Artists:

Irene Hrafnan
Kristín Einarsdóttir Cavan
Lucrezia Costa
Marco Dorn
Mirjam Maekalle
Sepideh Safiyari
Sarah Moore
Steinunn Önnudóttir
Svend Holmboe Pedersen

This time, nine students present their works in an exhibition at the Living Art Museum. As might be expected, this is not a thematic group exhibition but rather a group show in which individuals who have pursued a master’s degree over the past two years, as a cohort, present their work. A master’s program in fine art is highly demanding, each of them has rigorously examined and critically reflected on their artistic methods and approaches.  The exhibition at the Living Art Museum is the final milestone on this journey and is symbolic in that the students present their works in a public museum, thereby formally entering the professional field.

All of the artists have produced new works for the exhibition, though these remain closely connected to the practices they developed during their studies. As curator, I have encouraged them to claim space and offer audiences something bold, compelling, and substantial in celebration of this important moment.

The artists work across a variety of media, situating themselves within the traditions of contemporary art where the chosen medium reflects the underlying concept of each work. The exhibition also engages all the senses—not only sight. The works can be heard, smelled, and even touched. Our present time is complex and multifaceted, and the artists presenting here come from diverse backgrounds. Through their artworks they offer us ways to reflect upon and perceive, through our own experiences, a wide range of issues.

Here one might encounter the lingering scent of the former activities and purpose of the building, sense experiences related to violence, pain, and war, or examine a tool forged from iron that the artist collected from a bog near their home. Photography is explored in ways that allow us to understand it both as a historical invention and as a powerful force in contemporary life. Images permeate our existence—whether aesthetic, political, or informational. Painting is examined through its movement from the two-dimensional surface into three-dimensional form, raising questions about the nature of perception. And color: color as an aesthetic experience, but also as a defining and divisive element within struggles over power.

What unites the works in this exhibition is their fusion of the material and the conceptual aspects of artistic practice. Each artist has created works that activate perception and understanding in unexpected and previously unseen ways—works that, in their own way, participate in shaping the future.

Sigrún Hrólfsdóttir, curator and professor of fine art at the Iceland University of the Arts