Ásta Fanney represents Iceland at the Venice Biennale 2026

The Icelandic Art Center is pleased to announce that Reykjavík-based artist Ásta Fanney

Sigurðardóttir will represent Iceland at the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di

Venezia in 2026.

Celebrated as one of Iceland's most innovative contemporary artists, Sigurðardóttir is a poet,

composer, filmmaker, and visual artist, renowned for her forward-thinking, interdisciplinary

practice. Her work blends text, moving images, and visual art mediums, including drawings,

silkscreens, and sculpture, converging into ephemeral performances and live actions. It resists

conclusions and explanations, focusing as much on atmosphere as appearance. On the

borders between experimental, mystical and conceptual, her work explores the boundaries

between the conscious and subconscious, while avoiding definitive interpretation at every turn.

Audience engagement is a vital aspect of her practice, with live performances often

incorporating spontaneous rewriting, improvisation, humour, and interactive elements that

bring her work to life. Sigurðardóttir treats the transfer of words as a quasi-spiritual act,

creating dreamlike vocal structures that reveal hidden, sometimes chaotic layers of meaning.

Her pieces delve into the spiritual and esoteric dimensions of human experience, reflecting on

how intuition can reconnect us to ourselves and to each other in an age of increasing

technological detachment.