lifeiscarbon®

Contemporary Icelandic Art

Hrafnkell Sigurðsson

Given the harsh volcanic and glacial landscape of their sparsely populated country, it’s no surprise that the work of many Icelandic artists is greatly influenced by landscape. “Modern Icelandic art is rooted in landscape, but it has little to do with the classical European tradition with its idyllic atmosphere and picturesque order” says Halldór Björn Runólfsson, Director of the National Gallery of Iceland and curator of a new exhibition at Scandinavia House in New York.

Entitled From Another Shore: Recent Icelandic Art, the new show represents a survey of contemporary Icelandic art and includes sculpture, installation, painting, photography, and videos by 21 of Iceland’s most acclaimed artists: Þórdís Aðalsteinsdóttir, Olga Bergmann, Hildur Bjarnadóttir, Margrét H. Blöndal, Ólafur Elíasson, Steingrímur Eyfjörð, Gabríela Friðriksdóttir, Hulda Hákon, Guðný Rósa Ingimarsdóttir, Hekla Dögg Jónsdóttir, Ragnar Kjartansson, Ólöf Nordal, Jón Óskar, Eggert Pétursson, Magnús Sigurðarson, Hulda Stefánsdóttir and our favorites Katrín Sigurðardóttir, Hrafnkell Sigurðsson, and The Icelandic Love Corporation (Sigrún Hrólfsdóttir, Jóní Jónsdóttir, and Eirún Sigurðardóttir).

Many of the artists in From Another Shore: Recent Icelandic Art seem to draw vitality and creativity from the contrast between the sublime emptiness of the Icelandic landscape and the bustling energy of cosmopolitan cities around the world in which they now live and work. Look below to read more about the artists represented in the show and to see a small selection of their work:

carboncollective™: Lina Scheynius

carboncollective™ is an ongoing series in which we are showcasing some of the more interesting up and coming photographers from Scandinavia. Over the last year, we've selected some of the best new photographers from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden in order to show you a selection of their work. All of the photographers we've chosen are proponents of the New Nordic Photography movement and demonstrate a strong sense of Scandinavian Æsthetics.

Our latest photographer in the series is Lina Scheynius (born 1981) from Sweden. Originally from the small Swedish town of Vänersborg, Lina was brought up in Trollhättan in the southwest of the country. As well as being home to Saab Auto and Volvo Aero, these days Trollhättan is also home to the Swedish film industry and fast becoming known as Trollywood (Fucking Åmål, Dancer in the Dark and Dogville are just a few of the films to have been shot there).

Despite having only shown her work for the last two years, Lina has already chalked up an impressive list of exhibitions, having been included in a group show in London, two in Dublin and one in Lund, Sweden. 2008 is shaping up to be an even busier year for Lina, with a further four shows including one in Barcelona, one in Paris and two in New York.

We love the brooding sense of intimacy and subtle play of light in Lina’s photography together with the way she injects mystery into everyday moments. See for yourself by taking a look at a selection of her work below and in the new carboncollective™ IX gallery. Remember to read the profiles of the other photographers in the carboncollective™ series and to view our galleries of their work:

Art Commerce Collision

The Swedish-American renegade creative duo Hart + Larsson have been quite a stir of late, first with their spoof Marc Jacobs advertising campaign (complete with it’s Juergen Teller pastiche) and then with their hijacking of the front cover of New York Magazine. Envious of their ability to mix art with commerce, lifeiscarbon® recently caught up with Tomas Larsson to hear about some of their more interesting projects.

“More than anything, we are purveyors of style. We want to create things - whether it be films, photography, websites or clothing - that all refer back to the H+L style. Ultimately we want to populate the world with things that posses a certain look or voice. We see no clear distinction between art and commerce. What we do, in essence, is called The New Enthusiasm.”

“Some of our more notable past and present clients are AOL, MTV, GE, Olympus, Mike&Ike, Every Day With Rachael Ray, and Paramount. Presently we are developing an original online program with Comedy Central.”

Take a look below to read more about Hart + Larrson and to see some our favorite projects by them. YouTube, Frank Gehry and Brad Pitt are just a few of those who have had the honor of being given given the Hart + Larrson treatment:

carboncollective™: Jenny Kristina Nilsson

carboncollective™ is an ongoing series in which we are showcasing some of the more interesting up and coming photographers from Scandinavia. Over the last year, we've selected some of the best new photographers from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden in order to show you a selection of their work. All of the photographers we've chosen are proponents of the New Nordic Photography movement and their work demonstrates a strong sense of Scandinavian Æsthetics .

Our eighth photographer is Jenny Kristina Nilsson (born 1985) from Gävle in Sweden. Originally from Östersund, in the middle of the country, Jenny is currently studying Creative Writing at the University of Gävle but has plans to study photography from the Fall.

“I take pictures because I want to tell stories and in order to explore subjects I’m interested in. Right now my photographs revolve around the issues of identity, loneliness, everyday life, emotions and one’s sense of self. I feel that my pictures tell me something about myself and my life. They form a sort of a weird diary.”

Together with other carboncollective™ photographers such as Sannah Kvist and Emilie Björk, Jenny Kristina Nilsson’s work can simplistically be described as Scandinavian Realism with a strong undercurrent of Nordic Angst. Solitary figures, always partially obscured, are glimpsed within intimate but claustrophobic spaces or dwarf-like against the brooding force of nature. Flooded, as always, by the intense and oppressive white light of Scandinavia. Judge for yourself by taking a look at a selection of her work below and in the carboncollective™ VIII gallery. Remember to read the profiles of other photographers in the carboncollective™ series and to view our online galleries of their work:

Bertil Hansson Vernissage

Despite earlier signs that Spring was on its way, the weather in Scandinavia has turned cold and grey, with icy rain falling on the hard packed snow still covering much of the region. It was surprisingly warming therefore, to view the colorful new series of paintings by our friend, the Swedish artist Bertil Hansson, at his recent vernissage in Oslo.

In the mainly abstract image-world Hansson inhabits, light has always played a central role, whether expressed through painting, photography or graphic art and the same is true of his recent work, comprising mainly of tempera on canvas.

Work in the new exhibition comprises of a collection of small series that includes Resa (Travel), Ükent Land (Unknown Land), Ljuskraft (Light Power) and Tilsammans (Together). Called simply Abstrakt, Bertil Hannson’s exhibition at Galleri A in Oslo is on show until 20. April and well worth a visit if you're in the area. Take a look below to see a selection of paintings from the show and remember to read our earlier profile of the artist as well as viewing our online gallery of his work.

Scandinavian Artist Editions

Time for us to admit that we have a thing for collecting obscure magazines, artist editions and interesting fanzines from all over the world and especially those from close to home in Scandinavia. It's probably no surprise to readers of lifeiscarbon® since we’ve already mentioned most of the magazines that we love and previously written about small independent publishers such as Cederteg and Farewell.

Our new favorites are Soyfriends, an independent publisher based in Norway and dedicated to printing and distributing works by selected Scandinavian and International artists. Their editions, produced by the artists themselves and then distributed by Soyfriends, are hand-made, individually numbered and printed in extremely limited numbers of 20 to 100 copies.

Soyfriends fanzines are currently being featured as part of the permanent traveling exhibition Kiosk and were exhibited last year at Art Basel (Switzerland), Hit The Books (Belgium) and at Carbon Copy Commodity (Bell Roberts, South Africa). Take a look below to find out more about Soyfriends and to view sample work from the artists published so far; Magnus Voll, Mathiassen/Grandpeople, Frankie Martin, Maja Sten, Rui Tenreiro, Nick Cortese, Daniel Jensen, Luke Best, Ron Regé Jr, Martin Skauen and Kalle Runeson):

Contemporary Art & Social Life

Water flame, Installation View, Sies+Höke Gallery

Karriere is an interesting café/restaurant/bar situated in the heart of the old meat district (Kødbyen) of Copenhagen but by calling it such we don't do justice to the fact that it’s also a totally new type of art gallery and something of a patron of the arts. In other words, it’s a venue with huge ambitions where art has somehow become a central part to meeting, eating, drinking, relaxing and having fun. As if all of that wasn’t enough, a certain percentage of profits from the new venture (7% of beer sales from Sving nights) go towards to the Karriere Grant – a fund awarded once a year to support individuals and organizations in Vesterbro, Copenhagen.

The renowned Danish artist Jeppe Hein came up with the idea for Karriere together with his sister, Lærke Hein. Hein creates witty and minimalist installations that deliberately blur the boundaries between conceptual art and mechanical objects whilst questioning the ritualistic relationship between art and the spectator. Combining sculpture and installation with architecture and technology, he often mixes the notion of the functional with the artistic. Whilst his style refers to minimalism and to abstract concepts, Jeppe tries to depart from a purely abstract experience by making the audience physically activate the work. Take a look below to see more examples of his work and to read more about his interesting new venue:

Finnish Art Now

The prolific Finnish photographer, Elina Brotherus, is possibly our favorite Scandinavian artist at the moment. If you happen to find yourself in New York over the coming months, there’s the chance to see a selection of her work as part of Ars Fennica: Finnish Art Now at Scandinavia House along with the work of three other critically acclaimed artists from Finland: Markus Kåhre, Elina Merenmies, and Anna Tuori.

As for Elina Brotherus, whilst her early works were rooted in the documentary tradition, mainly involving self-portraiture, her more recent work has been dominated by more formal concerns. Despite the fact that her art often provokes conceptual questions, Brotherus insists that her interests are primarily visual rather than theoretical, stating; "I trust my eyes and my intuition".

As Brotherus’s work has evolved, it has become almost devoid of all autobiographical elements but earlier photographs often captured actual events that had occurred in her life. She made ‘Wedding Portraits’ (1997) when she married, ‘Divorce Portrait’ (1998) when she divorced, and ‘I Hate Sex’ (1998) when, as she explained; “I felt that way”. Clearly the connection between art and lived experience is key, as Brotherus explains; “Creating images shakes me up; and when life is ‘shaky’, I get the urge to take photographs”. Take a look below to see a small selection of her work together with more details about Ars Fennica:

Danish Tactile Ceramics

Danish-born ceramic artist/designer Marie Torbensdatter Hermann uses her fingers to leave a visual and tactile memory on the forms she creates. Instead of uniform looking and perfectly smooth objects, we find slight imprints left by the artist who made them. “My work is about the hand of the user and the piece itself. I am fascinated with how our fingers interact when we use and hold ceramics. I intend the pieces to give visual pleasure and a tactile awareness when used” explains Marie.

Until the end of the month there’s still a chance to catch To The Legion Of The Lost, an exhibition of ceramics by Marie Torbensdatter Hermann at Matin in Beverly Hills. Comprising of installations, it’s a chance to view the artist’s work as a whole and see how her pieces physically relate to one another. Bridging the increasingly fluid line between design and art, at times the exhibition is reminiscent of miniature landscapes whilst at other times the uniqueness of each individual piece demands to be appreciated. Take a look below at more images from the show:

Danish Documentary Photography

In capturing a single brief moment in a person’s life in a photograph, the Danish photographer Asger Carlsen somehow manages to tell a whole story about that person’s part, present and future. At times his work seems almost transgressively personal despite the fact that his motives are apparently neutral and most of the time there’s an eerie quality to the seemingly random happenings that he manages to capture.

Whilst occasionally doing some fashion work, Asger Carlsen is first and foremost a documentary photographer, but a documentary photographer with a distinctly offbeat approach. He clearly doesn’t want to document reality in a historical context but is more interested in telling the truth as he sees it. At first glance, Carlsen’s photographs seem to portray reality as it is (the same reality that we see before our own eyes) and yet somehow he manages to capture moments in history that would otherwise be lost in the glimpse of an eye.

Detour, a photographic road trip that Asger Carlsen took through five US states in just a matter of weeks, is a great introduction to his work. Take a look some images from Detour below before checking out the more unsettling Wrong Face on the photographer’s own website: