Coming Soon to the Katonah Museum of Art: ICELAND: Artists Respond to Place

ICELAND: Artists Respond to Place (June 29 – September 28, 2014 at the Katonah Museum of Art) is the first museum exhibition in the United States to focus exclusively on contemporary Icelandic artists and their relationship to the singular geography of their country. Iceland is the youngest and most geologically active landmass on earth, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the visually stunning works of these artists. Twenty-two works ranging from painting to site-specific installations address not only the concrete features of Iceland, but also the conceptual realms of history, memory, myth, and imagination as they relate to the country’s unique environment. With its fiery volcanoes, glacial ice caps, powerful waterfalls, and alternating solar rhythms of summer’s unending daylight and winter’s unsparing darkness, the austere beauty of Iceland—a place like no other—serves as an unmistakable force for the artists represented.

ICELAND: Artists Respond to Place covers a broad range of formal approaches and media, including painting, photography, sculpture, and video installations. Egill Sæbjörnsson’s witty, surreal lava rock animation speaks to Icelandic legends of Huldúfolk, or hidden folk, who live in the land. Eggert Pétursson’s large tapestry-like paintings focus exclusively on the indigenous flora of Iceland—the minute mosses and flowers that cling to the tundra and lava fields—which he renders with near obsessive attention to detail. In contrast, Olafur Eliasson’s aerial photographs trace the entire length of an Icelandic river as it meanders from its source in the mountains to the sea, compressing an incomprehensibly large expanse of terrain into a single view. Katrín Sigurdardóttir’s series of wooden travel boxes contain generic landscapes inspired by Iceland’s treeless topographies; her miniature environments address the recent phenomenon of eco-tourism—a growing business in Iceland—and the paradoxical notion of a prepackaged experience of untrammeled nature. Two artists, Guðjón Ketilsson and Ragna Róbertsdóttir, will travel from Iceland to create their installations on site in the KMA galleries. Guðjón’s wall drawing Stígar/Paths will be a text-map charting the artist’s stream-of-consciousness thoughts as he wanders the streets of Reykjavík, while Ragna will compose her minimalist wall sculpture from lava pumice collected at different volcanic sites in Iceland.

“Whether or not we live in the city or country, the natural environment plays a profound role in the way we conduct our daily lives and experience our surroundings. Through the lens of these twelve artists, we can approach the powerful terrain of Iceland in dramatic close-ups and sweeping views, revealing both the subtleties and drama of this extraordinary place,” says Darsie Alexander, Executive Director of the Katonah Museum of Art.

In conjunction with ICELAND: Artists Respond to Place, the Museum will launch an exhibition website icelandart.org (launching June 25) featuring interviews with the artists, videos of the installation, an essay by curator Pari Stave, a museum blog, and fun facts about Iceland. Visitors will be able to share their favorite photos of Iceland.

The featured artists are Birgir Andrésson, Eggert Pétursson, Egill Sæbjörnsson, Einar Falur Ingólfsson, Georg Guðni Hauksson, Guðjón Ketilsson, Guðrún Einarsdóttir, Katrín Sigurdardóttir, Olafur Eliasson, Ragna Róbertsdóttir, Rúrí, and Þórdis Alda Sigúrðardóttir.

Pari Stave is an independent curator based in New York. Her recent exhibitions include Munch|Warhol and the Multiple Image (co-curated with Patricia G. Berman); New Wave Finland: Contemporary Photography from the Helsinki School (co-curated with Timothy Persons); and the forthcoming exhibition Magnetic North: Artists and the Arctic Circle. From 2011-2013, she served as Consulting Curator for The American-Scandinavian Foundation. She was the Director of the AXA Gallery from 1992-2008 and has served as curator of the AXA Equitable Art Collection since 1985.

1ST LOOK: Iceland: Saturday, June 28, 7:00 pm

Caramoor @ KMA Summer Concerts: June 11 – Cricket Tell the Weather, July 16 – PROJECT Trio, July 30 – Alexis Cole Quintet

Wordscapes: Poetry and Landscape, Sunday, July 13

Midsummer Day: Sunday, July 27: Icelandic horses and music, and projects for all ages

Iceland: Land of Information Lecture Series: September 16 – Ed Snodgrass, Green Roof Technology, September 23 – Kári Stefánsson, M.D., deCODE Genetics

ABOUT KMA: The Katonah Museum of Art, committed to presenting exceptional art from all cultures and time periods, through innovative exhibition and education programs, promotes the understanding and enjoyment of the visual arts for diverse audiences. The founders’ decision to be a non-collecting institution resulted in a dynamic and flexible exhibition program, which remains one of the most distinctive features of the KMA. The KMA offers lectures, films, workshops, concerts and other events for a general audience; and presents innovative and substantive programs for over 100 member schools. Our Learning Center is the only interactive space in Westchester County where children can come on a daily basis to explore and create art.

UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS:

Lethal Beauty: Samurai Weapons and Armor (October 12, 2014 – January 4, 2015)

Tri-State Juried Exhibition (January 18 – February 15, 2015).

LOCATION: Katonah Museum of Art, 134 Jay Street, Katonah, NY 10536

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Visit www.katonahmuseum.org or call 914-232-9555.

MUSEUM HOURS: Sunday: 12pm – 5pm, Tuesday through Saturday: 10am – 5pm, Closed Monday.

ADMISSION: $10 Adults, $5 Seniors & Students, Members & Children (Under the Age of 12) Always Enter Free