Atlantica - 01.01.2004, Page 33

A T L A N T I C A 31
[From Tate Modern]
The fame of artist Ólafur Elíasson has reached a climax with
his exhibition at the prestigious Turbine Hall at the Tate
Modern in London; an astonishing installation that has
received rave reviews from critics and audiences and has
firmly established him as one of the leading artists of our time.
His next large exhibit will open at the Reykjavík Art Museum –
Harbour House in January and is set to be one of the most
important events in Icelandic art history.
Elíasson, whose parents are Icelandic, was born and raised in
Denmark, and represented Denmark at the Venice Biennale
this year. Born in 1967, he is the youngest artist ever to exhib-
it at the Turbine Hall in the Tate Modern, and his exhibitions
follow those of Louise Bourgeois, Juan Muñoz and Anish
Kapoor.
Ólafur Elíasson likes to tackle the connection between mod-
ern man and nature in his work – and the boundaries that man
uses to define himself apart from nature. 'The Weather
Project', his Turbine Hall installation, is also related to nature.
It's a gigantic sun installed on the eastern end of the Hall, with
mono-hue lamps that emit lights at such a narrow wavelength
that colours other than yellow and black are invisible, trans-
forming the viewer's visual field into a vast duotone landscape. A fine mist permeates
the air, as if creeping in from the environment outside. Throughout the day, the mist
accumulates into faint, cloud-like formations before dissipating into space. With his
piece on such a large scale, he works almost like a Renaissance artist in his Berlin stu-
dio, with a dedicated group of six artists and scientists working alongside him on his
projects.
Combining such elements with modern technology, Elíasson's installations plunge the
viewer into a physiological as well as psychological experience, questioning the famil-
iar, the mundane and the divide between nature and culture. Fascinated by human per-
ception of nature, he has said: “I think there is often a discrepancy between the expe-
rience of seeing and the knowledge or expectation of what we are seeing.”
According to Soffía Karlsdóttir, PR for the Reykjavík Art Museum, the upcoming exhi-
bition is not only an opportunity for the museum itself, but also an opportunity for
Iceland. "The importance of Elíasson exhibiting in his native country is something that's
greatly appreciated by the sponsors of the project." To date, Icelandair and Reykjavík
Complete are the main sponsors, and the airline will be flying a host of international
journalists and VIPs for the much-touted opening. Adds Karlsdóttir: "We believe that
the art world will pay more attention to Iceland as a follow-up to this exhibition – a
challenge we look forward to meeting. " AMB
Ólafur Elíasson at the Reykjavík Art Museum – Hafnarhús
17 January – 14 March 2004
❍i-site
[ IDEAS OF INTEREST IN ICELAND ]
Ólafur Elíasson follows up his extraordinarily successful Tate Modern exhibition with an installation at the Reykjavík Art
Museum – Harbour House in January.
The Sun KingP
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