With warmer temperatures gracing our weather forecasts, July is the perfect month to hit the road and discover some of the year-round or summer-only art spaces that the Icelandic countryside has to offer.
Start in the city at the National Gallery of Iceland to get inspired by Ragnar Kjartansson’s Sumarnótt (Death is Elsewhere) – a seven-channel video installation filmed one Icelandic summer night, when darkness never falls. Then, head over to the westfjords and fully take advantage of the bright summer nights to enjoy the outdoor exhibition STAÐIR/PLACES, featuring site specific works by Anna Júlía Friðbjörnsdóttir, Auður Lóa Guðnadóttir, Starkaður Sigurðarson, and Eygló Harðardóttir, as well as Til Staðar: one of three installations/exhibitions by Katrín Sigurðardóttir in three separate regions of Iceland: Svavarssafn at Höfn, Nýp Project Space and Sauðanesbær in Norður-Þingeyjarsýsla.
Hrafnhildur Arnardóttir – Shoplifter
In the north of the country Intruder, a large scale outdoor artwork by Shoplifter, is opening in Hrútey. The works will be distributed around the island so when you walk around you will encounter unexpected and unnatural visitors in Hrútey’s very natural environment. Safnasafnið, the Icelandic Folk and Outsider Art Museum, has opened it’s doors once again for the season with twelve new exhibitions, and two group shows will be running this summer at The Factory in Hjalteyri.
Earthquake, 1969 – Sigurður Guðmundsson
For those headed east, Borgarfjörður Eystri’s brand new exhibition space Gletta is a must. Skaftfell Centre for Visual Art’s summer exhibition is a solo show by Seyðisfjörður based artist and Dieter Roth Academy founding member Pétur Kristjánsson. In Djúpivogur Freedom – a new public artwork by Sigurður Guðmundsson – will be unveiled on the 10th of July, together with the accompanying show The Universe is a Poem featuring a selection of his works from the years 1969–2021.
For a full listing of exhibitions visit our events calendar.
