Exhibition opening: Under the Same Sky & Intimacy and Sculpture

2019 is a year of public art at Reykjavík Art Museum. To mark this, two exhibitions will be opened in Ásmundarsafn; a new overview of Ásmundur Sveinsson’s works, Under the Same Sky, and a solo exhibition by Sigurður Guðmundsson, Intimacy and Sculpture. The exhibitions will be opened in Ásmundarsafn on Saturday, 19 January at 16h00.

Sigurður is the first of five artists who will show their works in a series alongside Ásmundur’s exhibition. The other artists who will show in Ásmundarsafn this year are Brynhildur Þorgeirsdóttir, Jóhann Eyfells, Helgi Gíslason and Ólöf Nordal.

Reykjavík Art Museum focuses on art in public space this year. In addition to the exhibitions in Ásmundarsafn, the museum presents a new app, where information about the city’s outdoor works is shared with audio guides that can be enjoyed when walking around, cycling or playing games.

In the context of city planning, it emerges that, in the construction of new neighborhoods, a variety of public spaces will be envisaged immediately at the planning stage. This complements the ideas of Ásmundur Sveinsson, who was concerned with bringing art to the people and who thought it was important to have art outdoors where everyone has the opportunity to enjoy it. Works by Ásmundur can be found in over 20 prominent places in the city. His sculptures in public spaces are well-known to the inhabitants and the landmarks of some neighborhoods.  

Ásmundur Sveinsson (1893-1982) studied sculpture in Denmark and Sweden. The works in the exhibition are both original ones which stand out in public spaces or works related to them.

Sigurður Guðmundsson (1942) studied art in Iceland in the years 1960-1963, and then went on to study in the Netherlands. He lives and works in Reykjavík, China and the Netherlands. Large sculptures by Sigurður are widely found in public spaces, both in the Nordic countries and Central Europe. He has won numerous competitions, including a competition for outdoor work at the Children’s Hospital of Iceland and a competition by the City of Reykjavík for an outdoor artwork to mark the turn of the century. Sigurður will be present at the opening and will also be guided around his exhibition the next day, Sunday 20 January at 15h00.

Curators are Sigurður Trausti Traustason, Head of Collections and Research and Yean Fee Quay, Exhibition Project Manager at Reykjavík Art Museum.

Pawel Bartoszek, Chairman of Reykjavík Committee of Culture, Sport and Leisure, will open the exhibitions.