Reykjavík Grapevine - sep. 2020, Blaðsíða 26

One Thousand
Ideas & One
Million Actions
The dizzying cacophonic beauty
of Daví# Örn Halldórsson
Words: Hannah Jane Cohen Photo: Art Bicnick
Arranged on stark white walls,
Daví! Örn Halldórsson’s new-
est exhibition “Ókei, Au pair” at
Hverfisgallerí is a blur of poison-
ous, neon colours that wind them-
selves into symbols, splashes and
dizzying designs. On the surface,
you could say that the collection
is a retrospective of his two and a
half years living in Stuttgart, Ger-
many. “I tried to gather most of the
paintings that I made in that peri-
od, almost like a museum show:
‘The Stuttgart Years,’” the artist
says, laughing. “But if I say ‘The
Stuttgart Years’ it sounds like 20,
right? But it’s only two.” He smiles.
Labyrinthine
wallpaper
But upon first viewing, it’s obvi-
ous that Daví!’s paintings do tell a
story of the past, not only of Stutt-
gart but of the labyrinthine way
each painting is made. Each de-
tail of each piece—and there are
many, many details—viscerally
carries you to the physical action
that forged it. “That’s an invisible
theme of the show,” he nods. “[Be-
ing in a] certain time and certain
place.”
This is particularly evident in
a piece called ‘Balaclava.’ Daví!
points to a small smudge in it.
“They are layered. There is a whole
painting that I sanded away to
get these small elements that I
built the new painting on, so it’s
like three paintings in one,” he
explains. In truth, ‘Balaclava’ is a
hypnotising experience, covered in
a series of nearly-alike purple and
green symbols, brightly coloured
geometrics, primitive spirals and
sickly-sweet contradictions. It
feels more like 50 paintings in one,
to be honest. That said, with every
stroke and speck, you can deftly
imagine Daví! making each one
of those fifty over those two and a
half years.
Another example of Daví!’s
material storytelling comes in
the form of a large painting on the
first wall of the exhibition entitled
‘Waffen und Gerat.’
“This is from the
walls of my stu-
dio. I took down
the wallpaper and
put it on wooden
paints and covered
it with a new kind
of epoxy,” he says
nonchalantly.
But, he empha-
sises, he never had
any intention while
painting this work
to ever cut it off the wall and put
it in a gallery. In fact, it was nev-
er even intended to be a “work.”
“[This wallpaper was] where I’d
test cans or clean brushes,” he
says. “That’s why I decided to take
it down. It was sort of to empha-
sise that I’m bringing all of the
paintings from this time and place
back to Iceland.”
A horrible/awesome
au pair
But, as the title of the exhibition
indicates, where does the au pair
come in? To whom are we saying
“ok” to? Daví! smiles somewhat
cheekily when asked about the or-
igins of the peculiar name.
“Every piece has a title but they
aren’t really that important. They
are important to me though,” he
says. “[Titles] are out of necessity
so that makes them kind of non-
sensical. But they fit—same with
the titles of the show.”
“I’ve never heard someone de-
scribe an au pair as ‘ok.’ They are
either horrible or awesome,” he
continues. “I’m sort of demanding
that you find the paintings good
or bad, not just ok. And that’s why
I did ‘Ókei,’ because there are so
many reflections on how you can
say it.” He smiles, looking down.
“I just thought it was a bit funny to
walk into an [exhibition] and just
say ‘ok’ in whatever tone.”
For Daví!, it seems he desires
his viewers to garner their full
impression of his works sim-
ply through the
visual impact of
the works them-
selves—no title or
description to clue
them in. “What I’m
putting for ward
is one thousand
ideas and one mil-
lion actions,” he
conclude s. “I ’m
sort of letting peo-
ple into my visual
thought process.
Everything is on display but some
things are a little more hidden,
some are a little more impor-
tant. One thousand ideas and…”
he pauses, trailing off. “Well, one
thousand ideas and a few more ac-
tions.”
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“I’ve never
heard someone
describe an
au pair as ‘ok.’
They are either
horrible or
awesome.”
Daví# Örn gives his all
i8 Gallery
Tryggvagata 16
101 Reykjavík
info@i8.is
t: +354 551 3666
www.i8.is
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