Reykjavík Grapevine - mar 2021, Qupperneq 21

Our Picks
21The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 03— 2021
Art Listin%s
Events are listed by venue. For complete
listin!s and detailed information on venues,
visit !rapevine.is/happenin!.
Send your listin!s to: listin!s@!rapevine.is
Opening
REYKJAVÍK ART MUSEUM )
KJARVALSSTA*IR
Eternal Recurrence
Jóhannes S. Kjarval—a%er whom the
museum is named—is here put in
dialogue with a number of promi-
nent contemporary Iceland artists
including Ólafur Elíasson, Ragnar
Kjartansson, Steina and Eggert
Pétursson. Now that's a lineup.
• Opens on March 27th, 2021
• Runs until September 19th, 2021
Ongoing
NATIONAL GALLERY OF ICELAND
Of The North
'Of the North' (2001) is created from
Steina’s archive of video recordings,
mostly of Icelandic nature—ei-
ther the surface of the earth, or
microscopic views: microbes, as
well as crashing waves and melting
ice, landslips and an array of natural
phenomena relating to geological
formation and destruction of our
planet.
• Runs until January 9th, 2022
Barren Land
In 2004, landscape painter Georg
Gu"ni bought a plot of land and built
a studio, which he entitled Berangur
('Barren Land'). This name could
really be appplied to all his works he
created there—they are all touched
with a rugged sensibility of the
craggy weather-beaten barren land
on which they were made. Check out
a selection here.
• Runs until April 25th, 2021
HELLO UNIVERSE
It's 2021 and we're over Earth. Enter
Finnur Jónsson. The avant-garde art
of Finnur—the first Icelandic artist
to address outer space in his works,
in the first half of the 20th cen-
tury—presents the artist's unfet-
tered interpretation of the marvels
of the celestial bodies, which are
the theme of this exhibition. Always
remember: We are but matter expe-
riencing itself on a pale blue dot.
• Runs until January 9th, 2022
EINAR JÓNSSON MUSEUM
Permanent Exhibition
The museum contains close to
300 artworks including a beautiful
garden with 26 bronze casts of the
artist’s sculptures.
REYKJAVÍK CITY MUSEUM
Settlement Exhibition
As Viking ruins meet digital technol-
ogy, this exhibition provides insight
into Reykjavík's farms at the time of
the first settlers.
REYKJAVÍK MUSEUM OF PHOTOGRAPHY
The Silent But Noble Art
Sigurhans Vignir (1894-1975) le%
the museum an archive of around
40,000 photographs. Many of these
document everyday Icelandic
society just a%er the creation of the
Republic of Iceland in 1944—a chris-
tening, labourers at work, people
skating, the occupation of Iceland
during World War II by British troops,
a beauty pageant, a birthday party, a
wigmaker… and so on.
• Runs until September 9th, 2021
The Arctic Circus
For one and a half years, photogra-
phers Haakon Sand and Gudmund
Sand followed the everyday life of
Sirkus Íslands. So, you could perhaps
say... they ran away and joined (pho-
tographed) the circus.
• Runs until May 30th, 2021
REYKJAVÍK MARITIME MUSEUM
Fish & Folk
Name a better duo than fish and
Iceland. You can’t. So come learn
about the history of Icelandic fisher-
ies from row boats to monstrous
trawlers.
Melckmeyt 1659
Melckmeyt was a Dutch merchant
ship that crashed near Flatey Island
in 1659. Explore the wreck here.
with two images of di#erent origins
against each other.
MUSEUM OF DESIGN AND APPLIED ART
Peysa Me# Öllu Fyrir Alla
You’d be a little taken aback if your
doctor turned up with green lips,
vampire fangs and dental braces or
a giant tongue covered in a dozen
tiny tongues—although maybe not
in these strange times—but these
are just the sort of surreal realities
that +r Jóhannsdóttir—artist name
+rúrarí—creates. Now she’s got a
studio project that will see her make
her tongue-filled projects using only
discarded sweaters from the Red
Cross. Stop by on March 14th, 16th
and 23rd to join in.
• Runs until May 29th, 2021
DEIGLUMÓR: Ceramics from Icelandic
Clay 1930 – 1970
While ceramic art has followed hu-
mans since their earliest years, few
relics of ceramic art from ancient
Iceland have been preserved. That
said, there is still a rich history of
Icelandic clay in the 20th century
and this exhibition is here to high-
light the numerous workshops that
took up the cause of Icelandic clay
over the last hundred years.
• Runs until May 9th, 2021

REYKJAVÍK ART MUSEUM ) HAFNARHÚS
Ragnar Axelsson:
Where The World Is Melting
Grapevine-favourite Ragnar Axelsson
presents a not-to-miss exhibition
with selections from his 'Faces of
the North', 'Glacier', and 'Heroes Of
The North' series. Ragnar has been
documenting the Arctic for over 40
years, and in stark black-and-white
images, he captures the elemental,
human experience of nature at the
edge of the liveable world.
• Runs until May 9th, 2021
Hulda Rós Gu#nadóttir: WERK – Labor
Move
Hulda Rós Gu"nadóttir's installation
in the lobby of the museum consists
of a three-channel filmic work,
sculptures, and a video recording of
the assembly of said sculptures. It's
an exploration of the multi-layered
global economy—featuring dock-
works mimicking their own work in
repeated choreography. Ooph, that
really puts our work into perspec-
tive, right?
• Runs until May 9th, 2021
D42 Klængur Gunnarsson: Crooked
Klængur Gunnarsson blends
documentary and fiction to create
a skewed view of everyday life and
activities in this exhibition. The goal?
Make you question the importance
of taking a break. Just saying: We at
the Grapevine love breaks. It's why
we haven't yet developed a space
program.
• Runs until March 14th, 2021
Raw Power
Wait, another Erró exhibition? You
bet! This one places Erró's works
from di#erent periods in the
context of contemporary Icelandic
art. It's a diverse selection that,
as always, contain the numerous
media reference the artist has
become known for.
• Runs until May 25th, 2021
REYKJAVÍK ART MUSEUM )
KJARVALSSTA*IR
Jóhannes S. Kjarval: At Home
Jóhannes Sveinsson Kjarval (1885-
1972) was one of the pioneers
of Icelandic art (the museum is
literally named a%er him) and is
one of the country‘s most beloved
artists. His connection to, and
interpretation of Iceland’s natural
environment is thought to have
taught Icelanders to appreciate it
anew, and to have encouraged pride
in the country’s uniqueness and the
world of adventure to be discovered
within it.
• Runs until March 14th, 2021
Sigur#ur Árni Sigur#sson: Expanse
In this mid-career retrospective,
Sigur"ur Árni Sigur"sson presents
a series of paintings which dissect
just how we view the world around
us. Sigur"ur's works are known for
exploring the limits of our field of
vision and how that forms the basis
of our worldview.
• Runs until March 14th, 2021
GER*ARSAFN KÓPAVOGUR ART MUSEUM
Castles In The Sky
Kópavogur: A town that birthed not
just this art museum but also artists
Berglind Jóna Hlynsdóttir, Bjarki
Bragason, Eirún Sigur"arsdóttir, and
Unnar Örn Au"arson. Now, all four
present their views on this grand
development.
• Runs until May 15th, 2021
GER&UR
As the first Icelandic artist to use
iron in her artwork, Ger"ur Hel-
gadóttir was a pioneer of three-
dimensional abstract art in Iceland.
Ger"ur's creativity and experimental
nature is a motif within the museum
and reflects its unique position of
being the only museum founded
in honour of a female artist. Using
iron plates or steel wires, the artist
created delicate compositions in
space, o%en with a cosmic refer-
ence.
• Runs until April 18th, 2021

HAFNARBORG
What Meets the Eye
A retrospective of works by local
goldsmith and artist Gunnar Hjalta-
son (1920-1999). . The images depict
landscapes, town views of Haf-
nar$ör"ur and the Icelandic nature,
as Gunnar was a great outdoorsman.
• Runs until March 21st, 2021

LIVING ART MUSEUM
Katie Paterson —
The Earth Has Many Keys
The exhibition features works about
the earth and the universe, geo-
logical and cosmic time, poetic and
philosophical connections between
man and the world around us. Katie
Paterson has mapped all the dead
stars, created a light bulb to simu-
late the experience of moonlight,
sent a meteorite back into space,
and developed a scented candle
that creates a scented journey
from the surface of the Earth, up to
the Moon, via the stars and into a
vacuum.
• Runs until April 25th, 2021

FLÆ*I
Konur
Anika Batkowska is a photographer
and a sociologist currently living
and creating in Iceland. In this
exhibition, she presents a series
exploring society's requirements
towards woman—their
temperament, role in society, body
image and self-determination.
• Runs until March 14th, 2021

MIDPUNKT
So" Shell
Margrét Helga Sesseljudóttir and
Thea Meinert present an installation
inspired by the apartment of physi-
cist and chemist Marie Curie, which
was highly radioactive. In fact, Marie
herself kept a piece of radioactive
radium next to her bed as a night-
light. Eek... not the best idea.
• Runs until March 28th, 2021
March 12th-April 8th
D43 Au#ur Lóa
Gu#nadóttir: Yes/No
March 18th-May 9th - Reykjavík Art
Museum Hafnarhús
Au"ur Lóa
Gu"nadóttir—the
print-size sculp-
tor and Princess
Diana scholar—is
a Grapevine
favourite. In fact,
you might have
read about her
in our last issue.
Now, she’s here
with a solo exhibi-
tion at Hafnarhús
presenting more
than 100 new
sculptures made
over the past two
years. Yes, you
read that right.
100 new sculp-
tures—Giacomet-
ti could never! So
come experience
house pets, inter-
net cats, found
photographs, his-
torical reproduc-
tions, Instagram
pics and more
put into physical
form, exploring
issues as vast as
post-colonialism
and institutional
discrimination
to good ole’
humour. If you
want to study up
before the show,
spend some
time diving into
English pottery
in Sta#ordshire.
As Au"ur told the
Grapevine, that’s
where she got
the inspiration for
this show. HJC

Andreas Eriksson
Until April 3rd - i8
Swedish artist
Andreas Eriksson
journeys between
painting, tapestry,
sculpture, photog-
raphy, film, and
installation. In
the past, he’s de-
scribed his works
as “existential
landscapes”—
personal explora-
tions of his own
reality. Most of all,
he’s known for his
innovative use of
texture. But still,
please don’t touch
the paintings. HJC

Shu Yi: A Lin%erin%
Until March 31st -
Mutt Gallery
Usin! ultra-lon!
exposures, Shu Yi
presents a series
on experiencin!
time. The aim is
to document a
usually-for!et-
table moment
throu!h observa-
tion. This is Mutt
Gallery’s second
exhibition and
we can’t be more
excited about
their future. (Yes,
we know we're
supposed to be
talkin! about the
present.) HJC

The Arctic Circus
Until May 30th
- Reykjavík
Museum of Pho-
to!raphy
For one and
a half years,
photographers
Haakon Sand
and Gudmund
Sand followed
Sirkus Íslands,
documenting
the tightly knit
groupas they did
their average
trapeze-esque
activities. So you
could perhaps
say… they ran
away and joined
the circus... HJC
Gar!atorg 1· Gar!abær
Open Tue - Sun 12 -17
Exhibitions:

Designer in Residence - !rúrarí
Until May 23

Icelandic Ceramics 1930 – 1970
Until May 9