HEAD2HEAD2024

An Investment in the Bridge Between Iceland and Greece

The Greek-Icelandic art festival Head2Head will take place across various locations in Reykjavík starting October 11 2024.

Articles & Interviews
Andreas Brunner

Andreas Brunner to Berlin

Artist Andreas Brunner has been selected from a group of applicants for a residency at the guest studio Künstlerhaus Bethanien in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin, Germany. For the past five years, Icelandic visual artists and visual artists with a strong connection to the Icelandic art scene have been able to apply to stay in the studio.

Grants
Bouchra Khalili's video installation The Mapping Journey Project, made between 2008 and 2011, is very beautiful to look at. The stories told by her interviewees are nevertheless poignant.

Fresh Breeze in the Halls of Arsenale

If I had to use one adjective to describe the current Venice Biennale, I think I would choose the word refreshing. Don't get me wrong, the works are often very moving, as the main subject of this year's Bienniale is the struggle of many, different, marginalized groups. I use the word refreshing to describe my experience of this particular Biennale in the context of previous Biennales, and there are several reasons for that.

Articles & Interviews
Ferðastyrkir opið fyrir umsoknir 2024

Travel Grants - applications are open

Icelandic or Iceland-based visual artists can apply for travel grants for exhibitions, projects, and residences abroad taking place around October — January. The deadline is October 1.

Grants
Anchor in the landscape

A Seed in Unknown Water: A Story of Plants & Perservence

Wooden piles, limestone, brick, and Istrian stone, the four materials used to build the UNESCO World Heritage Site Venice, Italy. This is where I reside during my two-month internship at the 60th International Biennale Arte. The sounds of chatter echo in the narrow streets where your eyes come across historic Renaissance frescos amidst medieval architecture. The amount of beauty is inspiring; at times overwhelming, yet amongst the charm and medieval nostalgia, something feels peculiar. It hits me as I sit below a Platano tree in San Giacomo Square, its bark reminiscent of a Van Gogh watercolor painting. If this city is built on wooden piles in the Mediterranean Sea, how do the sparse trees survive on this island? How does a seed grow through limestone and brick without soil in the middle of a lagoon? I wonder if it´s a coincidence that the biannual festival resides in the island's greenest quarters, accurately named Giardini or “The Gardens”. With the ongoing genocide in Palestine, I am reminded of the resilience of artists creating in conditions that are now quite the antithesis of the lush biennale gardens.

Venice Biennale
Kunstlerhaus Bethanien

Open call for Kunstlerhaus Bethanien

Icelandic visual artists, or artists with a significant connection to the Icelandic art scene, can apply for a funded one-year residency at  in Berlin. The residency period is May 1, 2025 – April 15, 2026.

Grants
Myndlist a islandi tolublod 1-3

Seeking an Editorial Board member for Art in Iceland

Art in Iceland is looking to welcome a new member to the Editorial Board for the fifth issue of the magazine, to be published in March 2025. As part of the Editorial Board this individual will contribute their knowledge and experience to co-leading the editorial program and production of the magazine with current board members. This is a freelance, compensated position with the opportunity to influence the ongoing development of the magazine. This includes engaging energetically, creatively and practically with significant ideas in contemporary art in Iceland, internationally, and at the intersection of these contexts.

Open Calls
Sigurður Guðjónsson, listamaður.

Sigurður Guðjónsson´s solo exhibition in Linz

Sigurður Guðjónsson opened his solo exhibition Scopes of Inner Transit in Francisco Carolinum art museum in Linz Austria on August 30. Curator is Susanne Watzenboeck.

Articles & Interviews
Margrét Bjarnadóttir - CHART 2024

Artists from Iceland at CHART 2024

The Nordic Art Fair CHART will take place from 29 August — 01 September, with a VIP preview on 29 August, at Charlottenborg in the heart of Copenhagen by Kongens Nytorv. Three Icelandic galleries will take part in the art fair along with many artists. CHART 2024 will focus on bringing established, internationally-renowned artists in the Nordics, together with the next generation of rising stars. BERG Contemporary presents two artists of different generations and media, John Zurier and Þórdís Erla Zoëga. i8’s presentation at Chart 2024 features artworks by established artists associated with the gallery’s history. The exhibition showcases important works from each artist’s respective practice spanning several decades, as well as more recent creations.

The artists are Birgir Andrésson, Ingólfur Arnarsson, Ólafur Elíasson, Hreinn Friðfinnsson, Kristján Guðmundsson, Sigurður Guðmundsson, Roni Horn, Callum Innes, Ragnar Kjartansson, Ragna Róbertsdóttir, Karin Sander, Lawrence Weiner. The art fair partners with Louisiana Channel and screens a number of video interviews recorded with artists exhibiting at CHART 2024, such as Ragnar Kjartansson, Roni Horn, Karin Sander and Sigurður Guðmundsson. Þula will exhibit a duo presentation by two artists: Áslaug Íris Katrín Friðjónsdóttir and Davíð Örn Halldórsson. Both artists approach their work with fluent abstract forms.

For the Performance Programme at CHART 2024, Margrét Bjarnadóttir will perform ‘PEOPLE PLEASE.’ During the performance, a group of people will walk around Kongens Nytorv with protest signs that have text pieces by the artist written on them. Unlike protest signs which normally aim to be clear and direct and not open to misunderstanding, here, the messages are deliberately left open and ambiguous.

Articles & Interviews

Good Thursday

Good Thursday is the last Thursday of the month. Several museums and exhibition spaces offer extended opening hours. Stroll around and experience the lively art scene! 

Fimm-langi-hringur-16_9

Our Projects

Read more about our projects and collaborations such as Sequences Biennial, The Icelandic Art Prize, Talk Series

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Amanda Riffo - house of purkinje - 2023
Dozie, Precious
Hildigunnur BIRGISDÓTTIR, Approx. 7% (2024), Icelandic Pavilion
ÍMV 2024 handhafar Ljósmynd: Sunday & White
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