Saturday, January 25th at 15 pm, three exhibitions will be opened in the Akureyri Art Gallery: Hulda Vilhjálmsdóttir – Hidden Lady, Kristján Guðmundsson - Eight Echtings, and Þórður Hans Baldursson / Þórunn Elísabet Sveinsdóttir – Ladies and Gentlemen.
Hulda Vilhjálmsdóttir
Hulda Vilhjálmsdóttir graduated from Iceland University of the Arts, department of painting in 2000 and has since held numerous solo exhibitions and participated in group exhibitions both in Iceland and abroad.
The painting has always been Vilhjálmsdóttir’s terra firma. Her paintings are both figurative and abstract, in acrylic or oil and she has also exhibited ceramic work, collages, videos and performances. She is a searching artist. Since early in her career the woman and the power of rebirth have been a theme in her work. The woman is like a god in her own world, often seclusive, even distant and beautiful, mysterious and mournful. The color blue is also a potent tone in her work, which suggests poetic sorrow and the romance of loneliness. The artist ‘s eagerness, fire, strength and vulnerability changes with disciplined brushstrokes in creation on canvas and ultimately becomes a wish for peace and beauty in a complex world.
The exhibition Fairy Woman shows different sides of Hulda Vilhjálmsdóttir ‘s art, where the radiance of the creation is in the forefront, art for arts sake.
Curator: Hrafnhildur Gissurardóttir.
Kristján Guðmundsson
Kristján Guðmundsson was born in Snæfellsnes 1941.He is a self-taught artist who held his first exhibition in Café Mokka, Reykjavík 1968. He was a founding member of Gallery SÚM 1969 and served as its director for the first year. After that Guðmundsson moved to Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and lived there for the next nine years, after that he settled in Hjalteyri.
Guðmundsson is one of the best-known representatives of concept art in Iceland. With his works and choice of material he stretches the limit of conventional definition of art. During his career he has exhibited his work far and wide, mostly though in Europe and the US. He is also known for his artist-books. His work and books can be found in various museum collections and in 2010 he received the Swedish Carnegie Awards.
This exhibition consists of eight works that are displayed for the first time in Iceland. Ingibjörg Jóhannsdóttir arranged the print and selection of paper. All works are one copy – unique.
Curator: Sigríður Örvarsdóttir.
Þórður Hans Baldursson | Þórunn Elísabet
Bringing together the works of Þórður Hans Baldursson (born 1992) and Þórunn Elísabet (born 1952) invites us to explore how everyday objects carry and challenge gendered assumptions.
In Þórður Hans’s work, The Men’s Choir in the Wall, black ties, initially static and minimalistic, come alive through sound, embodying masculine-coded symbols of formality and hierarchy. The interplay of voices and unexpected movement disrupts viewer expectations, suggesting hidden complexities beneath their surface.
Similarly, Þórunn’s installation of fluttering, perfumed scarves transform simple textiles into evocative objects in How to Ornate a Scarf. Sourced globally and spanning various eras, these scarves evoke femininity, luxury and cultural context through sensory experience.
Both works compel us to question the assumptions that we make based on what we see, highlighting how cultural artifacts shape and reflect societal narratives about gender and identity. By animating these objects, the artists reveal their inherent fluidity and softness, illustrating how gendered meanings evolve across contexts and over time.
Text: Hólmar Hólm.