Atlantica - 01.12.2006, Page 78

ICELANDa
SPECIAL PROMOTION
Look, Listen & Learn
THE MYTH, OF COURSE, IS THAT THERE WILL BE SOME SURVIVORS
When a few of Thórdís Adalsteindóttir’s works were seen in a gallery exhibi-
tion in Reykjavík last year, it was clear that an artist had emerged who would
be worth watching. “The myth, of course, is that there will be some survivors,”
the much-anticipated exhibition of Thórdís Adalsteinsdóttir’s paintings, opened
at the Reykjavík Art Museum – Kjarvalsstadir on September 30, and will remain
up through 3 December 2006. This is the first time the artist’s major works are
on exhibit in Iceland.
As Hafthór Yngvason, Director of the Reykjavík Art Museum, puts it: “It is par-
ticularly fitting to present the work of Adalsteinsdóttir at Kjarvalsstadir at this
time, when painting has emerged once again as a strong and leading medium in
art. Painting has had a revival lately, as large international exhibitions attest to,
and Adalsteinsdóttir’s work is an exiting example of this new energy.”
Listasafn Reykjavíkur / Reykjavík Art Museum. listasafnreykjavikur.is
76 AT L A N T I CA
UNCERTAIN STATES OF AMERICA
The “Uncertain States of America – American Art in the 3rd Millennium” will
be exhibited from 4 November through 21 January 2007, at the Reykjavík Art
Museum – Harbor House, in downtown Reykjavík. The exhibition is curated
by the museum’s director, Gunnar B. Kvaran, and the internationally acclaimed
curators Daniel Birnbaum and Hans Ulrich Obrist. Wishing to provide a picture
of the new generation of American artists, the curators have chosen 41 young
artists/teams with a new vision. In addition to extensive multi-media installa-
tions, the exhibition includes a video and sculpture exhibition, a program of
performances, a lecture series and an extensive catalogue.
Listasafn Reykjavíkur/ Reykjavík Art Museum. listasafnreykjavikur.is
BORGNY SVALASTOG AT THE NORDIC HOUSE
On display at the Nordic House from 4 November to 17 December 2006 is
Norwegian artist Borgny Svalastog’s “14+1 Stations,” an exploration of the
notion of pilgrimage that invites its audience on a journey through differ-
ent rooms in the exhibition that include various works of art. The forms,
techniques, and materials employed by the artist are of the most varied and,
sometimes, original character: monotypes, drawings, embroideries on different
textiles, steel sculptures, and hand-blown glass pieces are distributed throughout
the space. The exhibition has a course, although without beginning or end; its
course is like a repetition, an eternal wander, a pilgrimage without beginning
or conclusion, a journey where travelers touch and are touched by the exhibi-
tion as a whole and by every particular artwork, by visual, conceptual, and even
tactile experiences.
The Nordic House. nordice.is
“Top Cruise,” by Mike Bouchet, 2005. 1000 sculptures made of clay and paint
from Mexico. Courtesy of Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art.
Thórdís Adalsteinsdóttir’s painting, “Anna and a Butterfly.”
Hand-blown glass pieces by
Borgny Svalastog
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