Eyborg Guðmunds­dóttir: Circle, Square and Line

Eyborg’s career spanned fifteen years, and she developed her own personal imagery, characterised by simple forms and spectacle. The turning point in Eyborg’s career came when she moved to Paris in 1959, after being encouraged by the German-Icelandic artist Dieter Roth. There she became acquainted with Georges Folmer, a heavyweight in geometric abstract art, whose guidance greatly influenced the development of Eyborg’s art. She was soon invited to join an international group of thirty artists who called themselves Groupe Mesure, the group was founded by Georges Folmer in 1960.

In 1961-65, Eyborg exhibited her work widely in Europe, with Groupe Mesure. During her Paris years, she also received regular tutelage from Op-Art originator Victor Vasarely, who encouraged her interest in the direct effect of systematic forms and order on visual perception and experience.  In 1965, Eyborg returned to Iceland and participated in a few group exhibitions, as well as holding three solo exhibitions.

Her first solo exhibitions was in the National Museum of Iceland in 1965, the second one in Mokka Café 1966, and the third one in the Nordic House in 1975. Eyborg’s work was always based on the primary quality of art, primary forms – circle, square, line – on their internal interaction and stimulus to the optic nerve. During her career she kept exploring the possibilities of abstract art and geometry, and thus was more responsible for the development of the geometric abstraction painting than any other Icelandic artist. 
Eyborg died prematurely in 1977, at just 53 years of age..