Icelandic contemporary art offers welcome break from conference overload at Arctic Circle

Arctic Circle participants, seeking refuge from crowded rooms and intense discussions, might want to walk a few blocks down the street and pay a visit to the Reykjavik Art Museum, Hafnarhús. Two renown Icelandic modern artists are on display in large rooms with high ceilings and plenty of space for respite and alternative stimulation.

The first artist is Steina, a pioneer in video experimental videography. Born in 1940 and trained as a violinist, Steina turned her focus to video creation and confounded in 1971 The Electronic Kitchen, the alternative art space in New York City known as “The Kitchen.” Her work resides at numerous museums around the world, including the Centre George’s Pompidou in Paris and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

In this exhibit, called Steina Playback, visitors not only see traditionally curated videos lined up against the walls, but also unexpected portrayals of videos in rooms, with mirrors and double screens that offer an experience of total submersion. In these rooms, one can forget the outside world — including the conference down the street.

The second exhibit, called Erró Remix, looks at 60 years of Erró’s career. Erro, born Gudmundur Gudmundsson in 1932, is perhaps best known for his pop art collages. In 1989 he donated thousands of pieces of his work to this museum.

Erró is a pioneer in painting collages on ready-made images. He created a style called “scapes” which is the creation of an image using a multitude of elements from a single category, such as cars or plates or glasses. The actual elements almost disappear in their dense accumulation in the painting.

His pieces challenge bias, media, and common understandings by placing disparate images together. Similar to Steina’s immersive experience with video, so too can one lose themselves in a single Erró painting in the effort to see all the elements and understand their message and connection.

Arctic Circle attendees are guaranteed a break from academic, research and diplomacy discussions by taking the time experience something completely different. There are few words, written or spoken in these exhibits. Rather one is confronted with shapes, colors, lines and spaces — a perfect way to recharge batteries, gather inspiration and then head back to the conference.