I traveled to Iceland last week, in part, hoping to witness the northern lights, which have been haunting my dreams for some time now. Pulsations of light and bursts of color are regular nocturnal visitors to my brain lately, and since the weather failed to cooperate and reveal the actual Aurora, my subconscious interpretation will have to suffice…at least until the next trip.
No worries. There’s plenty to experience in Iceland, in a variety of ways. I saw some jaw-dropping, starkly beautiful landscape. I ate from a vast menu of seafood, prepared in ways I had never tasted before (this from someone who lives a hop, skip and a jump from the largest fishing fleet on the east coast). I walked the neighborhoods of the kindest, most engaging people on earth - and soaked in geothermally heated public pools with them.
And, I saw art. A lot of it.
Icelandic is a puzzling, complicated language in both written and spoken form (so forgive any spelling stumbles, please.) One tour guide told me that there are 25 words denoting “three.” So the visual language of their art is bound to be just as complex. And there’s much to parse - public and formal, sanctioned and guerrilla, historic and contemporary.
Walking the streets of Reykjavik, especially in the midtown area, one cannot go more than 25 feet without seeing what I’ll place under the heading of “street art".” Some of it is obviously commissioned or sanctioned by the building owner, but much is not. It’s noticeable that the unsanctioned work is respectfully restricted to side alleys or even the rear of buildings (yes, I did my share of climbing over trash containers and bicycle racks) and, in a further sign of respect, no work is defaced or tagged after the fact. I felt like I was strolling through an outdoor gallery, city-wide. Very cool.
Add to this an impressive amount of municipal public art - statuary, murals, mosaics, etc. - work that ranges from very traditional heroic-figure-type memorials to more contemporary, political installations. All against a backdrop of varied, colorful buildings of steel sheeting and painted concrete.
Einar Jónsson - Statue of Ingólfur Arnarson
The Black Cone - a Memorial to Civil Disobedience - Santiago Sierra
One of my quests while visiting Reykjavik was to view paintings by two artists who influenced my work greatly when I was a young art student, Nína Tryggvadóttir and Louisa Mattiasdottir. Both of these women were products of the Art Student League in NYC, studying under Hans Hofmann (who also taught my mentor, David Loeffler Smith). Their work, especially Mattiasdottir’s, was instrumental in my understanding of form and space within a composition.
Alas, there just wasn’t much to find on exhibition at this moment in time. I visited four art museums in Reykjavik and found one piece by Tryggvadottir in a group exhibition. The only Mattiasdottir I could find was hanging in the main lobby of the modern, majestic Harpa Concert complex. I’ll take what I can get, but I would hope that a city that puts such stock in their cultural heritage would consider some permanent collection of these important women artists.
Two Women and a Horse - Louisa Mattiasdottir
Street View, House in Grimsstadaholt - Nína Tryggvadóttir
Back at Home…
Upstream, 2023 - oil on cradled wood panel - $800
As you know, I made the decision to close my art-making business in 2022. At the time this was the best decision to be made. I was caregiving my wife at the end of her life and what art I made needed to be focused on my self-care, not a commercial gain. Lately I have been humbled by requests to purchase work from the former Intramural Studio. So, I am opening a page on my website to that end - specifically to offer older pieces for consideration. I’m calling it “Randy’s Attic” and if you’re interested in any work from that time, please feel free to contact me.
Also, to be clear, I am still making paintings. My studio is as vital to me as my CPAP machine is to give me a good night’s sleep. I hope to show again in the future, but, for now my newer work is private and “in development.” Thanks for your understanding.
Peace.