Jóhannes S. Kjarval

Kjarvalsstaðir

These works extend across the period during which the painter Jóhannes S. Kjarval was active. In examining Kjarval's journey, and comparing it to the works of his contemporaries, it is possible to see the various ways art changes and evolves. The prevailing spirit of each era is reflected in differing shifts in style, and the artworks provide insight into the artists' inspirations, their surroundings and circumstances. Initially, a romantic view of nature predominated, but symbolism soon after made its way into the narrative, and the first steps were taken towards breaking away from naturalistic imagery.

In this exhibition, you can see artworks by Icelandic artists that span approximately six decades following the turn of the 20th century. 

Kjarval was born in 1885 and died in 1972. Between these points in time lies a significant period in cultural history and global society. This was a period of profound social transformation, industrialisation, urban development and technological advancement. Icelandic artists traveled abroad for education, returned home with fresh ideas, and were inspired by the currents and movements they encountered in Europe. In this sense, artists truly are not isolated islands in world history, but rather engage with various circumstances, innovations, revolutions and conflicts through their works.

As contemporary values embedded themselves in Icelandic society, the subjects and methods of artists evolved. Traditional artistic boundaries were shattered, and abstraction found its place. The then present era left its mark on Icelandic society, as is evident in the progress and diversity of artists' creative endeavors, and in the lifelong work of Kjarval.

In 1973, a year following Kjarval's death, Kjarvalsstaðir was inaugurated and named in his honor. Kjarval is one of the most beloved artists of the nation and his works have been exhibited here for half a century. Kjarval‘s works and those of other artists in this exhibition come from the collection of Reykjavik Art Museum, with the exception of Kjarval's famous _Mountain Milk_ (_Fjallamjólk_), one of the artist's most renowned pieces, which is currently on loan from ASÍ Art Museum.

Kjarval and the 20th Century: When Modernity Anchored

Ásmundur Sveinsson

Myndhöggvarinn að störfum á vinnustofu sinni.

Ásmundarsafn

Sculptor Ásmundur Sveinsson worked in different materials. He carved wood, cut stone, shaped clay, transferred forms to concrete, in addition to working with iron and found materials. Many of his best-known works are enlarged and placed in public space around the city. His works were created in relentless experimentation in the studio where he allowed material, content and space work hand in hand. The sculptures are either figurative or abstract, as Ásmundur went through various periods in his artistic creation. In the exhibition, we go back in time and into Ásmundur's studio. We get a sense of what happened behind the scenes in the artist's search for the appropriate completion for the ideas that emerged.

 In the exhibition, we go back in time and into Ásmundur's studio.

Wonderland was the name of the next farm to the place in Laugardalur where Ásmundur built his studio, the "dome" in Sigtún. He lived here with his family, built and developed unique facilities for artistic creation. The house was partially rebuilt and opened as an art museum and sculpture garden after Ásmundur's death over 40 years ago. Reykjavík Art Museum's aim ever since has been to show his work in all its variety and to provide a platform for a younger generation of artists to show their own work in the context of his heritage.

Ásmundur Sveinsson (1893–1982) was one of the pioneers of Icelandic sculpture. He studied at the Swedish Academy of Arts in Stockholm, spent several years in Paris and travelled through Greece and Italy. Ásmundur always remained loyal to the position that art had a mission for the people and belonged among them. He was called the folk poet in art, and without a doubt, that ideal is rooted in his attitude to life as much as in the sculptural tradition.

Ásmundur Sveinsson: Wonderland

Erró

Hafnarhús

The Reykjavik Art Musem houses the most extensive collection of Erró's works and exhibitions from the Erró collection are a regular fixture at the Hafnarhús site of the Reykjavík Art Museum, with the purpose of giving as clear an image as possible of the diverse character of the artist's works.

Erró is one of the few Icelandic artists who has gained a foothold in the international art scene.

This exhibition is a comprehensive overview of the artist's colourful career that has made use of various media in the visual arts. Within it you will find everything from performances, video works, graphics, multiples and collages, to larger works in public spaces and paintings of all scales.

The artist Erró, born Guðmundur Guðmundsson in 1932 in Ólafsvík, West Iceland, was among the most prominent figures of the European avant-garde of the 1960s. In the history of art of that period, his name is associated not only with the renewal of pictorial figuration, due to his invention of narrative collage-paintings, but also with the Happenings movement and experimental cinema. Although his work is often, rightly, attached to artistic groups like Surrealism, Narrative Figuration or Pop art, it cannot be reduced to any one of them.

Erró: Remix

Kristín Gunnlaugsdóttir

Kristín Gunnlaugsdóttir, Unspoken V, 2025

Kristín is one of the most prolific and beloved artists of contemporary Icelandic art, with numerous major exhibitions and works held in public collections.

Kristín Gunnlaugsdóttir’s mid-career retrospective in the West Gallery of Kjarvalsstaðir, offers a unique insight into human existence and emotional life.

Kristín Gunnlaugsdóttir has gained recognition for her fearless approach to breaking apart and reassembling her visual language and methods. Drawing on centuries-old traditions of icon painting, she creates figurative works based on complex symbolic systems. She also produces abstract works that resonate with the expressive modes of modernism, as well as meticulously crafted embroidery pieces based on swift sketches – to name just a few examples. The exhibition offers a broad overview of her career, while also presenting new and unexpected works created specifically for this occasion.

Kristín’s art conveys emotion, both universal and personal. At the heart of her practice lies an inexhaustible interest in the human body. The body is not presented as a neutral form, but as a living vessel of emotion, identity, and spiritual inquiry. She is a master of capturing moments of stillness and vulnerability, where bodies – especially female bodies – appear in subjective spaces: elevated, dreamlike, humorous, or everyday. Through her images, we sense how she approaches the subject with respect, curiosity, and sensitivity to how the body and visual language can express what cannot be said in words. Carefully chosen clues – a pose, an object, a color, or a texture – guide the viewer in perceiving the unspoken.

Kristín Gunnlaugsdóttir was born in 1963 and studied art at the Akureyri School of Visual Arts and the Icelandic College of Art and Crafts from 1983 to 1988. She then continued her studies abroad, focusing on icon painting at the convent of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary in Rome, followed by studies at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence from 1987 to 1993. Kristín is the ninth artist selected for the Reykjavík Art Museum’s exhibition series at Kjarvalsstaðir, which highlights the careers of key figures in Icelandic art. Each artist is chosen for their unique contribution and specialization in terms of media, methods, and subject matter. This positioning is reflected in the presentation of key works from different periods in the West Gallery, accompanied by a catalogue that places the artist’s career in the context of art history and the present day.

Kristín Gunnlaugsdóttir: Unspoken

Steina Vasulka

Svarthvít mynd af Stenu að spila á fiðlu.

The exhibition is the first major retrospective of Steina's work in Iceland. It will span the entire scope of Steina's artistic career, from early experiments in documentary video work to her most recent installations from the early 2000s. Taken together, the retrospective traces the development of Steina’s ideas and technological innovations over several decades. Her work uniquely connects video art, music, and technology in ways that are both highly inventive and playful.   

Steina is internationally recognized as a leading pioneer in video and new media art; she is also a major influence on contemporary art in Iceland. 

Steina (b. Steinunn Briem Bjarnadottir, 1940, Iceland; lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico) trained as a violinist in Reykjavík and Prague. She emigrated to the United States in 1965 with her life partner, Woody Vasulka. Initially working as a freelance musician in New York, she began to focus on video in 1970, and in 1971, cofounded The Electronic Kitchen (later The Kitchen), the legendary multidisciplinary avant-garde performance and experimental art space in New York City. After moving to Buffalo in 1973, Steina helped develop the production lab at the Center for Media Study, SUNY at Buffalo.  Since 1980, she has lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico, exhibiting regularly around the world. Her work is considered foundational in the history of video art.

The National Gallery of Iceland and the Reykjavík Art Museum are proud to present a collaboration on this comprehensive exhibition of the works of visual artist Steina Vasulka. The exhibition will open on October 4, 2025, and be on view until January 11, 2026. It will take place in four exhibition halls of the National Gallery of Iceland four halls of Reykjavík Art Museum. This exhibition is organized by the MIT List Visual Arts Center in collaboration with the Buffalo AKG Art Museum. It is co-curated by Natalie Bell, MIT List Visual Arts Center, and Helga Christoffersen, Buffalo AKG Art Museum. Coordinating curators for the Iceland edition of the exhibition are Markús Þór Andrésson, Reykjavík Art Museum, and Pari Stave, National Gallery of Iceland.

Steina: Playback

Sara Riel

Black and white photo of artist Sara Riel

In what way do we try to make sense of nature, categorize, define and claim it? 

Nature appears in Sara's works in various ways, and at the heart is the relationship between man and the environment. 

Sara's subjects include flora, fauna, weather and even space. She uses exceptional artistry and resourcefulness to create engaging, visual interpretations of compelling issues. 

In the early winter of 2024, a new artwork in public space by Sara was unveiled in the underpass at Öskjuhlíð near the Meteorological Office. There she worked around on ideas about the weather, both graphically but also based on how weather appears in language and history. Among her best-known works are the murals on buildings in Æsufelli (Feather), on Skúlaguta (Glitter) and elsewhere. Both draw from the pictorial world of nature, birds and sea animals, but in Sara's treatment new phenomena are created that arouse wonder and attention.

Wonderland is a project dedicated to the history of Ásmundarsafn. This was the home and studio of sculptor Ásmundur Sveinsson (1893-1982), which he designed himself and built in the years 1942-1950. The plot was adjacent to a farm called Undraland (Wonderland). Ásmundur bequeathed the house and his works to the city of Reykjavik after his day, and a museum dedicated to his memory was established there in 1983. During the four decades that the artist worked in the house, it was a scene of vibrant artistic creation. Throughout the year 2025, artists are invited to elaborate on their own works in progress or any state of flux.

Sara Riel (1980) studied art at the Iceland University of the Arts and the Weißensee University of the Arts in Berlin, from where she graduated in 2006. She is known for wall works in public spaces, but at the same time she has works in many collections and has exhibited widely.




Wonderland: Work in Progress with Sara Riel

That world has influenced her artistic creation, especially ideas about the boundaries of reality and staging, truth and fakeness. 

Alongside her artistic practice, Amanda has worked with set design in films. 

Amanda has also drawn inspiration from research and hypotheses about the nature of visual perception, everything that the human eye detects but at the same time what falls outside our field of vision.
Recently, Amanda has embraced new research taking place in Japan, partly exploring alternative experiments on artificial intelligence. She is interested in how perception affects the progress of knowledge; how unformed awareness takes in information to its advantage on other and less rational grounds than intellectual ones.
Wonderland is a project dedicated to the history of Ásmundarsafn. This was the home and studio of sculptor Ásmundur Sveinsson (1893-1982), which he designed himself and built in the years 1942-1950. The plot was adjacent to a farm called Undraland (Wonderland). Ásmundur bequeathed the house and his works to the city of Reykjavik after his day, and a museum dedicated to his memory was established there in 1983. During the four decades that the artist worked in the house, it was a scene of vibrant artistic creation. Throughout the year 2025, artists are invited to elaborate on their own works in progress or any state of flux.
Amanda Riffo (b. 1977) Riffo is a French-Chilean artist who has been based in Reykjavík since 2012. She graduated from the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts in 2002 with an MA in Fine Arts. Amanda received the Icelandic Art Prize as Artist of the Year 2024 for her solo exhibition, House of Purkinje, at the Living Art Museum.


Wonderland: Work in Progress with Amanda Riffo

Elsa Jónsdóttir

Part of a wooden sculpture by Elsa Jónsdóttir

She develops symbols that she transposes, teasing out a new meaning for her subjects. This may happen though the letters of writing being turned into a general visual language. In this exhibition, however, sounds and the act of listening are turned into an installation that affects our sensory organs.

In her work, Elsa researches the transformation of forms into abstract levels of understanding, a kind of morphology of language. 

The sculpture, sound, and light installation exhibited in the Hafnarhús D-Gallery, offers several layers of readings. At first glance, it is a space filled with playful forms, sounds, and mysterious lights. When we spend more time in it and listen carefully, it raises deeper aesthetic questions: Can human perception be cast into form? Is attention an active form of creation?
The magic happens when listening becomes seeing. Listening is attention. Listening is understanding. Listening is love.

Elsa works with the morphology of the language, typography, words and allusions. Her work expresses a vocabulary of expression, constructing symbols and forms into visual poetry. Recently moving from two-dimensional works in public space to three-dimensional sculpture. Elsa has been a member of the art duo Krot & Krass, creating numerous murals in Iceland and abroad. Elsa has been involved in the operation of numerous artist-run spaces in Reykjavík, with a special mention of the community project Fúsk in Gufunes.

The D-Gallery exhibition series started in 2007 and invites emerging artists who are contributing to the development of the local contemporary art scene to hold their first solo exhibition in a public museum.

D52 Elsa Jónsdóttir: Lend an Ear

Halldór Ásgeirsson

Halldór Ásgeirsson holding a small piece of lava.

In his art, he works with the foundations of the natural material world based on the philosophy that there is a constant transfer of energy between fields. This energy flows through human existence and affects worldly existence as well as spiritual awareness, culture, arts and religion.

Halldór is preoccupied with the ever-changing creative power of the earth. 

Halldór's special research topic is at the heart of his residency in Ásmundarsafn, Skaftáreldar, a major volcanic eruption which occurred in Iceland in the 18th century. This largest lava flow on earth in the last thousand years not only influenced geological history and caused climatic changes in certain parts of the world, but also left a mark in human history. Halldór works to map these connections and objectify them in works of art that are created through the transformation of material during lava melting and in experiments with sulfur.

Wonderland is a project dedicated to the history of Ásmundarsafn. This was the home and studio of sculptor Ásmundur Sveinsson (1893-1982), which he designed himself and built in the years 1942-1950. The plot was adjacent to a farm called Undraland (Wonderland). Ásmundur bequeathed the house and his works to the city of Reykjavik after his day, and a museum dedicated to his memory was established there in 1983. During the four decades that the artist worked in the house, it was a scene of vibrant artistic creation. Throughout the year 2025, artists are invited to elaborate on their own works in progress or any state of flux.

Halldór Ásgeirsson (1956) studied art at L'Université de Paris 8, Dept. Arts Plastiques in1977-80 and 1983-86. He has spent various periods around the world, for example in the Far East, Mexico and Japan where he stayed in the years 2003 - 07 and worked there i.a. with the third generation of the well-known Gutai art group that pioneered in performance and installation in the 1960s. Halldór's travels have been manifested in various ways in his artistic creation. Halldór now lives in Reykjavík, operating a studio in Búðardalur, West Iceland.


Wonderland: Work in Progress with Halldór Ásgeirsson

Alessa Brossmer

Þorbjörg Jónsdóttir

Rúrí

This theory gives the exhibition its title, Elements. 

In ancient times, the world‘s material world was divided into four elements: Earth, Water, Air, and Fire. 

The exhibition presents recent works by contemporary artists who evoke associations with these fundamental forces of nature in various ways. The works of six artists examine environmental changes, focusing on the transformation of non-biological matter, such as melting, solidification, evaporation, and crystallization. The scale and acceleration of natural processes around us remind us that the world is on the brink. Where are we headed, and what comes next?

The exhibition is part of a larger project. In 2024, Reykjavík Art Museum, on behalf of the City of Reykjavík, participated in a collaboration with the cities of Oslo in Norway and Cluj-Napoca in Romania, connected to the projectr European Climate Cities. The goal was to exchange ideas on how to encourage young people to become aware of and engage in conversations about climate issues through visual art, creativity, and artistic experiences. As part of Reykjavík Art Museum's contribution, an exciting educational project will take place this summer. The museum will host students from the Reykjavík Work School at Hafnarhús, one group per day, where they will have the opportunity to enjoy art, play games, create their own works, and engage in lively discussions. The project will conclude with an exhibition in the multi-purpose hall showcasing the project's results on Culture Night. The exhibition Elements is a key part of the youth visits.

Artists featured in the exhibition include Alessa Brossmer, Hrafnkell Sigurðsson, Jóhanna Bogadóttir, Ragna Róbertsdóttir, Rúrí, and Þorbjörg Jónsdóttir.


Elements

Jo Pawlowska 

Sadie Cook

At the 51st D-Gallery exhibitionyou are greeted by thousands of still and moving images. They span staged dream sequences, glitched videos, screenshots of late-night conversations, pixelated selfies, and medical documentation. Each work is a facet of the artists’ exploration of the limits of their own bodies as surfaces on which experiences are traced. Allow yourself to flow, merge and dissolve into a space where the dichotomies remain unresolved, and balance is found in chaos and disorder.

The widespread binaries splinter and merge. 

Our lives are shaped by endless binaries. We tend to frame things in terms of opposites. Good or evil, light or dark, past or present, rich or poor, sick or healthy, pain or pleasure, digital or physical, male or female. In each pair, we can often sense an inherent dominance of one side over the other. Sometimes clearly, other times more ambiguously.

The exhibition is based around the possibility of existing beyond the constructed binaries. This collaborative practice thrives in the abrasions that form when desire rubs against a precarious life. Sadie and Jo push at the infinite possibilities, some fantastical, some mundane, that exist in these cracks.

The installation forms two diagonal binary axes, running from motion to stillness and from public to private. The image clusters form a swirling record based on scale, placement and point of view. Playing with textures, low resolutions, archival photographs and videos, the artists create a space to share their vulnerability.

Sadie Cook and Jo Pawlowska's collaboration began due to their identical buzzcuts. Their work germinated in long conversations around hair, image, self, a-linearity, and the internet. However, the project itself truly began on a sunny afternoon in May 2024. That day, Jo took their first testosterone dose, and Sadie dipped their foot in slime and snapped a picture with a plastic pink camera.

Sadie and Jo's collaboration began due to their identical buzzcuts. Their work germinated in long conversations around hair, image, self, a-linearity, and the internet. However, the project itself truly began on a sunny afternoon in May 2024. That day, Jo took their first testosterone dose, and Sadie dipped their foot in slime and snapped a picture with a plastic pink camera. _Everything I want to tell you_ is the culmination of a year long collaboration where each work is co-authored by both artists.

Reykjavik Art Museum ‘s D-Gallery exhibition series started in 2007. Emerging artists, who are shaping the local contemporary art scene, are invited to hold their first solo show in a public museum. 

Acknowledgements:  
Diljá Þorvaldsdóttir, Cari, Sasa Lubinska, Ljósmyndaskólinn, Stuart Richardson, Jax, Guðbjörg Theresía Einarsdóttir, Andie Sophia Fontaine, Megan Auður, Eliza
Adam Thompson, Alex Diljar Birkisbur Hellsing, H. Pállson, Sigurborg Rögnvaldsdóttir, Þorgerður, Pari, Ania Piechura, Agnes Ársælsdóttir, Hyacinth Schukis, Craig, Óðinn, Heiðrún Sæmundsdóttir, Sarah, Helena, Hallgerður, Vala Sigþrúðar Jónsdóttir, Melissa Guido, Claudia Hausfeld, Hannes, Jón, Odda, Regn Sólmundur Evu.

The exhibition is supported by the Icelandic Visual Arts Fund.

D51 Sadie Cook and Jo Pawlowska: Everything I want to tell you

Jóhannes Sveinsson Kjarval, vantslitur á pappír, í eigu Lífspekifélagsins.

The exhibition focuses on Kjarval's fantasy works, emphasizing pieces that include religious themes, divine or enigmatic beings, symbols, and mystical references. In addition to Kjarval's works, several paintings by Einar Jónsson, borrowed from the Einar Jónsson Sculpture Museum, are also on display.

These fantasy pieces, often featuring hidden folk, mystical beings, and symbolic imagery, remained a constant in his artistic journey...

Kjarval travelled extensively throughout his life, both within his own country and abroad. He was influenced by people and his surroundings, read extensively, and familiarized himself with prevailing trends and movements. Among the influences in Kjarval's life were his colleague and friend, sculptor Einar Jónsson (1874-1954), and the English artist William Blake (1757-1827). Kjarval met Einar in London in 1911 when they stayed there simultaneously for three months and became good friends. Einar was known for his mythological and religious imagery and emphasized symbolic meanings in his sculptures and paintings. In the books and museums of the metropolis, Kjarval became acquainted with Blake's works. Blake was one of England's foremost Romantic poets and known for his delicate and mystical drawings, laden with religious symbols and references.

This exhibition gathers works by Kjarval that share the common theme of originating from a spiritual world beyond the tangible and easily understandable. The works either have clear religious references to the Bible and Christian legends and motifs or are more ambiguous fantasies filled with symbols, the supernatural, and the mystical. Such themes were always present in Kjarval's mind, but after his stay in London and his acquaintance with international art and insight into the world of theosophy and symbolism, one can discern changes in emphasis and stylistic approach that Kjarval would later develop in his personal way throughout his career. 


The exhibition will showcase works from all stages of Kjarval’s career. In 1908, at the age of 22, he held his first exhibition in Reykjavík, where he presented fantasy works for the first time, before ever traveling to London or receiving formal art education. These fantasy pieces, often featuring hidden folk, mystical beings, and symbolic imagery, remained a constant in his artistic journey, evolving and transforming over time. Both before and following his time in London, Kjarval created several so-called "dreamland works," which often depict ambiguous landscapes, waterfalls, and figures within nature. The exhibition aims to gather as many of these works as possible.

Jóhannes Sveinsson Kjarval (1885–1972) is one of the nation's most beloved artists, and his diverse body of work includes numerous paintings of Icelandic nature, mythical beings, and the people of Iceland. In 1968, Kjarval donated a significant portion of his artworks and personal belongings to the City of Reykjavík, and his works have been showcased in various ways since the opening of Kjarvalsstaðir in 1973.


Dreamland

Magic - 
Pizza -
Archives - 
Wind power - 
Consumerism - 
Shame -

Reykjavík Art Museum hosts a graduation exhibition for BA students in the Department of Fine Arts, Department of Design, and Department of Architecture at the Iceland Academy of the Arts.


At the group exhibition of graduating students from the Iceland University of the Arts, over 70 students in fine art, design, and architecture present their final projects. The works offer insight into the students’ research and their practices over the past years, during which they have developed their individual approaches and methods.

In the exhibition, students engage with complex subjects, each equipped with their own distinct tools. Their works reflect on catastrophe, hospitality, and social apathy—political statements sit alongside playful humor. They experiment with both form and content, and the outcomes take shape across a range of media: through hats, paintings, typefaces, and housing in an era of intensifying climate change, just to name a few.

All this (and more) is included.

All inclusive

Ásta Fanney Sigurðardóttir

As a performance artist, she has performed on various occasions and tested communication with the audience. Language comes into play in many ways, its possibilities and limitations, and questions arise about what takes over when we reach its limits. 

Ásta Fanney's work has a strong sense of flux, change and impermanence. It has not been tied to a specific medium but applied on most fronts that might be called time-based. 

Ásta Fanney intends to use her time in Ásmundarsafn attempting to map what she has worked on in recent years. The task is not easy, as it can be said that the characteristic of her career is that things come and go, something comes out of nothing but disappears just as quickly. As some sort of goal, Ásta Fanney has decided to share her findings in book form.

Wonderland is a project dedicated to the history of Ásmundarsafn. This was the home and studio of sculptor Ásmundur Sveinsson (1893-1982), which he designed himself and built in the years 1942-1950. The plot was adjacent to a farm called Undraland (Wonderland). Ásmundur bequeathed the house and his works to the city of Reykjavik after his day, and a museum dedicated to his memory was established there in 1983. During the four decades that the artist worked in the house, it was a scene of vibrant artistic creation. Throughout the year 2025, artists are invited to elaborate on their own works in progress or any state of flux.

Ásta Fanney Sigurðardóttir (1987), deals with art, poetry, filmmaking and music. She has exhibited and performed her work in museums and festivals around the world, including Reykjavík Art Gallery, Ars Longa, Onassis and MOT and was nominated for the Bernard-Heidsieck-Centre Pompidou prize in France in 2021. Ásta Fanney will represent Iceland at the Venice Art Biennale in 2026.


Wonderland: Work in Progress with Ásta Fanney

Katrín Inga Jónsdóttir Hjördísardóttir

Anna Hrund Másdóttir

Auður Lóa Guðnadóttir

Edda Jónsdóttir

Geirþrúður Finnbogadóttir Hjörvar

Gjörningaklúbburinn

Hildigunnur Birgisdóttir

Ingibjörg Sigurjónsdóttir 

Ingunn Fjóla Ingþórsdóttir

Margrét H. Blöndal

Sirra Sigrún Sigurðardóttir

Una Margrét Árnadóttir 

Una Björg Magnúsdóttir

Þóra Sigurðardóttir

Helga Páley

Kristín Morthens

Arna Óttarsdóttir 

Anna Hallin

Hekla Dögg Jónsdóttir

Olga Bergmann

Katrín Elvarsdóttir

Helena Margrét Jónsdóttir 

Þórdís Aðalsteinsdóttir

Þórdís Aðalsteinsdóttir, Kapall, 2023.

Art is our only hope! is the title of a photographic series that capture a performance by Katrín Inga Jónsdóttir Hjördísardóttir. There, she nods to Carolee Schneemann, who´s performance in the early  1960s was documented by artist Erró in a photo series, now a part of the Reykjavík Art Museum's collection.

Katrín´s work and this reference to the past, highlights decades of women´s tireless struggle to gain a plae in the art scene. Considering what has been gained, time becomes relative. The short time that has passed since women´s artistic creation was marginalized is amazing and at the same time it is surprising that there still is a long way to go before full equality is achieved. 

Reykjavík Art Museum has about 17.000 items in its collection, and there is a significant bias towards women. There are various explanations for this, the foundation of the museum´s holdings in the beginning was mostly art work by men artists, the museum preserves three comprehensive collections by men artist and purchases in the past were masculine. In recent years, there has risen an awareness, both in terms of the museum´s collection in whole and the exhibition program. 

The exhibition _Art is our only hope!_ consists of new works, bought and given, by living women artists. Here you can see the work of women of all ages, created in various media and with references to different subjects. Works from The Icelandic Love Corporation in the exhibition are a generous gift to the museum from the artists themselves, as well as works that have been purchased in the last five years. In addition to The Icelandic Love Corporation, there are works by many selected female artists, including Anna Hallin, Anna Hrund Másdóttir, Arna Óttarsdóttir, Auður Lóa Guðnadóttir, Edda Jónsdóttir, Erla Þórarinsdóttir, Geirþrúður Finnbogadóttir Hjörvar, Helga Páley Friðþjófsdóttir, Hildigunnur Birgisdóttir, Ingibjörg Sigurjónsdóttir, Ingunn Fjóla Ingþórsdóttir, Katrín Inga Jónsdóttir Hjördísardóttir, Kristín Morthens, Margrét H. Blöndal, Sirra Sigrún Sigurðardóttir, Una Björg Magnúsdóttir, Una Margrét Árnadóttir and Þórdís Aðalsteinsdóttir.

Curator is Ólöf Kristín Sigurðardóttir


The exhibition _Art is our only hope!_ consists of new works, bought and given, by living women artists. Here you can see the work of women of all ages, created in various media and with references to different subjects. Works from The Icelandic Love Corporation in the exhibition are a generous gift to the museum from the artists themselves, as well as works that have been purchased in the last five years. In addition to The Icelandic Love Corporation, there are works by many selected female artists, including Anna Hallin, Anna Hrund Másdóttir, Arna Óttarsdóttir, Auður Lóa Guðnadóttir, Edda Jónsdóttir, Erla Þórarinsdóttir, Geirþrúður Finnbogadóttir Hjörvar, Helga Páley Friðþjófsdóttir, Hildigunnur Birgisdóttir, Ingibjörg Sigurjónsdóttir, Ingunn Fjóla Ingþórsdóttir, Katrín Inga Jónsdóttir Hjördísardóttir, Kristín Morthens, Margrét H. Blöndal, Sirra Sigrún Sigurðardóttir, Una Björg Magnúsdóttir, Una Margrét Árnadóttir and Þórdís Aðalsteinsdóttir.

Curator is Ólöf Kristín Sigurðardóttir


Art is our only hope!

Erla Þórar­ins­dóttir Eldfjall í öll lönd eða bombur handa hverjum og einum, 1983.

This exhibition is the culmination of a year-long research project dedicated to revealing the intricate networks, resilient connections, and bold initiatives that characterised this era of artistic creation, innovation and exploration.

Swell: Women’s Initiative in Icelandic Art in the Eighties is a group exhibition that explores the pivotal role of women artists in shaping the Icelandic art scene leading up to and during the transformative decade of the 1980s.

During the 1970s, second-wave feminism worldwide forged critical groundwork, advocating for women’s rights, increased visibility, and institutional change. Building on this momentum, often referred to as the Women’s Decade, the 1980s saw women artists further asserting their presence and challenging the dominant norms of the art world. The stage was  set for women artists who, by the eighties, were leveraging the pathways previously created to push the boundaries of contemporary art even further.

As Iceland underwent significant social and cultural shifts, these women emerged as radical voices, navigating and reshaping a largely male-dominated art world. Through solidarity and shared vision, they pioneered new forms of expression, from performance art to conceptual works, and redefined the parameters of what art could be. Swell highlights how these women artists spun webs of collaboration, support and determination, defying expectations and paving the way for future generations.  

The exhibition presents a selected, though not exhaustive, collection of works that reflect the dynamic practices of the artists, spanning performance, video, photography, sculpture, and prints. Each piece not only reflects the distinctive vision of its creator but also fits into a broader narrative of artistic exchange and influence. Many of these works, along with archival materials, are being exhibited for the first time since the 1980s, offering fresh insights into this influential period in Icelandic art history. 

This is more than a display of artwork—it is a tribute to the enduring power of community, the beauty of interconnected artistic networks, and the spirit of self-initiative that continues to shape contemporary art. The collaborative ethos of women artists during the 1980s not only fostered creative innovation but also influenced the public art spaces and organisations of the time, leading to more inclusive exhibiting and collecting practices and a deeper understanding of contemporary art in Iceland.

Accompanying the exhibition is a book that digs deeper into the stories behind the art and its environment. It includes essays by curator Becky Forsythe and art historian Heiða Björk Árnadóttir , an interview with artists, reproductions of artworks and archival materials that provide a context for the networks and relationships that fueled this period. Through this publication, we aim to preserve and honor the contributions of these pioneering women, whose work continues to resonate and inspire.

In 2021, the Reykjavík Art Museum received a three-year grant from the Museum Council of Iceland to establish a research fellowship dedicated to studying women’s contributions to Icelandic art history. This position, created in collaboration with the Art Theory programme at the University of Iceland‘s School of Humanities, has resulted in three exhibitions and publications dedicated to the work of Hildur Hákonardóttir, researched by Sigrún Inga Hrólfsdóttir (2023); Borghildur Óskarsdóttir, researched by Aðalheiður Lilja Guðmundsdóttir (2024); and Swell: Women’s Initiative in Icelandic Art in the Eighties is the third and final exhibition in this series, resulting from research by Becky Forsythe. 

Artists participating in the exhibition are Ásta Ólafsdóttir, Brynhildur Þorgeirsdóttir, Erla Þórarinsdóttir, Gerla - Guðrún Erla Geirsdóttir, Harpa Björnsdóttir, Margrét Jónsdóttir, Rúna Þorkelsdóttir, Rúrí and Svala Sigurleifsdóttir.


Swell

Kristín has actively exhibited her works both in Iceland and abroad. Her video works have received awards at film festivals, and a music video she directed was nominated for the Icelandic Music Awards in 2019. Kristín Helga Ríkharðsdóttir has been active within the art community in Iceland, serving on the board of The Living Art Museum from 2018–2020, co-curating the exhibition series “Rólegt og Rómantískt” at Harbinger in 2019, and has been part of the Kling and Bang collective since 2020.

As an artist, Kristín works across different media, where she transfers ideas from experiences, stories and everyday objects into structures. In the form of paintings, staged photography, sculptures, videos and sound, she deals with the hyperreality of everyday and examines the tension between the natural, human-made and staged. By blending the natural and human-made and widening the boundary between real and staged, Kristín attempts to mirror the world we live in, where the boundaries between reality and fiction are blurred

The D-Gallery exhibition series started in 2007 and invites emerging artists who are contributing to the development of the local contemporary art scene to hold their first solo exhibition in a public museum.


D53 Kristín Helga Ríkharðsdóttir

Black and White close up photo of  Fenjagreni by artist Katrínu Elvarsdóttur

At the forefront are three plant species, cherry blossom, banana plant, and Dawn Redwood each with a long and fascinating history connecting different continents. She follows them with her camera – not to pin them down, but to record them and transform them into another form. In the photograph they belong to another world, created by the artist. They bear witness to something movable, but not forgotten, of what can flourish — even far away from its origins.

In A Botanical Future, Katrín focuses on plants that have traveled between habitats. 

Katrín Elvarsdóttir:  A Botanical Future

This project was Iceland's contribution to the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale in 2025. The exhibition tells the story of a future society that has learned to tame lava flows, utilize them, and thus turn a local threat into an opportunity for creativity.

Lavaforming is a proposal on how the brutal force of lava can be turned into a valuable resource, capable of lowering atmospheric emissions through its future use as a sustainable building material.

In our story, placed in 2150, we have harnessed the lava flow, just as we did with geothermal energy 200 years earlier in Iceland. The main goal of Lavaforming is to show that architecture can be the force that rethinks and shapes a new future with sustainability, innovation, and creative thinking. A lava flow can contain enough building material for the foundations of an entire city to rise in a matter of weeks without harmful mining and non-renewable energy generation. Lavaforming is exploring a building material that has never been used before. The theme is both a proposal and a metaphor - architecture is in a paradigm shift, many of our current methods have been deemed obsolete or harmful in the long term. In our current predicament - we need to be bold, think in new ways, look at challenges and find the right resources - Arnhildur Pálmadóttir, curator, architect, founder and creative director of Lavaforming. 

Architect Arnhildur Pálmadóttir is the founder and owner of s.ap architects, which specializes in sustainability and circularity in construction, and the curator and the creative director of Lavaforming. She is renowned for her entrepreneurial attitude and interdisciplinary interest that she uses to tackle projects from various perspectives. 

The exhibition team of the Venice Biennale comes from s. ap architects, an interdisciplinary research studio focusing on speculative projects of the future, along with interdisciplinary collaborators. The exhibition team consists of Arnhildur Pálmadóttir, Arnar Skarphéðinsson, Björg Skarphéðinsdóttir, Sukanya Mukherjee, Jack Armitage, and Andri Snær Magnason. The graphic design is handled by the design studio Studio Studio, and Markús Þór Andrésson, Head of Exhibitions and Mediation at the Reykjavík Art Museum, serves as the exhibition's consultant. 


Lavaforming

Hugo Llanes

Hugo Llanes is an artist and cultural facilitator based in Reykjavík. His œuvre explores political and social issues through artistic research and a wide range of media, including installation, performance, and expanded painting. His work examines themes such as migration and adaptation, belonging, power dynamics, and post-colonial identity. Llanes often incorporates food into his practice, inviting audience participation and engagement.

Hugo Llanes' solo exhibition in D gallery.

Recent exhibitions include Your Addiction is the Message! at Gallery 99 – Brno House of Arts in the Czech Republic; Los Primxs, a performance in collaboration with Lucky 3 Collective at Local Taller Artist-run in Xalapa, Mexico; goodgonebadwrong at the Living Art Museum in Iceland; and Tracing Fragments at the Kópavogur Art Museum, Iceland, which was awarded Best Group Show by the Icelandic Art Prize in 2024.

Reykjavik Art Museum ‘s D-Gallery exhibition series started in 2007. Emerging artists, who are shaping the local contemporary art scene, are invited to hold their first solo show in a public museum.