Reykjavík Grapevine - apr 2021, Qupperneq 21

Our Picks
21The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 04— 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 &
ÁSMUNDARSAFN
Sirra Sigrún Sigur!ardóttir
Sirra’s work is cosmic in nature,
o#en connected to speculations
about our position within the inner
workings of nature, physics and
the forces that drive the world. Her
works o#en display our position as
individuals, our significance and
insignificance. As an existentialist
paper, who ruminated on our own
obscurity, we can't agree more.
• Opens on April 22nd, 2021
• Runs until October 17th, 2021

MUTT GALLERY
Almar Steinn Atlason: Útför á sólar-
ströng
Grapevine-favourite Almar Steinn At-
lason presents a series of paintings
he made from 2016-2017 while living
in a van on the island of La Réunion
in the Indian Ocean. According to
the performance artist/painter, they
were inspired by internal chaos,
personal shortcomings and the
awkwardness and beautifulness of
existence.
• Opens on April 11th, 2021
• Runs until May 16th, 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 19th, 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 installa-
tion 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 explora-
tion of the multi-layered global
economy—featuring dockworks
mimicking their own work in re-
peated choreography. Ooph, that
really puts our work into perspec-
tive, right?
• Runs until May 9th, 2021
D43 Au!ur Lóa Gu!nadóttir: Yes/No
Au!ur Lóa Gu!nadóttir—the
print-size sculptor and Princess
Diana scholar—is here with more
than 100 new sculptures. So come
experience house pets, internet
cats, found photographs, histori-
cal reproductions, Instagram pics
and more put into physical form,
exploring issues as vast as post-
colonialism and institutional dis-
crimination to good ole’ humour.
• Runs until May 9th, 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 30th, 2021
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.
• Runs until September 19th, 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
Magic Meeting - A Decate On
Spanish-Icelandic art duo Libia
Castro and Ólafur Ólafsson haven't
done a solo exhibition at Hafnarborg
in 10 years. Now they're back with an
exploration of the Icelandic (not yet
o)cial) Constitution. Remember?
That document written in 2008 that
the public agreed with in a referen-
dum but someone Parliament won't
o)cially ratify?
• Runs until May 30th, 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

KLING OG BANG
Yes, a falling tree makes a sound
(and it has a lot to say)
Curated by Helena A!alsteinsdóttir,
Kling og Bang’s new exhibition pres-
ents a series of works inspired by
feminist science fiction. Artists such
as Brokat Films, Tarek Lakhrissi and
more showcase reimagined futures,
rewrite patriarchal narratives and
o%er artistic recentralisations of
marginalised identities.
• Runs until May 9th, 2021
April 9th-May 6th
Sigur!ur Gu!jónsson:
Unseen Fields
April 9th-June 5th -
BERG Contemporary
Sigur!ur Gu!jóns-
son will be Ice-
land’s representa-
tive for the 59th
Venice Biennale in
2022, but you can
see his works a
bit closer to home
right now, you
lucky dog! Known
for his immersive
explorations
of machinery,
construction and
relics, Sigur!ur
combines the
natural with the
technological in a
series of complex
intertwined sound
and visual experi-
ences. His works
are basically syn-
aesthesia, except
for those without
synaesthesia,
you know? In this
exhibit, he dives
into the hidden
landscapes of
matter, unveiling
the uncanny and
alien character
of daily phenom-
ena that are o#
ignored. So drop
by for some visual
and aural sensa-
tions you might
have never felt
before, you lucky
dog! HJC

E!li hlutanna
Until April 11th -
Midpunkt
Birgir Sigur!s-
son and Elín
Anna $órisdóttir
team up for this
duo-exhibition at
Kópavogur’s Mid-
punkt Gallery. This
time, it’s all about
light sculptures
and viewers will
be able to fiddle
with a remote
control to change
the colours of the
lights, thereby
making their own
mark. Congrats—
you’re an artist
now. HJC

The Earth Has Many Keys
Until April 25th
- Livin" Art
Museum
The Earth. The
Universe. Man.
Time. Meet Katie
Paterson. Here,
she mapped out
dead stars and
created a li"ht
bulb that simu-
lates moonli"ht.
Accordin" to her
statement, she
also sent a me-
teorite back into
space. Is that
true? Perhaps
her real name is
Katie “'X Æ A-12”
Paterson. HJC

Húsvör!ur slær í $e$n
April 10th-25th
- $ula
There’s a lot
going on here at
$ula, the gallery
the Grapevine
simps hard for.
Made by Helga
Páley Fri!*jófs-
dóttir, this exhibi-
tion translates
to “Janitors Big
Hit”. Helga was a
member of the
Kunstschlager
collective back
in the day, which
Grapevine also
simped hard for. A
win-win combina-
taion. 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