The collection of P\u00e9tur<\/strong> and Ragna<\/strong> has been growing for decades. The core of their private collection was accumulated when they invited artists to exhibit in their home gallery on Laugavegur in exchange for artwork between 1992 and 1997. The collection, in turn, played a huge role in connecting Icelandic artists with a broader art world and shaping the direction of contemporary art in Iceland. The exhibition text introduces the visitor to the overlapping realms at hand: \u201cWe are accustomed to seeing text and image as opposites, a dichotomy which has been transcended largely in contemporary art.\u201c The collected works have the effect of elevating notions of text beyond everyday usage. Text is shown as more than a conceptual tool, but a symbolist reality. Questions are brought up such as \u2018how far can text be extended into other mediums such as sculpture and painting?\u2019<\/p>\n Take the works of Bjarni \u00deorarinsson<\/strong> (1947) whose mandala-like drawings Visir\u00f3sir <\/strong>\/ Vis\u00edo-Rose<\/strong>, <\/em>(Wise Roses) <\/em>1990-2014 are based on a system of sounds in Icelandic and German. Each sound and its possible rhyme are part of a key to unlocking some truth in the language, a symbolism pointing to a beyond. Pronunciation is power and rhyme is the lifeline.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=“http:\/\/artzine.is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/DSC00011x.jpg“ animation=“off“ sticky=“on“ align=“center“ admin_label=“Image“][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=“mynda-Text“]<\/p>\n Bjarni \u00deorarinsson (1947) mandala-like drawings Visir\u00f3sir \/ Vis\u00edo-Rose, <\/em>(Wise Roses) <\/em>1990-2014 and\u00a0Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky<\/em>: The World Chess Championship Match, Reykjav\u00edk Iceland, July-August 1972<\/em>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=“Text“]<\/p>\n Bjarni \u00deorarinsson\u2019s Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky<\/em>: The World Chess Championship Match, Reykjav\u00edk Iceland, July-August 1972<\/em><\/strong>, presents a map of the game laid out in a mechanical array of time; narrative is condensed into A to B. Bjarni\u2019s works are based on the idea of a key that all other symbolizations are based on: the key to language. The language is a code in itself, which infuses both imagination and the structure of an entire worldview comprised of his symbolism made of words and drawings.<\/p>\n Lawrence Weiner<\/strong> (1942) creates his conversations with the interior architecture of the exhibition place in his mother-tongue (English) and in the native language of the place where he is exhibiting. Wiener\u2019s work expands the definition of text to reflect its core identities and the way it is always connected to its source material be it graphite or plastic, but also to a pure conceptualism. In The Light of Day, <\/em>1998, Weiner lets the natural process taking place with earth materials unfold in the viewer\u2019s imagination.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=“http:\/\/artzine.is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/DSC00007x1.jpg“ animation=“off“ sticky=“on“ align=“center“ admin_label=“Image“][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=“mynda-Text“]<\/p>\n Lawrence Weiner, The Light of Day,<\/em> 1998.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=“Text“]<\/p>\n A collection of postcards and telegrams from the artists to Peter and Ragna features a series from the notably reclusive, On Kawara<\/strong> (1933-2014). Telegrams sent to P\u00e9tur throughout 1996 carry the sole message:<\/p>\n I AM STILL ALIVE<\/p>\n This series actually began in 1969. The artist sent the same message to hundreds of friends and acquaintances in the art world. The telegram format is notably hands-off, as the artist has no control over the eventual aesthetic product, representing a certain attitude towards language and its uses.<\/p>\n Hanne Darboven\u2019s<\/strong> (1941-2009) Welttheater \u00b479<\/em> covers the largest section of the exhibition with 366 framed images of theater scenes of her own design. Instead of using text, Darboven creates complex, hand-written number systems to represent the passing of time. This documentary language is like a mathematical equation, mapping huge swaths of history into a comprehensive visual form. She is known for her massive installations, and Welttheater \u00b479 <\/em>is no exception. Darboven\u2019s language, lacking a text per say, points towards the interrelationship between text and numbers instead.<\/p>\n Roni Horn<\/strong> (1955) presents From Still Water (The River Thames For Example), 1996-2000. <\/em>Her still photography from a larger series on the Thames, looks at how the river factors into the history and imagination of the world. She reads the river, as one who is navigating the currents would, and offers her findings as text to accompany the photograph of the river. For example:<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=“http:\/\/artzine.is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/horn1.jpg“ animation=“off“ sticky=“on“ align=“center“ admin_label=“Image“][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=“mynda-Text“]<\/p>\n Roni Horn, From Still Water (The River Thames For Example)<\/em>, 1996-2000.<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=“Text“]<\/p>\n Maps, codes, structures: language is as much about science as poetry, and perhaps it is what erupts from the overlay of text as visual concept that informs us about the abilities of text and text-based forms. Many of the artists who were involved in the advent of text-based works appearing in the visual arts in the 1960s have artwork in the exhibition including Joseph Kosuth<\/strong>, Yoko Ono<\/strong>, and On Kawara<\/strong>. One can see, and read, the way in which the decades following saw artists further expand the use of text-based art forms, in both very scientific and poetic statements. Although perhaps first intended, as with most new art forms, to either build-up or break-down current tendencies, the advent of text-based works served to free visual representation in the imagination of the viewer. An unlimited way forward with language was created- and the direction was towards conceptualism.<\/p>\n The exhibition includes works by: Birgir Andrésson<\/strong>, Robert Barry<\/strong>, Joseph Beuys<\/strong>, Thomas A. Clark<\/strong>, Hanne Darboven<\/strong>, Tacita Dean<\/strong>, Steingrímur Eyfjörð<\/strong>, Robert Filliou<\/strong>, Ian Hamilton<\/strong>, Finlay<\/strong>, Hreinn Friðfinnsson<\/strong>, Hamish Fulton<\/strong>, Douglas Gordon<\/strong>, Franz Graf<\/strong>, Kristján Guðmundsson<\/strong>, Sigurður Guðmundsson<\/strong>, Jón Laxdal Halldórsson<\/strong>, Jenny Holzer<\/strong>, Roni Horn<\/strong>, Donald Judd<\/strong>, On Kawara<\/strong>, Joseph Kosuth<\/strong>, Mark Lombardi<\/strong>, Richard Long<\/strong>, Max Neuhaus<\/strong>, Yoko Ono<\/strong>, Roman Opalka<\/strong>, Richard Prince<\/strong>, Karin Sander<\/strong>, Ben Vautier<\/strong>, Ryszard Wasco<\/strong>, Lawrence Weiner<\/strong>, Bjarni H. Þórarinsson<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Erin Honeycutt<\/em><\/p>\n Featured image: Lawrence Wiener<\/p>\n Photography: H.Ó.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" T E X T – Selected text-based works from the collection of P\u00e9tur Arason and Ragna R\u00f3bertsd\u00f3ttir opened September 15th and will be on display at Listasafn \u00cdslands until May 14th, 2017.\u00a0The exhibition\u00a0is the third in a trilogy curated by Birta Gu\u00f0j\u00f3nsd\u00f3ttir each focusing on a specific medium in P\u00e9tur and Ragna\u2019s collection. In 2010, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":4166,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":" \u00a0<\/p> \u00a0<\/p> Maps, codes, structures: language is as much about science as poetry, and perhaps it is what erupts from the overlay of text as visual concept that informs us about the abilities of text and text-based forms. Many of the artists who were involved in the advent of text-based works appearing in the visual arts in the 1960s have artwork in the exhibition including Joseph Kosuth, Yoko Ono, and On Kawara. One can see, and read, the way in which the decades following saw artists further expand the use of text-based art forms, in both very scientific and poetic statements. Although perhaps first intended, as with most new art forms, to either build-up or break-down current tendencies, the advent of text-based works served to free visual representation in the imagination of the viewer. An unlimited way forward with language was created- and the direction was towards conceptualism.<\/p> The exhibition includes works by: Birgir Andr\u00e9sson, Robert Barry, Joseph Beuys, Thomas A. Clark,\u00a0Hanne Darboven, Tacita Dean, Steingr\u00edmur Eyfj\u00f6r\u00f0, Robert Filliou, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Hreinn Fri\u00f0finnsson, Hamish Fulton, Douglas Gordon, Franz Graf, Kristj\u00e1n Gu\u00f0mundsson, Sigur\u00f0ur Gu\u00f0mundsson, J\u00f3n Laxdal Halld\u00f3rsson,\u00a0Jenny Holzer, Roni Horn, Donald Judd, On Kawara, Joseph Kosuth, Mark Lombardi, Richard Long, Max Neuhaus, Yoko Ono, Roman Opalka, Richard Prince, Karin Sander, Ben Vautier, Ryszard Wasco, Lawrence Weiner, Bjarni H. \u00de\u00f3rarinsson.<\/p>","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artzine-in-english"],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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