For this exhibition, Icelandic artist Jóhanna Kristbjörg Sigurðardóttir has invited fellow Icelandic artists Steingrímur Eyfjörð and Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson to participate in a project that continues her ongoing research into artistic language, dialogue, and communication within art.
Central to the exhibition are questions surrounding how meaning is formed and exchanged through artistic practice: How much information is needed to create a coherent image or context? And where and how does communication take place within the framework of an exhibition?
Jóhanna presents a selection of works from Steingrímur Eyfjörð’s exhibition 1978, alongside the publication that accompanied it. In this body of work, Steingrímur constructs a personal art-historical narrative inspired by the avant-garde period in Icelandic art between 1957 and 1980. His works engage with the influence of key figures such as Dieter Roth, whose presence in Iceland played a significant role in shaping the country’s artistic development during those years.
In Jóhanna’s exhibition, Steingrímur’s works are once again removed from their original context and re-situated within her own artistic framework. By doing so, she explores the interplay of influences between their practices — tracing how Steingrímur’s references to artists such as Marcel Broodthaers, Robert Filliou, Dorothy Iannone, and René Magritte continue to resonate in her own visual language.
Having lived and worked in Belgium for over fourteen years, Jóhanna uses this project to investigate the dialogue between Icelandic and Belgian artistic contexts. Through the creation of new works presented alongside Steingrímur’s, she examines how artistic influence and exchange continue to shape her practice across cultural and geographical boundaries.
The exhibition also includes a series of drawings by Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson, which reflect upon Steingrímur’s examination of Dieter Roth’s impact on Icelandic art. Sigtryggur’s drawings embody his distinctive approach to the intersection of visual art, sound, and performance. At the opening of the exhibition, he will present a live performance that connects his work to the Belgian experimental music and performance scene.
