A PLACE presents a group exhibition of six international artists brought together in 2022 during an artist residency at Bær Art Center in Höfðaströnd in Skagafjörður, Iceland. The artists are, Barbara Ellmann, Jóna Þorvaldsdóttir, Mike Vos, Katia Klose, Debbie Westergaard Tuepah, and Markus Baenziger. The exhibition A PLACE, at Listasafn Árnesinga is a sort of second edition and continuing exploration of this original residency experience from 2022, exploring the lasting connections, influences, and new impressions formed in the practices of each artist as a result of this residency and exhibition.

The artists spent two weeks together at the residency together. A strong connection and a whole formed between these different individuals, and works were created that functioned as a kind of storyline and a connection to the local community. Separate but intertwined artworks were created about each artist’s individual experience of nature, culture and place.

One year later, in summer 2023, an exhibition was presented at the Bær Art Center, showing the works that were produced during the residency period. And now, in this exhibition at Listasafn Árnesinga, A PLACE, presents a blend of works that were included in the previous exhibition, while also presenting new works each artist has developed since this residency. These new works were produced with the residency experience in mind, and we can feel the influence of the natural landscape of Iceland and the community surrounding Bær Art Center strongly in the works.

What connecting themes can be found when six artists, of unconnected and differing backgrounds and localities across the globe, come together in a residency in the remote countryside in Iceland? It becomes inevitable that the stark nature will influence each artist in a commonality across their works, through the connected experience. And when each artist returns to their everyday, how can this experience resonate into their practice?

The artists work with a range of mediums, from photography, sculpture, installation, and painting. There is a strong element of locality to the works, whether photographing local landscapes in Iceland, or utilizing site- specific and found natural materials from specific areas in Iceland in the works. The works still speak strongly together as a whole – what sort of common ground can we see in the practices of these six artists?