Erró: Black and White

This exhibition has around thirty new and recent black and white paintings by Erró. The works, most of whom come straight from his studio in Paris, yet again testify of the artist´s creative energy and innovation. Here he mixes famous people from history with Manga and cartoon figures. The material is diverse and safe to say that it covers most of the artist´s interests, but Erró is known for his unbridled enthusiasm for most things between heaven and earth. Here he has created powerful pieces, inspired by the cartoon world, by art history, these paintings are brimming with sarcasm and humour towards social issues and human nature.

Many people are familiar with Erró´s colourful paintings – but not many connect him to black and white artwork. During his long career, he has, however, now and again done black and white paintings, some of them enormous. Even so, it wasn´t until 2014 that he decided to paint a whole series in black and white. He made multiple collages from different pictures, mostly in full colour, and printed them out in black and white. These digital prints became the basis of his new work.

Erró was born in 1932 and is without a doubt one of Iceland´s best known artists. After studying in Iceland he was admitted to the Oslo Academy of Fine Art when he was twenty. In 1954 he studied at the Florence Academy of Art and later in Ravenna, where he focused on mosaic techniques. Erró moved to Paris in 1958 and was warmly embraced by the Surrealists. In 1963 he went to New York for the first time and became acquainted with Pop Art, which was then rapidly gaining ground. The following years he experimented with various art forms, for example performance art and experimental movie-making, as well as painting. He soon became one of the champions of Pop Art and European narrative figuration. 

Reykjavík Art Museum has a large collection of Erró´s works which are exhibited regularly in Hafnarhúsið.