Ocean, Ívar Valgarðsson‘s solo exhibition, opens in Reykjanes Art Museum on January 18th and runs until April 19th 2025.
Ívar Valgarðsson (b. 1954) is an artist who is intrigued by the nature of things. He often uses the familiar and commonplace to create installations that lyrically reflect upon how perception orders the world. For this exhibition he has created a new work, Ocean, a room-sized installation of 174 photographs and painting. Ocean is about the magnitude of the sea which surrounds Reykjanesbaer and the individuality of experience. In addition to this new installation, the exhibition also presents work from across Ívar’s professional career. This provides a rare opportunity to consider the artist's acuity and dedication to a methodology over many years. Time is ever present in his work. The process of creation is often mirrored in the temporal experience of the viewer. This experience of time is perhaps the most elemental aspect of nature – and for Valgarðsson, nature is the basis of everything.
Ívar Valgarðsson studied at The Icelandic College of Art and Crafts from 1971. There he was part of a dynamic peer group and was exposed to influential teachers such as Hörður Ágústsson (1922-2005), the headmaster of the College at that time, as well as to the sculptor and professor Jón Gunnar Árnason (1931-1989). The 1970s were a fertile period for Icelandic art and early in his art practice, Ívar started to participate in the exhibitions of SÚM, Young Artists’ Association. The organisation had no stylistic mandate but brought an early exposure to the Icelandic art scene of ideas and practices associated with neo-dada, fluxism, and other aspects of the avant garde.
During his later studies in Holland, a deeper connection with conceptual art practices emerged. It was a period which reconsidered the connective tissue of art making. Valgarðsson was intrigued by the theoretical shifts being made: from abstract expressionism to conceptualism and minimalism. Mechanised processes and textual descriptions now usurped the ardent materiality and gestural grandiosity of abstract expressionism. In part, Valgarðsson’s work has been an investigation of the paradox of how painting and conceptual art can coexist. With its materiality and often painterly presence, Valgarðsson’s work stands at the forefront of a rich tradition in Icelandic art, one rooted in painting but scrutinising its constituent elements and the context of its display.
Ívar Valgarðsson studied at The Icelandic College of Art and Crafts from 1971. There he was part of a dynamic peer group and was exposed to influential teachers such as Hörður Ágústsson (1922-2005), the headmaster of the College at that time, as well as to the sculptor and professor Jón Gunnar Árnason (1931-1989). The 1970s were a fertile period for Icelandic art and early in his art practice, Ívar started to participate in the exhibitions of SÚM, Young Artists’ Association. The organisation had no stylistic mandate but brought an early exposure to the Icelandic art scene of ideas and practices associated with neo-dada, fluxism, and other aspects of the avant garde.
During his later studies in Holland, a deeper connection with conceptual art practices emerged. It was a period which reconsidered the connective tissue of art making. Valgarðsson was intrigued by the theoretical shifts being made: from abstract expressionism to conceptualism and minimalism. Mechanised processes and textual descriptions now usurped the ardent materiality and gestural grandiosity of abstract expressionism. In part, Valgarðsson’s work has been an investigation of the paradox of how painting and conceptual art can coexist. With its materiality and often painterly presence, Valgarðsson’s work stands at the forefront of a rich tradition in Icelandic art, one rooted in painting but scrutinising its constituent elements and the context of its display.
Ocean‘s curator is Gavin Morrison.
Gavin Morrison is a Scottish writer and curator who lives in the USA. He is currently writing a book on Donald Judd’s relationship with Iceland for Lars Müller Publishers Zürich to be released in 2026. He is also developing an exhibition with the National Gallery of Geogria in Tbilisi, on the architect Berthold Lubetkin, and the writer and designer Ilia Zdanevich.
Morrison has occupied various curatorial and directorial positions. From 2018-2020 he was the Director of Skaftfell – Center of Visual Art, Seyðisfjörður, Iceland. He was also the inaugural curator at Fort Worth Contemporary Arts. In 2017 Morrison was awarded a Research Fellowship at Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University, USA and was a Brown Foundation Fellow at Maison Dora Maar, Ménerbes, France, in 2015.
Morrison has occupied various curatorial and directorial positions. From 2018-2020 he was the Director of Skaftfell – Center of Visual Art, Seyðisfjörður, Iceland. He was also the inaugural curator at Fort Worth Contemporary Arts. In 2017 Morrison was awarded a Research Fellowship at Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University, USA and was a Brown Foundation Fellow at Maison Dora Maar, Ménerbes, France, in 2015.
Reykjanes Art Museum will publish a book that will cover the art career of Ívar Valgarðsson.
The publication is made in collaboration with Hörður Lárusson, co-owner of the design agency Kolofon, text written by Gavin Morrison, translated by Helga Soffía Einarsdóttir, and the image processing is by Vigfús Birgisson.
The book will be published during the exhibition period.
The publication is made in collaboration with Hörður Lárusson, co-owner of the design agency Kolofon, text written by Gavin Morrison, translated by Helga Soffía Einarsdóttir, and the image processing is by Vigfús Birgisson.
The book will be published during the exhibition period.
Ocean is sponsored by Museum Council of Iceland and the artist is sponsored by The Icelandic Visual Arts Council.
The exhibition will run until April 19th 2025.