Reykjavík Grapevine - jul. 2022, Side 21

21The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 07— 2022Art Picks
Art Exhibitions
Gallery openings, happenings, showings and pop-up
exhibitions all around the capital region.
Send details of yours to: events@grapevine.is
Opening
ÁSMUNDARSALUR
Essentially untitled
The multidisciplinary French artist
Claire Paugum´s exhibition focuses
on questioning. With common rules
and representations in mind, she
confronts sensitive experiences,
demonstrating the unstable nature
of images. Exploring themes of
shapelessness, entropy, disorder,
and letting go, her art lives in the
space as living beings would. Some
crawl on the floor and walls, some
become fluid matter, integrating
seamlessly into the space yet chal-
lenging the spatial perspective.
• Opens on July 16th
• Runs until August 14th
Ongoing
REYKJAVÍK ART MUSEUM - HAFNARHÚS
Erró: The Power of Images
Erró is undoubtedly Iceland’s best-
known visual artist. The Reykjavík Art
Museum is custodian of nearly 4000
pieces of the artist's work after he
began donating them in the 1980s,
and this exhibition of more than 300 of
them is the most extensive showing
of Erró's works ever seen in Iceland.
Videos, graphics, and collages—with
larger works in public spaces, and
paintings of all scales— showcase
Erro’s eclectic appropriation of imag-
ery from every possible domain.
• Runs until September 29th
AUSTURVÖLLUR
Bótaþegi
The reality of being disabled and
living in poverty in this prosperous
country is something Hrafn Hólm-
fríðarson Jónsson (aka Krummi)
draws attention to with his photo
exhibition. Krummi explores what it’s
like to suffer material deprivation
in a society that makes you believe
money can buy happiness.
• Runs until July 31st
HALLGRÍMSKIRKJUTORG
Armors
When artist Steinunn Þórarinsdóttir
visited the Metropolitan Museum in
NYC roughly ten years ago, she be-
came fascinated with its extensive
armour collection and what armour
can symbolise. Today, in collabora-
tion with said museum, she displays
three pairs of armoured figures.
Their armour, 3D scanned and
turned into cast metal sculptures,
is based on three precious medi-
aeval armors originating from Italy,
Germany, and England.
• Runs until August 8th
MUSEUM OF DESIGN & APPLIED ART
Bathing Culture
The outdoor geothermal pool is the
most interesting public sphere in
Iceland. A place where strangers
cross paths and acquaintances
meet, it is a source of wellbeing
and a major part of everyday life
for many. This exhibition traces the
development of Icelandic bathing
culture, showing how architects and
designers, pool staff and the public
have together shaped the story.
• Runs until September 25th
Virtual waters
Taking a philosophical approach to
the Iceland bathing culture, Hrund
Atladóttir describes diving into wa-
ter as entering another dimension
full of contradictions. In connection
with the museum’s current ‘bath-
ing culture’ exhibition, this work
challenges viewers to dive into this
dimension through virtual reality
and experience the effect water can
have on perception.
• Runs until October 23rd
KLING OG BANG
De Rien
Ingibjörg Sigurjónsdóttir’s De Rien
explores tragedy, understanding,
beauty and truth in the 21st century.
She deconstructs details of every-
day life to reconstruct them in an
existential context. Using materials
as diverse as gold, air, office paper
and pigments, Ingibjörg’s works rep-
resent uncontrollable progression.
• Runs until July 24th
I8 GRANDI
In Relation To The Sun
i8 Grandi is a new exhibition space,
the unique concept of which is to
focus on year-long shows by single
artists. The exhibitions will evolve
while on view, allowing their cre-
ators to reflect how the passage of
time alters their work and encour-
age repeat viewings to observe
those changes. This inaugural
exhibition by Alicja Kwade encom-
passes installation, sculpture and
work on paper. Its title—initially “In
Relation To The Sun”—will change as
the nature of the pieces on display
evolves.
• Runs until December 22nd
NATIONAL LIBRARY
Sir Joseph Banks - Iceland Expedition
Joseph Banks joined Captain James
Cook on his first voyage around
the world. Barely a year after they
returned, he led the first British
scientific expedition to Iceland in
1772, exactly 250 years ago. The
National Library opens up an exhibi-
tion to celebrate the anniversary of
his voyage.
• Runs until November 20th
HAFNARBORG
In the Depths of Your Own Awareness
This retrospective exhibition fea-
tures works spanning Gunnar Örn
Gunnarsson’s almost 40 year career.
His first exhibition raised existential
questions regarding modern soci-
ety and set the precedent for what
would be his lifelong inspiration:
human existence. This retrospective
exhibition features works spanning
his career, embodying the artist’s
spiritual search.
• Runs until August 28th
HVERFISGALLERÍ
Inner Space
Three dimensional wall works,
reliefs, and a colour palette ranging
from untreated wood, to principal
colours, to neon. Belgian artist
Jeanine Cohen’s solo exhibition
explores the effect colours and
shapes can have on our spatial
experience. While each piece is a
stand-alone work of art, she uses
the exhibition space to stimulate
a collaborative dialogue between
them. .
• Runs until September 29th
ÁSMUNDARSALUR
We the Mountain
For this solo exhibition, the Danish
Julie Laenkholm works with the
poetry of Guðny frá Klömbrum.
Laenkholm’s works are made using
wool, traditional dyeing techniques
and needle felting she was intro-
duced to in her ancestral home-
town Húsavik and, driven by female
history, explore the transformation
of pain and healing and collective
activation.
• Runs until July 10th
KJARVALSSTAÐIR

Stitches and Threads
Local artists explore and confront
social issues, the poetry of everyday
life, and the tenderness of nostalgia
through embroidery and use of
needlework. The exhibition focuses
on this sub-discipline within textile
art, and where some honour its heri-
tage traditionally, others approach
it via progressive mixed media
experiments.
• Runs until September 18th
REYKJAVÍK ART MUSEUM - ÁSMUNDARSAFN
Spatial Infractions
Rósa Gísladóttir exhibits her work in
conversation with that of Icelandic
sculpture pioneer Ásmundur Sveins-
son. Rósa is best known for her
creations in the medium of plaster,
but she often references architec-
ture in her work and here will use
Ásmundarsafn, the museum building
itself, as a sculpture.
• Runs until August 7th
NATIONAL GALLERY
Liðamót / Ode to Join
Margét H. Blöndal’s exhibition hon-
ours connections. The title refers to
the result of movement when three
or more joints come together. Ode
to Join consists of drawings made
with powdered pigments and oil,
and three dimensional works that
were made within the space of the
museum. Each individual work of art
is intended to work in combination
with the surrounding pieces, be-
coming almost a symphonic poem
where all are joined together.
• Runs until October 2nd

REYKJAVÍK MUSEUM OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Light Space - Shadow Space
Ester Jóhannesdóttir’s work
explores how abstract forms and
shadows can be transformed into
clearer, graspable imagery through
photography and the use of natural
light. The exhibition displays her
photographs of buildings, shot both
inside and outside at different times
of day, exploring the relationship
between opposites as darkness re-
treats with increased natural light.
• Runs until August 16th
GERÐARSAFN
We can talk
This exhibition marks the end of a
collaboration between prominent
cross-disciplinary festivals and
institutions located in five Nordic
countries, initiated by Platform GÁTT.
Nine artists showcase their work, re-
flecting on what it means to be part
of the Nordic Region and exploring
both the positive and the negative
aspects of a shared identity.
• Runs until September 4th
NATIONAL GALLERY
Jewellery of Dieter Roth
Mostly known as a visual artist, mu-
sician, poet, thinker, and trailblazer,
Dieter Roth’s creation of innovative
jewellery is often overlooked. This
exhibition showcases his unique
and experimental approach to
jewellery-making and bears witness
to his unconventional methods that
make him the versatile artist he is
known as today.
• Runs until September 23rd

July 1st—August 4th

NR4 Umhverfing
July 2 - End of August - Westfjords
“Akademía Skyn-
junarinnar”, which
can be translated
to “Academy
of Perception”,
is hosting the
fourth edition
of their annual
“Umhverfing” art
journey. The aim
of the project
is to promote
local culture
through art in
both traditional
and unconven-
tional ways and
spaces, stimulat-
ing discussions
about art and
life with the local
community.
For this year’s
edition they
established col-
laborations with
127 artists who
will showcase
their work around
the Westfjords,
Strandir, and
Dalabyggð. Every
participating
artist has roots
leading back to
these locations,
whether it’s cur-
rent or dating
back generations,
thus reconnect-
ing artists with
their origins. The
exhibition takes
the viewer on a
literal journey
through art, cul-
ture and nature
with the help
of GPS points.
More information
about the diverse
and cultural
programme (in-
cluding lectures,
talks, guided art
walks, and group
trips between
venues) can be
found on their
website. KW

ALDA
Until September 4 - Gerðarsafn
Challenging the boundaries
between visual arts and dance,
ALDA draws upon the history of
women’s collective physical labour
through repetitive movement and
song in order to initiate an intimate
convergence. ALDA is the result of a
collaboration between choreogra-
pher Katrín Gunnarsdóttir, designer
Eva Signý Berger, and Baldvin Þór
Magnússon. KW
MUSEUM OF DESIGN
AND APPLIED ART
GARÐATORG 1
210 GARÐABÆR
OPEN TUE–SUN 12–17
WWW.HONNUNARSAFN.IS Instagram Facebook honnunarsafn
EXHIBITIONS
BATHING CULTURE UNTIL 23.10.
THE PLATFORM
HRUND ATLADÓTTIR
VIRTUAL WATERS UNTIL 23.10.
RESIDENCY
HÖGNA SIGURÐAR DÓTTIR
ARCHITECTURAL MODELS
UNTIL 31.08.
BEHIND SCENES
TIDY UP UNTIL 31.12.

Heads from Clouds
Until September 28 - Kjarvalsstaðir
Jóhannes S. Kjarval, one of Iceland’s
most beloved painters, is known for
his portraits and artistic interpreta-
tion of Icelandic nature. He started
his career in 1923 and won the
heart of the nation when he started
depicting the “common people”. The
connection he establishes between
his portraits and Icelandic nature
is something he is still known for
today. KW

Sea Lava Circle
Until July 30 - i8 Gallery
Art collector power couple Pétur
Arason and Ragna Róbertsdóttir
have been accumulating valuable
pieces of art from established
international and national artists
for over five decades. This unique
exhibition features works from both
their personal collection and pieces
that touch upon i8’s history. The
show includes paintings, sculptures,
photography, and more. KW