Atlantica - 01.09.2003, Side 31

ART
The Icelandic artist Ólafur Elíasson has been chosen to exhibit in the prestigious Turbine Hall
at the Tate Modern in London, starting 16 Oct. Born in 1967, Ólafur is the youngest artist ever
to exhibit there. His exhibition – the fourth in Tate’s Unilever Series, sponsored by Unilever
– follows those of the French artist Louise Bourgeois, Spanish Juan Muñoz and Indian-
English Anish Kapoor. The Turbine Hall is a gigantic space, which poses a great challenge to
the artist chosen to conquer it with his art; it is also at the core of the international world of
contemporary art.
It may come as a surprise that this year, Ólafur was the Danish representative at the Venice
Biennale – Ólafur was born and bred in Denmark, but his parents are Icelandic and he spent
vacations in Iceland as a child. During his studies at the Royal Academy of Art, he was active-
ly exhibiting and has continued to do so since he graduated in 1995. His exhibitions in
Venice, and now at the Tate, are the preliminary culmination of a career that has been truly
phenomenal. This year Phaidon published a monograph on Ólafur.
As do many European artists, Ólafur is now living in Berlin. He is not the solitary artist, spin-
ning around alone in his studio, but is more like a renaissance artist, with a dedicated group
of six artists and scientists working alongside him on his projects. One of them is the
Icelandic architect Einar Thorsteinn, known in Iceland for his spherical houses, inspired by
the American architect and thinker R. Buckminster Fuller. Though working far from Iceland,
the inspiration in Ólafur’s work is often taken from Iceland. In his installations, Icelandic
nature – waterfalls, geothermal energy, ice, lava and light – often plays a prominent part, as
does science and architecture. Apart from his artistic activities, Ólafur has been an artistic
adviser to several architects and he teaches regularly at art schools, at the Royal Academy
of Art in Copenhagen and at Yale.
Sigrún Davídsdóttir is a freelance writer based in London.
ÓLAFUR ELÍASSON AT TATE MODERN LONDON, FROM 16 OCT 2003 TO 21 MARCH 2004
Sphere 2003
STAINLESS STEEL. DIAMETER 10 METERS. INSTALLATION AT HYPOVEREINSBANK, MUNICH.
COURTESY NEUGERREMSCHNEIDER, BERLIN AND TANYA BONDAKAR GALLERY, NEW YORK. COPYRIGHT THE ARTIST.
028-029 Ól EL ATL 503-rm 19.8.2003 19:02 Page 29