SPESSI is a contemporary photographer, born in 1956 in the town of Ísafjörður, Iceland. 
He is one of Iceland's most important visual chroniclers and has cultivated a deeply personal tone in his works in a career spanning 35 years, marked by an unflinching and unembellished depiction of his sense of reality in his immediate surroundings. 
His photographic oeuvre frequently captures the societal and nature-based existence at any given moment, presenting portraits of individuals who often remain unseen, yet whose roles are integral to the fabric of society. His work explores the constructed world—its human presence and absence—where noise, silence, and void intersect.

Spessi is known for his photographic works depicting everyday subjects such as petrol pumps in his photo series and publication Bensín (1999), and apartment blocks in his photo series and publication 111 (2018), which focused on life within the postal district 111 in Breiðholt, a suburb of Reykjavík. His images often include the people connected to these environments, and he has stated that he approaches his subjects as a neutral observer.

In his exhibition TÓM (VOID), Spessi turns his lens towards the isolation and expansiveness of Öræfi, a remote region in southeast Iceland, nestled between Skaftafell and Jökulsárlón, within Vatnajökull National Park, where he has resided for the past two years. These works offer a visual exploration of his inner landscape, shaped by solitude and dialogue with this unique place, revealing a shift in both perspective and artistic inquiry.

For Spessi´s new bookwork, TÓM, published in August 2025 by Icelandic art publishers Kind, author Ófeigur Sigurðsson writes:
"The void is full of meanings yet to come, engorged with unspeakable possibilities; the prelude to creation. In the beginning was nothing. Grass nowhere to be found, say the prophecies of the oracle, which encapsulate the desolation of the universe better than anything else. Time was unbound and did not pass by. Neither was there sand nor any seas. No earth. No sky. Shadows as shadows of themselves. The dark without darkness, the light with no light."

Reflecting on his current residing in Öræfi, Spessi speaks of the challenge of relocating from urban environments to such vast desolation, He describes the elemental force of nature as an experience of profound humility, stating: "The wind and the void move in sync, pointing towards the vastness that calls for my observation — with each passing day … the void I felt in my soul upon moving to somewhere so remote. Now the work is complete, and I can see the horizon — the physical one, and the one within myself.”

Spessi studied photography at the Akademie voor Beeldende Kunst (AKI) in the Netherlands and graduated in 1994. He has exhibited extensively, both in Iceland and abroad, including solo exhibitions at the National Museum of Iceland, the National Gallery of Iceland, the Reykjavík Art Museum, and Hafnarborg Art Centre, as well as in art museums and galleries across the Nordic countries, Germany, Poland, the UK, and the US.

The exhibition is supported by:
The Museum Council of Iceland
The South Iceland Development Fund
Icelandic Visual Arts Fund

Opening hours: 
Mon-Fri: 9 - 5 PM
Saturdays: 1 - 5 PM
And by appointment