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Email PageThe Un-homely - New art from Iceland
September 14, 2006- October 21, 2006
Reception: September 14, 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Sigurđur Guđjónsson, Ragnar Kjartansson, Sigga Bjorg Sigurđardóttir
Galerie Adler
547 W 27th StDespite Iceland’s small population, it is home to a surprisingly large and lively community of interconnected musicians, filmmakers, and visual artists. Their art reflects the raw, natural surroundings and wild landscape of the country and the long, dark hours of winter. They often cope with this environment using irony and a unique sense for the grotesque.
The films by Icelandic video artist Sigurdur Gudjónsson (*1975) breathe an oppressive silence, sigh despair, and pant fear. Tangled fragments from dreamlike tales of desolation, self-inflicted failure, longing, and denial convene to form a mystical requiem of shades. The artist’s search for the physically and emotionally perceptible abyss that Freud called the “un-homely” or the uncanny, relies upon filmic and musical elements to create unsettling, atmospheric conditions. At times, he freezes the discoveries of his quest into dark and strange photographs. The resulting images and videos reveal uncomfortable yet strangely familiar scenarios.
A dense and restrained iconographic language raises its unsettling voice in the oeuvre of Sigga Björg Sigurdardottir (*1977). The legends that haunt so many Northern European countries are recognizably present in the images. Rooted in painting, drawing, and textual elements, her work unveils the funny and sad activities of a group of troll-like figures. The beings recur in her series of small, “ordinary” events- here facing the viewer blankly, there with a head buried in a fur-clad lap, and all too often surrounded by traces of ambiguous liquids or violence.
Since Ragnar Kjartansson’s (*1976) graduation from the Icelandic Academy of Arts in 2001, his career has been characterized by experiments with visual art, music, and theater. Kjartansson simultaneously works in all three genres and primarily considers himself a performance artist. His pieces investigate the play between contradictory states; sorrow and happiness, horror and beauty, drama and humour. The artist’s videos, paintings, and installations relate to his performances. Also a member of the popular electronic band Trabant, Kjartansson finds his stage wherever he is. As for his motivation, he says: “Art is for me like the Blues: I use it to purify my soul.”
Books and DVDs related to artists in this show
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Galerie Adler was last updated: 2008-10-11
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