Reykjavík Grapevine - ágú. 2022, Blaðsíða 21

21The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 08— 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
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 4,000
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
Erró’s eclectic appropriation of imag-
ery from every possible domain.
• Runs until September 29th
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.
• Runs until August 14th
WESTFJORDS
NR. 4 Umhverfing
“Akademía Skynjunarinnar”, which
can be translated to “Academy of
Perception”, is hosting their 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, stimulating
discussions about art and life with
the local community.
For this year’s edition they estab-
lished collaborations with 125 art-
ists who will showcase their work.
All have roots leading back to these
locations, thus reconnecting artists
with origin. The exhibition takes the
viewer on a literal journey through
art, culture and nature with the
help of GPS points. More information
about the diverse programme can
be found on their website.
• Runs until August 27th
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
REYKJANESBÆR ART MUSEUM
Orbit/Ellipse
Gabríela Friðriksdóttir and Björn
Roth approach the world of colour-
ing books from a philosophical and
creative perspective, musing on
whether having to draw within the
lines influences a child’s creativity
negatively. The artists created their
own colouring book that doubles
as the exhibition catalogue and is
available as a numbered art work.
Breaking free from having to draw
within the lines, they present their
own coloured-in versions to explore
boundaries by crossing them.
• Runs until November 13th
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
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

Heads from Clouds
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.
• Runs until September 28th
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
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
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
ALDA
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.
• Runs until September 4th
August 5th—September 1st

FROM THE SHORE TO THE MUDPOOL
Until August 31st - Verksmiðjan -
Hjalteyri
A 'desire path'
represents the
shortest route
between origin
and destination.
The exhibition,
curated by SPIT
Collective, places
the concept of
desire paths in
the context of
Queer ecology.
Referring to NYC’s
waterfront pier's
popularity among
the queer com-
munity of the 70s
as origin, and
the old factory in
Hjalteyri as desti-
nation, the artists
explore how their
practices are
linked to 'cruis-
ing' by reclaiming
spaces through
wandering and
showcasing dif-
ferent mediums
of work such as
performances,
writings, read-
ings, and walking
to create a
dialogue with the
space. The show's
ultimate inten-
tion is to launch
discussion and
research, explor-
ing the place of
outcasts within
today’s society,
and the percep-
tion of public
spaces related to
the queer com-
munity and wom-
en, referencing
NYC’s waterfront
community of the
70’s as archetype
for human and
artistic expres-
sion. KW

Voyage
Until September 18th - Glérhúsið
Glérhúsið is a new exhibition space
that recently opened on Vesturgata
33b in downtown Reykjavík. Berghall
are Olga Bergmann and Anna Hallin
and their most recent collaboration
includes video work called “New Wil-
derness”, accompanied by various
sculptures and drawings. “Voyage”
aims to inspire an active dialogue
between art and its environment.
Open on Sundays. 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.

Some Recent Work
Until October 2nd - National Gallery
of Iceland
The museum showcases a selec-
tion of new works that were gifted
over the past four years, reflecting
the complexity of contemporary
Icelandic art. While many topics are
explored through various media,
systems and repetitions are the
selection's guiding principle. KW

Drawings
Until September 10th - Hverfisgallerí
The gallery’s founding member
Edda Jónsdottir displays 50 framed
pictures created over the last two
years. With paper, watercolour and
pencil, she experiments with how
drawing the same image can have
different outcomes and hide dif-
ferent meanings when touched by
repetition, emotion and everything
else life has to offer. KW