Pétur Thomsen (1973) won the presitigeous LVMH young artists award in 2007 when this pursued prize was conferred the tenth time. Imported Landscape is a magnificent series of photographs depicting the devastating transformation of the landscape at Kárahnjúkar when culture with all its precise technology and planning attacks the pristine natural landscape around Hafrahvammagljúfur by restructuring it severely. Enormous bulldozers go about the area, leaving it torn like flesh bitten by a violin spider. Thomsen describes this uneven game with dramatic objectivity which leaves the viewer totally perplexed.

Cars in rivers
16-9. – 7.11. 2010

On the occasion of the generous donation of Olafur Eliasson of his "Cars in rivers" to the National Gallery of Iceland, the institution opens a small exhibition of the work, which evokes the artist's connection with the Icelandic wilderness, with its coarse lava fields, scree and difficult streams. For many years Icelandic wilderness has influenced Eliasson's art, as he spent summers in the vicinity of its rivers and glaciers when he was young.

Cars in rivers, 2009 describes man's struggle with unpredictable nature, while the series might depict symbolically the financial crisis in Iceland in the last couple of years and can be equated with the drawning of highland jeeps in violent torrents.

Jökla Series, 2005 is the artist's account of the glacial river Jökulsá á Dal (Jökla), from its glacial source to the area where the Kárahnjúka dam rises, by the time when the dam was already taking shape. Subsequently the artist followed the river quite far in the direction of the ocean.  While the river has been transformed completely the series is a unique document.

KARL KVARAN
Retrospective
17.11.2010 - 13.2. 211
Karl Kvaran was among the main exponents of geometric abstraction in
Iceland in the early sixties. He kept faith with the simple, coherent
forms of construction and is thus considered among the main links
between French derived abstraction and Minimalist expression, which
succeded previous related art movements. Retrospectively Kvaran stood
out from his contemporaries due to his singular consistency in
procedures and pictorial thinking. Although he abandoned the straight
lines of Geometric abstraction for curved and circular shapes, his
painting became thriftier and more to the point, although his sense for
dimensional interplay became increasingly complex. His use of colour
was unique as he matched daringly complementary hues of striking
optical intensity. In this respect, Kvaran bridged the gap between
abstraction and Pop Art with a chromatic talent grounded in ample
graphical gifts.