Iceland Art

Just recently a contemporary art made its way into the amazing land of Iceland.  The launch of Beluga Arts, Icelands first contemporary art agency, emphasises this beautiful country and it is one of the most artistically exciting things to happen in the country that has only 280,000 residents.   The center was founded by Hendrikka Waage, and currently the Beluga Arts agency represents nine of Iceland’s best-known artists:

Soulful landscape painters: Georg Gudni, Gudrun Einarsdottir, Hubert Noi

Figurative fantasist: Helgi Thorgils, Gunnella, Kristin Gunnnlaugsdottir, Hallgrimur Helgason, Steinunn Thorarinsdottir, Lina Rut Wilberg .

Just so you have a better idea what Iceland contemporary art is about here are two short profiles of the Beluga Arts center artists:

Steinunn Thórarinsdóttir is an Icelandic sculptress born in Reykjavik, Iceland in 1955.  She lived in England and Italy where she got her training as a sculptress.

Steinunn has been working professionally for more than 20 years and has exhibited widely in Europe, Japan, USA and Australia. She works in various forms of sculpture and uses many different materials for her artistic expression. Steinunn has through the years done numerous commissions both indoor in specific spaces as well as site specific outdoor work.

Hallgrímur Helgason was born in Reykjavík, Iceland in 1959. He spent one year at The Icelandic School of Arts and Crafts and a few months at the Academy of Fine Arts in München. Since 1982 he has worked as a visual artist and writer. Hallgrímur has had over 20 solo exhibitions in his hometown, Boston, New York, Paris and Malmö and has been represented in over 30 group shows in various countries. His first novel was published in Iceland in 1990 and since then he has published two more novels and a collection of poetry. His best known title is "101 Reykjavík" (1996). A film based on the book was premiered in 2000 and has been shown at various international film-festivals. Hallgrímur has also written some pieces for the theatre and in 1995 he had his first one-man-show as a stand-up comedian in the Coffee-Theatre in Reykjavík.