festival – Inclusive Nation
EXCLUSIVLY
INCLUSIVE
25/10 – 6/1 2019
&
MENNINGARHUSIN.
K O P A V O G U R . I S
Náttúrufræðistofa Kópavogs Natural History Museum of Kópavogur
Bókasafn Kópavogs Kópavogur Public Library
Hamraborg 4–6 Kópavogur Bus 1, 2, 4, 28, 35 & 36
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