Stefán Boulter opnar málverkasýninguna "Summer melancholy" í Jónas Viðar gallerí

Kitsch málarinn Stefán Boulter opnar málverkasýninguna "Summer melancholy" í Jónas Viðar gallerí Laugardaginn 5.júlí kl.14

Á sýningunni sýnir Stefán fjölda nýlegra málverka auk grafíkverka. Á þessari stundu standa yfir tvær samsýningar sem Stefán er þáttakandi í , önnur opnaði 6. júni í Reykjavík art Gallery og hin opnaði 28. júní í Horten og Borre Kunstforening í Noregi, þar sýnir hann m.a. með hinum heims þekkta íslendingi Odd Nerdrum.

Það eru allir hjartanlega velkomnir á opnunina.

stefanboulter.com

"Equivalence" contemporary artist´s from Iceland at Lazareti in Dubrovnik

Equivalence / Ekvivalencija
 
On Wednesday, July 2, 2008. at 21:00 at Art Workshop Lazareti

we'll open an exhibition of contemporary arts from Iceland

Equivalence / Ekvivalencija

 
presenting works by:

Hlynur Hallsson
Helgi Hjaltalin
Gudrun Vera Hjartardottir
JBK Ransu
Thorvaldur Thorsteinsson
 

You are all invited.

 

Becoming equivalent
In 2006 I participated in the International studio and curatorial program (ISCP) in New York City where I met Radmila Iva Jankovic, now curator at The Museum of Contemporary art in Zagreb.  Jankovic gave a lecture at ISCP on her projects with Croatian artists and I was struck by similarities of Croatian and Icelandic art, mainly a strong tradition in conceptual approach and it came to my mind, after listening to Jankovic, that both nations were experiencing similar identity problems due to globalization or Americanization that both nations had been isolated from for some time, but for different reasons.
After the lecture I approached Jankovic and told her these thoughts of mine. Few days later we decided to arrange an exchange of Croatian-Icelandic art exhibitions with globalization and heritage as guidelines.
Jankovic got Slaven Tolj to collaborate with us and last May five Croatian artists opened a show at Gallery 100° as part of The Reykjavik arts festival. Now five Icelandic artists open at Art radionica Lazareti in Dubrovnik.
I have both worked as artist and curator, but in this case I preferred the role of an artist.  I therefore spoke to four other Icelandic artists that are experienced in space-specific and site-specific projects and decided to let the theme sharpen in a process between the five of us.  At one point, when we laid down our plans or ideas of works for the show I noticed that we were all in some way approaching our idea of Croatian culture through our own culture looking for an equivalence of the two. Thus the title came into realization.
Equivalence translates into Icelandic as “jafngildi” or “igildi”, which literally means “same value”. In globalization or Americanization cultures become more and more equivalent to each other, but at the same time globalization creates a need to identify with ones heritage in order not to get lost in a global equation.
As I celebrated Iceland´s independence day in my hometown Kopavogur last June 17th, I noticed that most children in the crowd were carrying halogen balloons with American cartoon images like Spiderman, Winnie the Pooh and Hello Kitty.
I then recalled Icelandic philosopher, Thorsteinn Gylfason´s, speculations about the identity of indiscernibles that appear in his book, “An experiment on the world” (1992), where he tells about the oldest shovel in Siglufjordur, a small town in the north of Iceland.  The shovel is preserved for historical purposes as it is the oldest shovel in town, yet the shaft has been renewed three times and the blade renewed two times.
Such is the way we identify with our heritage.
(text by JBK Ransu)

Works on the show

For me browsing through the Internet, viewing Dubrovnik historical sites and ancient art online, I found equivalence in a geometric symbol that also refers to spiritual imagery that is known in most religions of the world. In Christian art it is an on going theme in icons, sculptures and paintings.
The piece titled “Homage to the Proxy (Annunciation)”, was originally inspired by gestalt aesthetics and the film “The Hudsucker Proxy” made by the infamous Cohen brothers in 1994.
Gudrun Vera Hjartardottir has long dealt with the idea that art looks back at us as we look through art, not at art, and towards our ourselves.  She aims to enhance that quality of art and for this show she has produced a video, titled “Spectator”, that literally looks at you but at the same time she sets up a meeting between Icelandic and Croatian spectators.
Gudrun Vera also shows a photograph of the entrance of The National museum of Iceland, where heritage is preserved, that she has digitally altered. The text within and next to the entrance door has been wiped out, leaving only the sentence “The making of a nation”, as an open interpretation.
In Helgi Hjaltalin´s case the region around Dubrovnik has touched his family life. He owns a dog, a black giant Schnauzer, that traces his heritage to this region that is renowned for dog breeding.  Helgi saw an opportunity for his dog to explore his roots but due to rules and regulations it is quite a bother to export a dog over the Atlantic ocean so Helgi decided to reconstruct the shape of his Schnauzer into plywood and take it as a surrogate to meet fellows of his race and document it for the show and his dog.
Thorvaldur Thorsteinsson combines the past and present in his installation piece.
Farm houses, made of stacked turf and rocks collected from the local area, embodies an important element of Icelandic history and the Icelandic way of life over the centuries. The few remaining traditional farmhouses rank with the handful of buildings in Iceland that can be deemed of global value. Yet this cultural heritage and its technique would be lost, if not for few dedicated artists who have kept the tradition alive in the last decades. Thorvaldur Thorsteinsson will show a video with one of those artists at work, combined with a stacked wall inside Lazareti, made of local material.
Hlynur Hallsson concerns himself with globalized (or Americanized) culture using familiar rituals, like bouncing basketballs or chewing a gum, that most people can recognize as everyday acts.
With Hlynur swimming is even a cultural event, and rightly so, since swimming in hot springs in Iceland warms the body in the cold northern climate while swimming in Croatia or around Dubrovnik is better for cooling off. At least during summertime.

Art workshop Lazareti; working hours 10-19 every day (except sunday)

AWL programs in 2008 are being supported by:

Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia; National Foundation for Civil Socitey, The City of Dubrovnik, Dubrovnik- Neretva County, Heathcote Art Foundation FACE Croatia Program

Thanks!

Pálína og Joris opna sýningu í Gallerí +

Gallerí+, Brekkugötu 35 Akureyri, opnun galleríeigendanna, Joris Rademaker og G. Pálínu Guðmundsdóttur, laugardaginn 5. júlí kl. 16.00. Allir velkomnir.

Þetta er fyrsta samsýning Pálínu og Joris í eigin galleríi. Joris hefur haft tvær einkasýningar þar áður og Pálína eina. Galleríið tók til starfa 17. febrúar 1996.
Pálína sýnir gömul og ný málverk og Joris skúlptúra bæði nýja og gamla. Joris valdi verkin á sýninguna og reyndi að hafa einhverskonar "dialog" á milli þeirra.
Joris er Hollendingur og hefur verið starfandi myndlistarmaður á Akureyri frá 1991. Pálína nam myndlist í AKI í Hollandi og svo Jan van Eyck Akademíunni í Maastricht 1987-89. Þau hafa tekið þátt í samsýningum og eða haft einkasýningar meira eða minna árlega síðan þau útskrifuðust sem myndlistarmenn.
 
Verk Joris eru unnin úr náttúrulegum efnum og fundnum hlutum. Pálína vinnur aðallega með andlitsmyndir, málverk, ljósmyndir og texta útfrá stjörnukortum, á þessari sýningu eru eingöngu olíumálverk.

Sýningin er opin þrjá laugardaga í röð frá kl. 14.-16. og aðra daga eftir samkomulagi í síma 462 7818.

Jóna Hlíf Halldórsdóttir opnar sýningu í 101 Gallery

101 Gallery
Jóna Hlíf Halldórsdóttir
A Ð L Ö G U N
4. júlí - 15. ágúst 2008
Opnun sýningar föstudaginn 4. júlí kl 17.00 -19.00

___________________________________________________________

AÐLÖGUN

JÓNA HLÍF HALLDÓRSDÓTTIR


Jóna Hlíf Halldórsdóttir(1978) er fædd í Reykjavík en býr og starfar á Akureyri. Hún útskrifaðist með Diploma frá Myndlistarskólanum á Akureyri árið 2005 og með Mastersgráðu í myndlist frá Glasgow School of Art árið 2007.
Jóna Hlíf vinnur með ýmsa miðla, s.s. vídeó, skúlptúr, bókverk og ljósmyndir. Stór hluti verka hennar eru svo textaverk, sem eru oftar en ekki nokkuð djarfar yfirlýsingar, setningar sem lýsa tómhyggju og eru einskonar stuðandi lógó, orð sem stinga. Þessar setningar virðast auðmeltar við fyrstu sýn en leita svo á mann, etv. líkt og auglýsinga-lógó, sem hreiðra um sig í undirmeðvitund okkar.
Verk Jónu Hlífar eru persónuleg úrvinnsla hennar á upplifunum úr daglega lífinu, sem hún útfærir gjarnan í formi myndmáls sem tengist götulist. Verkin eru óræð og hafa yfir sér hráan blæ, sum unnin úr fjöldaframleiddum efnum, önnur handgerð af listamanninum. Það sem sameinar þau er tenging við mannslíkamann og sálina, sem talið er að hvíli þar í einhverju hólfi sem sést þó ekki á röntgenmynd. Sum verka Jónu Hlífar eru performans-tengd verk í formi vídeó eða ljósmynda, önnur eru textaverk sem vísa í viðbrögð og breytingar mannslíkamans og í enn öðrum verkum er áhorfandanum boðið að taka þátt í verkinu með því að ganga inn í strúktúra, sem kalla á upplifun á tengslum sálar og líkama; vekja hugsanlega upp spurningar um hvað okkur skortir, hvar í líkamanum við staðsetjum þann skort og hvaða aðferðum við beitum til að fylla upp í tómið.

Verk Jónu Hlífar Halldórsdóttur hafa verið sýnd nokkuð víða, að mestu á Akureyri, s.s. í Listasafnu á Akureyri (2007), Ketilhúsinu á Akureyri (2007), Kunstraum Wohnraum á Akureyri (2006) og en einnig á Kunstvlaai í Amsterdam (2006), í Tramway, Glasgow (2007, útskriftarsýning) og A Cabine do Amador í Lissabon. Framundan á þessu ári eru sýningar Jónu Hlífar í D-sal Listasafns Reykjavíkur, Hafnarhúsi og í Listasal Mosfellsbæjar
Auk starfa sinna sem myndlistarmaður rekur Jóna Hlíf, ásamt öðrum, sýningarýmið Gallerí Box á Akureyri og stýrir sýningum á VeggVerki og í Gallerí Ráðhús á Akureyri, auk fleiri myndlistartengdra starfa.


Nánari upplýsingar um Jónu Hlíf Halldórsdóttur:
www.jonahlif.com




AÐLÖGUN

JÓNA HLÍF HALLDÓRSDÓTTIR


Jóna Hlíf Halldórsdóttir(1978) is born in Reykjavík. She lives and works in Akureyri, Iceland, where she earned her Diploma of Fine Art. She then graduated with a MFA-degree in Visual Arts from the Glasgow School of Art in 2007. Halldórsdóttir works with various mediums, such as video, sculpture, book-works and photographs. A large part of her body of works are textworks, many of which are daring statements, words depicting emptiness, vulgar sentences reminding of logos, words that hit you hard. Those texts might at first seem light-hearted but they start to haunt you, similarly to advertisement-logos, which occupy our subconsciousness. Halldórsdóttir´s works are mostly based on elements from everyday life; her personal ways of processing her surroundings, often finding ways through a visual language related to street-art. The works are enigmatic and have a rough ambiance about them. Some of the works are made of mass-produced materials, others are made by the artist´s own hands. What unites the works is the connection to matters of the body and of the soul, which is thought to reside in one of its compartments though undetected by x-rays. Some of Halldórsdóttir´s works are performance-based video works or photographs, others are textworks, which refer to responses and changes of the body, and yet others invite the viewer, to walk into structures, which incorporate questions about the relations between body and soul; perhaps raising questions about what we lack, where in the body we situate this absence and which methods we use to fill up this emptiness.

Halldórsdóttir´s works have been presented quite widely, mostly in Akureyri in art spaces such as The Akureyri Art Museum(2007), Ketilhúsið  in Akureyri(2007) and Kunstraum/Wohnraum in Akureyri(2006). Her works have also been presented at Kunstvlaai in Amsterdam(2006), Tramway in Glasgow(2007, gratuation show) and A Cabine do Amador í Lissabon. Up-coming for Halldórsdóttir this year are her solo exhibitions at D-salur; Reykjavík Art Museum, Hafnarhús, and Listasalur Mosfellsbæjar.
In addition to her activity as an artist, Halldórsdóttir also runs exhibition space Gallerí Box in Akureyri, as well as organising exhibitions of public art space VeggVerk and at the Gallerí Ráðhús in Akureyri and other art-related activity.


Information about Jóna Hlíf Halldórsdóttir:
www.jonahlif.com