Guest Star Friday #143... Jóhannes Sveinsson Kjarval

 Mount Esja 10 February 1959

Along with the incredible landscape here in Iceland, I am also influenced by many Icelandic artists. This trip I've been looking closely at Jóhannes Sveinsson Kjarval, who is considered to be the most important Icelandic painter. I think my acute interest in observation and documenting what I see in photographs lead me to Kjarval's work which is, at its heart, observational and very personal. When I look at his paintings I understand what he saw and why he portrayed the environment as he did. Each painting feels like an intimate moment captured in color, points of light, and texture. One of the first places I visited when I returned to Reykjavík was Kjarvalsstaðir, a museum devoted to his work. It was both thrilling and calming to see his work in person after only viewing it online. The works tend to be fairly large and the details of texture and brushstrokes are not visible on the computer screen. I was also taken with the locations depicted in several pieces because they are places I have witnessed first-hand. For this post I have paired Kjarval's paintings from the museum with my own photographs taken of the same places.

Finally, when I visited the museum I discovered the top painting was signed on February 10, 1959 and realized February 10 was coming up. So, on February 10, 2015 I returned to the museum just to look at that painting on its birthday. It felt very special to do this.

Glacier Vision, undated

my image of a glacier

From Þingvellir, 1939-40

my image of Þingvellir

 Lómagnúpur Mountain, 1944

my image of Lómagnúpur Mountain, from the other side

Thanks for reading.

RVK Art: More Icelandic Artists

scultpure by Ragnheiður Gestsdóttir at Kunstalager

After publishing yesterday's post, I realized I had to write a second entry about Icelandic artists…

 Austerland: Designs from Nowhere at Spark Design

drawings by Þórdís Erla Zoega at Týsgallerí 

Still Life? by Ragnheiður Káradóttir at Wind and Weather Gallery

(This gallery is literally just this window space. One artist shows work for two months and it's one view all the time...a fantastic concept for a gallery for everyone.)

quilt by Siggi Odds at The Culture House

Thanks for reading.

Hmm, Very Interesting Part 2…My Icelandic Favorites

STAKA

I took in a lot of Icelandic culture in my short time there and I've continued to pay serious attention since I left. I know I've barely scratched the surface even now and the following list is just a small part of what I have discovered. Here are my favorites, so far…

Jewelry, Art and Design

STAKA, a collaboration between product designers Bylgja Svansdóttir and María Kristín Jónsdóttir, is a collection of sculptural, leather neckpieces inspired by the Icelandic Sagas. I also love Thread by María Kristín Jónsdóttir. (below image)

Ragnar Kjartansson is a perforation artist and I became interested in his work after learning about "A Lot of Sorrow," a collaborative project with The National. The National performed the song "Sorrow" repeatedly for six hours at Moma PS1. When I watched the video on the Louisiana Channel, I read the accompanying text and was captivated by this quote, "By stretching a single pop song into a day-long tour de force Kjartansson continues his explorations into the potential of repetitive performance to produce sculptural presence within sound." It's that part about giving a sculptural quality to sound that gave me pause and I can't stop thinking about it. Watching this performance led me to watch every video I could find of his work on the internet. 

Ragnheiður Harpa is also a performance artist, using music, video and installation in her thoughtful pieces. Her projects focus on identity, memory and moments, among others. There is a lightness and warmth to her work that I find very appealing.

Halldór Ragnarsson is a visual artist using text, collage, illustration, layering, and installation. I did not discover his work until after I had left, but hope to see it when I return this year. I am very interested in his how he mixes mainly 2D elements to create space. 

Thórunn Árnadóttir is doing all sorts of interesting projects including this dress,"QR U?" Graphic codes beaded onto the dress transmit information to an app that can then translate the data into visual information or text. I wrote about Thórunn's Sasa Clock a few months ago.

Sruli Recht is a clothing designer who uses some rather unconventional and perhaps controversial materials in his work. I am very interested in the sculptural aspect of his work, like the one I have pictured here. 

My favorite galleries in Reykjavík are Spark Design Space and i8. I got to see some great shows at both places, including a show of Ólafur Elíasson's at i8. Spark Design also introduced me to the work of Siggi Eggertsson and his astounding illustration. (above image). I also love visiting the Icelandic Design Center Blog for posts on current design and their fantastic guides to Icelandic design and designers.

Graffiti and Street Art

One of the first things I did when I arrived in Reykjavík was search for graffiti and street art. I saw the work of Sara Riel around the city and have a nice collection of images now. For more about graffiti in
Reykjavík, you can visit Graffiti Reykjavík on Facebook.

Music

Samaris - Góða Tungl

Samaris, an electronic band with beautiful vocals, is my favorite music discovery, and the bands' singer, Jófríður Ákadóttir, is most definitely my new favorite singer. Her ethereal voice is just incredible and she's only 19 or 20. She's also a part of Pascal Pinon, another Icelandic band I love. 

I've been a Sigur Rós  fan for awhile and my trip to Iceland made me love them more. Over the summer I rewatched Heima, a documentary about a tour from a few years ago. It includes great performances and beautiful views of the landscape. You can watch the whole thing on Vimeo.

Iceland Airwaves is a huge music festival that happens in Reykjavík in November and I hope to go one day... in the meantime, I will continue to visit the website and follow the coverage on the internet. You can download the "Fancy Iceland Airwaves Compilation 2013," a mix of music from Airwaves 2013 on the Grapevine website. It takes awhile to download because it's 49 songs long, but it's totally worth it. And, while you're there, be sure to check out the Grapevine itself for all kinds of good stuff about Iceland. I really love that paper.

Maps

Finally, you must know by now how much I love looking at maps…This hand drawn map of Reykjavík by Borgarmynd was my true companion while I lived there.

What a pleasure it is to share these with you. Please take a look! And as always, thanks for reading.