Una Björg Magnúsdóttir has been selected from a group of applicants for a year-long residency program at Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin. The stay lasts from spring 2023 – spring 2024. The studio provides artists who live there with access to a powerful, international network; curators, collectors, journalists and others working in the sector. In addition, the institute organizes exhibitions, publications and various events for the artists in residence. During the residency artists exhibit at Künstlerhaus Bethanien.
Una Björg works mainly with sculpture. The hyper-familiar often appears in her work, with sculptural stage designs that narrates scenes that feel oddly familiar yet out of place. By imitating reality with obvious artificiality, Una renders common scenes with unsuspected objects, sounds and fragrances.
Una Björg Magnúsdóttir: Vanishing Crowd, 2021
In 2018, Una Björg completed her MA in Visual Arts from ÉCAL, obtaining a BFA in Fine Arts from the Icelandic Academy of the Arts in 2014. While living in Switzerland she received a grant from the Walter and Eve Kent Foundation for exceptional ability in the fields of painting and sculpture. Una Björg was awarded the Icelandic Art Prize Motivational Award in 2021. In addition to her studio-based work, Una Björg is engaged in Reykjavik´s artist run scene both as a member of artist run gallery Kling & Bang and various other initiatives.
The Ministry of Culture and Business Affairs and Viljandi fund the project.
Previous Icelandic Art Center residents at Künstlerhaus Bethanien are Styrmir Örn Guðmundsson , Elín Hansdóttir and current resident Anna Júlía Friðbjörnsdóttir.
