The Icelandic Art Prize was established by the Icelandic Visual Arts Council in February 2018, awarding exhibitions that took place in the year 2017. Margr\u00e9t Krist\u00edn Sigur\u00f0ard\u00f3ttir, the Chairman of the Icelandic Visual Arts Council since 2016, tells me that these awards are \u201cintended to contribute to promoting Icelandic contemporary art, both in Iceland and abroad, as well to draw attention to what is well done in the field. The prize gives the opportunity to direct the spotlight at what is considered outstanding in Icelandic visual art each year.\u201d Two recognitions are awarded, Artist of the Year, awarding 1 million ISK to an Icelandic artist who has shown outstanding work in Iceland, and the Encouragement Award, awarding 500.000 ISK to a young artist who has shown outstanding work publicly in Iceland.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis recognition is quite precious, really, feeling that someone really is paying attention to my work, it is a really amazing feeling, but it is hard to describe,\u201d Eygl\u00f3 tells me when I ask her what this award means to her. \u201cWhen you work in art you sway between being insecure and paranoid, asking yourself \u2018is what I\u2019m doing working?\u2019, all the while believing in the work and pepping yourself forward. Often there is a lot of silence around art in Iceland, so programs like this perhaps open up for a different way of thinking about art, artists, and exhibitions, and of critically comparing and talking about each other\u2019s work. I think this program could have the affect that people visit exhibitions a bit differently, because when work is brought into comparison to another\u2019s a certain suspense begins to build.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leifur similarly recognizes the important effect awards like these have in awakening a necessary conversation around art in our community. \u201cYou are very vulnerable, and ego is of course some element to this. It is in our nature to search for some sort of feedback. Like the name of the prize says, it motivates me forward, and it awakens a conversation and an interest, which is a beautiful thing.\u201d He explains to me that his exhibition, Manuscript, was really a process of baring himself bare to the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am also awake to the fact that it\u2019s all contextual,\u201d Eygl\u00f3 reveals to me. \u201cThis year my exhibition was in the right climate for this moment, but perhaps it may not have been last year or next year. So you can\u2019t really say that some one thing is best, artist, or art, or otherwise. This really matters to me. Criticism here in Iceland has so often been about good or bad. Even if there is only one prize, it\u2019s not always about better or worse, but about opening up communication and critically comparing and talking to one another about art.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Margr\u00e9t explains to me that the public submitted proposals for nomination of the two prizes, and that she was quite pleased by the large response of submittals. The jury then decides together who is nominated in each respective category. \u201cThe members of the jury are people with extensive knowledge in the field of art, representatives from the Association of Icelandic Visual Artists (S\u00cdM), the Icelandic Academy of Arts, the Visual Art Council, the Icelandic Art Theory Association and from art museum directors in Iceland. During the decision process, each member of the jury presents their views on each artist and his work. If the jury is not unanimous we vote, the artist who receives the majority of votes is then nominated.\u201d Margr\u00e9t has been the head of the jury of the Icelandic Art Prize since it was established, and was joined this year by A\u00f0alsteinn Ing\u00f3lfsson from the Art Theory Association, Sigur\u00f0ur Gu\u00f0j\u00f3nsson from the Icelandic Academy of Arts, J\u00f3hann Ludwig Torfason from S\u00cdM and Hanna Styrmisd\u00f3ttir from art museum directors in Iceland.<\/p>\n
When discussing the future of this program, Margr\u00e9t is optimistic about its continuing growth and evolvement, hoping to expand the categories as the art scene in Iceland continues to expand and flourish. \u201cIt is important that each year we pay attention to the visual art scene in Iceland and celebrate what is outstanding. The awards should attract deserved attention to Icelandic visual art.\u201d Like Leifur emphasizes, the grant and awards process is a critical and necessary element to working in the arts, and he is hopeful that programs like these will only continue to grow over the years. \u201cThis program is such a good addition the professional art scene here in Iceland. The grant process is so necessary and essential, and it is so important that these opportunities for artists are growing to the point where it is almost hard to keep track. It\u2019s such a positive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like Margr\u00e9t emphasizes to me, these types of programs give necessary recognition and motivation to outstanding artists in Iceland. \u201cAs the aim of the Icelandic Art Prize is to honor and promote outstanding Icelandic contemporary art and encourage new artistic creations I hope it will give the nominated and awarded artists great opportunities. They deserve to get attention and hopefully it will encourage them to keep on their good work. I think it is important that the prize has established itself and that it will be desirable to receive the awards.\u201d This prize then functions as an important and valuable tool that she hopes will be a growing part of the art scene in Iceland in the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is always this question, what comes next\u201d, Leifur laughs as I probe him about what the future holds for his artistic practice. \u201cI\u2019m a little shy about it. It\u2019s a clap on the back but at the same time a kick in the butt. It equates to fire, kindling to keep my ideas flowing and developing. It\u2019s a hard question, it hasn\u2019t quite registered in me yet, but it\u2019s amazing, and I want to say how thankful I am.\u201d Like Eygl\u00f3 reiterates, the financial aspect of this award does not go unnoticed or under appreciated. As an artist, \u201ca million ISK can stretch out as some months of salary, and I\u2019m very pleased with that, to be able to go work somewhere and only on my art.\u201d Leifur similarly emphasizes that this award gives him a moment to breath and develop his next projects. \u201cFor me it really comes down to time, the classic time is money, money is time dilemma. Now I can focus on the time aspect of this equation and take a moment to transition, to reorganize both physically and mentally, and to place myself mentally in the next project.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Next on the horizon for these two remarkable artists? Eygl\u00f3 tells me she has three exhibitions planned in Northern Iceland over the next year, all at artist-run spaces, an important element to her. \u201cI respect these types of spaces so much, and I find them very exciting. At N\u00fdlistasafni\u00f0, for example, there is the same wonderful vibe that has been there from the beginning, a very positive energy, of people working together and supporting each other. Everyone has a voice and there is no sense of hierarchy, no sense of stress, but rather a beautiful trust between everyone on staff. In August 2019 I will show in a group exhibition in Hjalteyri, working with curators and project managers Erin Honeycutt, Brynd\u00eds Hr\u00f6nn Ragnarsd\u00f3ttir, and Geir\u00fer\u00fa\u00f0ur Finnbogad\u00f3ttir Hj\u00f6rvar. The show is titled Mild Humidity \u2013 The (Digital) Age of Aquarius<\/em>. It is quite a special project, evolving very much from the conversations between people around it and the ideas that come forth. For a studio based person like me it is quite exciting.\u201d Eygl\u00f3 will also show at Al\u00fe\u00fd\u00f0uh\u00fasi\u00f0 in Siglufj\u00f6r\u00f0ur in 2019, as well as at Safnasafni\u00f0 in Akureyri, alongside Steingr\u00edmur Eyfj\u00f6r\u00f0 and Anna J\u00fal\u00eda Fri\u00f0bj\u00f6rnsd\u00f3ttir, who was nominated for the\u00a0Encouragement Award last year.<\/p>\n \u201cI have so many ideas, old and new that I\u2019m working through currently, projects that I\u2019ve been working through for some time that need time to evolve as I work through a transitional stage\u201d Leifur tells me. \u201cI think a lot about the working day, and how different people approach their time in a day. Me and friend and coworker Siggi have been working on an interview project around this concept, how we treat the work day, and the time therein. My work from Manuscript is also going to be showed in different spaces now, where smaller selections of the plates will be shown together, so the work will change in that way. This work really depends on the space it\u2019s displayed in, because people connected with and responded to this work in such an interestingly personal way.\u201d<\/p>\n Daria S\u00f3l Andrews<\/em><\/p>\n Photo Credits: Sunday & White Photography<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cTime is money, it\u2019s clich\u00e9, but it\u2019s quite simple and true.\u201d I\u2019m sitting with Leifur \u00ddmir Eyj\u00f3lfsson in his studio in downtown Reykjav\u00edk over coffee, as he builds shelves to house and protect 250 ceramic plate artworks coming from the Reykjav\u00edk Art Museum. He recently closed an exhibition there, entitled Manuscript, for which he won […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":8291,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":" \u201cTime is money, it\u2019s clich\u00e9, but it\u2019s quite simple and true.\u201d I\u2019m sitting with Leifur \u00ddmir Eyj\u00f3lfsson in his studio in downtown Reykjav\u00edk over coffee, as he builds shelves to house and protect 250 ceramic plate artworks coming from the Reykjav\u00edk Art Museum. He recently closed an exhibition there, entitled Manuscript, for which he won the Encouragement Award from the Iceland Art Center this past week. Winning alongside Leifur was Eygl\u00f3 Har\u00f0ard\u00f3ttir, who took home the prize of Artist of the Year. Her winning exhibition, Another Space, showed at N\u00fdlistasafni\u00f0 this past year. \u201cIt is like Hekla D\u00f6gg J\u00f3nsd\u00f3ttir has quite beautifully told me\u201d, Leifur continues, speaking about a fellow nominee for Artist of the Year, \u201cart is quite delicate, like a precious flower, you have to protect it and care for it, and programs like the Icelandic Art Prize do just that necessary work.\u201d<\/strong><\/p> The Icelandic Art Prize was established by the Icelandic Visual Arts Council in February 2018, awarding exhibitions that took place in the year 2017. Margr\u00e9t Krist\u00edn Sigur\u00f0ard\u00f3ttir, the Chairman of the Icelandic Visual Arts Council since 2016, tells me that these awards are \u201cintended to contribute to promoting Icelandic contemporary art, both in Iceland and abroad, as well to draw attention to what is well done in the field. The prize gives the opportunity to direct the spotlight at what is considered outstanding in Icelandic visual art each year.\u201d Two recognitions are awarded, Artist of the Year, awarding 1 million ISK to an Icelandic artist who has shown outstanding work in Iceland, and the Encouragement Award, awarding 500.000 ISK to a young artist who has shown outstanding work publicly in Iceland.<\/p> \u201cThis recognition is quite precious, really, feeling that someone really is paying attention to my work, it is a really amazing feeling, but it is hard to describe,\u201d Eygl\u00f3 tells me when I ask her what this award means to her. \u201cWhen you work in art you sway between being insecure and paranoid, asking yourself \u2018is what I\u2019m doing working?\u2019, all the while believing in the work and pepping yourself forward. Often there is a lot of silence around art in Iceland, so programs like this perhaps open up for a different way of thinking about art, artists, and exhibitions, and of critically comparing and talking about each other\u2019s work. I think this program could have the affect that people visit exhibitions a bit differently, because when work is brought into comparison to another\u2019s a certain suspense begins to build.\u201d<\/p> Leifur similarly recognizes the important effect awards like these have in awakening a necessary conversation around art in our community. \u201cYou are very vulnerable, and ego is of course some element to this. It is in our nature to search for some sort of feedback. Like the name of the prize says, it motivates me forward, and it awakens a conversation and an interest, which is a beautiful thing.\u201d He explains to me that his exhibition, Manuscript, was really a process of baring himself bare to the world.<\/p> \u201cI am also awake to the fact that it\u2019s all contextual,\u201d Eygl\u00f3 reveals to me. \u201cThis year my exhibition was in the right climate for this moment, but perhaps it may not have been last year or next year. So you can\u2019t really say that some one thing is best, artist, or art, or otherwise. This really matters to me. Criticism here in Iceland has so often been about good or bad. Even if there is only one prize, it\u2019s not always about better or worse, but about opening up communication and critically comparing and talking to one another about art.\u201d<\/p> Margr\u00e9t explains to me that the public submitted proposals for nomination of the two prizes, and that she was quite pleased by the large response of submittals. The jury then decides together who is nominated in each respective category. \u201cThe members of the jury are people with extensive knowledge in the field of art, representatives from the Association of Icelandic Visual Artists (S\u00cdM), the Icelandic Academy of Arts, the Visual Art Council, the Icelandic Art Theory Association and from art museum directors in Iceland. During the decision process, each member of the jury presents their views on each artist and his work. If the jury is not unanimous then we vote, the artist who receives the majority of votes is then nominated.\u201d Margr\u00e9t has been the head of the jury of the Icelandic Art Prize since it was established, and was joined this year by A\u00f0alsteinn Ing\u00f3lfsson from the Art Theory Association, Sigur\u00f0ur Gu\u00f0j\u00f3nsson from the Icelandic Academy of Arts, J\u00f3hann Ludwig Torfason from S\u00cdM and Hanna Styrmisd\u00f3ttir from art museum directors in Iceland.<\/p> When discussing the future of this program, Margr\u00e9t is optimistic about its continuing growth and evolvement, hoping to expand the categories as the art scene in Iceland continues to expand and flourish. \u201cIt is important that each year we pay attention to the visual art scene in Iceland and celebrate what is outstanding. The awards should attract deserved attention to Icelandic visual art.\u201d Like Leifur emphasizes, the grant and awards process is a critical and necessary element to working in the arts, and he is hopeful that programs like these will only continue to grow over the years. \u201cThis program is such a good addition the professional art scene here in Iceland. The grant process is so necessary and essential, and it is so important that these opportunities for artists are growing to the point where it is almost hard to keep track. It\u2019s such a positive.\u201d<\/p> Like Margr\u00e9t emphasizes to me, these types of programs give necessary recognition and motivation to outstanding artists in Iceland. \u201cAs the aim of the Icelandic Art Prize is to honor and promote outstanding Icelandic contemporary art and encourage new artistic creations I hope it will give the nominated and awarded artists great opportunities. They deserve to get attention and hopefully it will encourage them to keep on their good work. I think it is important that the prize has established itself and that it will be desirable to receive the awards.\u201d This prize then functions as an important and valuable tool that she hopes will be a growing part of the art scene in Iceland in the future.<\/p> \u201cThere is always this question, what comes next\u201d, Leifur laughs as I probe him about what the future holds for his artistic practice. \u201cI\u2019m a little shy about it. It\u2019s a clap on the back but at the same time a kick in the butt. It equates to fire, kindling to keep my ideas flowing and developing. It\u2019s a hard question, it hasn\u2019t quite registered in me yet, but it\u2019s amazing, and I want to say how thankful I am.\u201d Like Eygl\u00f3 reiterates, the financial aspect of this award does not go unnoticed or under appreciated. As an artist, \u201ca million ISK can stretch out as some months of salary, and I\u2019m very pleased with that, to be able to go work somewhere and only on my art.\u201d Leifur similarly emphasizes that this award gives him a moment to breath and develop his next projects. \u201cFor me it really comes down to time, the classic time is money, money is time dilemma. Now I can focus on the time aspect of this equation and take a moment to transition, to reorganize both physically and mentally, and to place myself mentally in the next project.\u201d<\/p> Next on the horizon for these two remarkable artists? Eygl\u00f3 tells me she has three exhibitions planned in Northern Iceland over the next year, all at artist-run spaces, an important element to her. \u201cI respect these types of spaces so much, and I find them very exciting. At N\u00fdlistasafni\u00f0, for example, there is the same wonderful vibe that has been there from the beginning, a very positive energy, of people working together and supporting each other. Everyone has a voice and there is no sense of hierarchy, no sense of stress, but rather a beautiful trust between everyone on staff. In August 2019 I will show in a group exhibition in Hjalteyri, working with curators and project managers Erin Honeycutt, Brynd\u00eds Hr\u00f6nn Ragnarsd\u00f3ttir, and Geir\u00fer\u00fa\u00f0ur Finnbogad\u00f3ttir Hj\u00f6rvar. The show is titled Mild Humidity \u2013 The (Digital) Age of Aquarius. It is quite a special project, evolving very much from the conversations between people around it and the ideas that come forth. For a studio based person like me it is quite exciting.\u201d Eygl\u00f3 will also show at Al\u00fe\u00fd\u00f0uh\u00fasi\u00f0 in Siglufj\u00f6r\u00f0ur in 2019, as well as at Safnasafni\u00f0 in Akureyri, alongside Steingr\u00edmur Eyfj\u00f6r\u00f0 and Anna J\u00fal\u00eda Fri\u00f0bj\u00f6rnsd\u00f3ttir, who won the Encouragement Prize last year.<\/p> \u201cI have so many ideas, old and new that I\u2019m working through currently, projects that I\u2019ve been working through for some time that need time to evolve as I work through a transitional stage\u201d Leifur tells me. \u201cI think a lot about the working day, and how different people approach their time in a day. Me and friend and coworker Siggi have been working on an interview project around this concept, how we treat the work day, and the time therein. My work from Manuscript is also going to be showed in different spaces now, where smaller selections of the plates will be shown together, so the work will change in that way. This work really depends on the space it\u2019s displayed in, because people connected with and responded to this work in such an interestingly personal way.\u201d<\/p> Daria S\u00f3l Andrews<\/em><\/p> Photo Credits: Sunday & White Photography<\/p>","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,10],"tags":[596,597,594,598,595,600,252,599],"class_list":["post-8287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artzine-in-english","category-vidtol","tag-artist-of-the-year","tag-encouragement-award","tag-eyglo-hardardottir","tag-iceland-art-center","tag-icelandic-art-prize","tag-icelandic-visual-arts-council","tag-leifur-ymir-eyjolfsson","tag-margret-kristin-sigurdardottir"],"yoast_head":"\n
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