Artists at the dawn of the space age
The works refer back to the technological advances of the era, not in the least to science fiction, a genre which was rising to prominence during the same period. Photo/ Reykjavik Art Museum
On Friday, October 16th an exhibition titled Yearning for Space will open in Ásmundarsafn in Reykjavik. The works in the exhibition date primarily from the 1950's and 1960´s around the dawn of the space age.
The works in the exhibition are by Icelandic artists Ásmundur Sveinsson (1893–1982), Gerður Helgadóttir (1928–1975), Jón Gunnar Árnason (1931–1989), and Sigurjón Ólafsson (1908–1982). The works refer back to the technological advances of the era, not in the least to science fiction, a genre which was rising to prominence during the same period.
The exhibition presents Modernism’s dreams and nightmares of a future hinted at in the dramatic technological advances of the 20th century. Exhibited are works where the artists aim to give physical shape to the concept of technology through idea and form. The selected works of Ásmundur Sveinsson, Gerður Helgadóttir, Jón Gunnar Árnason, and Sigurjón Ólafsson explore how the futuristic visions of the period shaped the spatial and and formal thinking of the artists and informed the way they used their imagination to explore space for the shapes of things to come.
In conjunction with the exhibition Yearning for Space, The Reykjavík Art Museum will offer an ambitious program for all ages in collaboration with the Amateur Astronomical Society of Seltjarnarnes. The program will be announced in more detail at a later date on the museum website, www.artmuseum.is.
Curators are Klara Þórhallsdóttir and Heiðar Kári Rannversson
The exhibition is on view until February 7th, 2016.
