 07/06/04 Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens
Scandinavian art has become fairly popular the last couple of years. The Icelandic art scene so far attracted large attention by artists as Olafur Eliasson or an "outsider" as Roni Horn who has made Iceland her pivotal inspiration point. There is of course a whole lot more to discover. It is in fact amazing to see how many high standard Icelandic artists there are to be found on such a small number of inhabitants. Although it is always dangerous to connect art too strongly with a national background it can not be denied that Iceland, with its whimsical volcanoes and weather conditions, its numerous strong contrasts, certainly has an influence. The art that comes forth from this situation is just as self-willed, poetic, unexpected brutal, critical, exciting, humorous. Typical for the Icelandic art situation is that many artists live abroad, for education purposes and to have more opportunities to exhibit. But practically all of them keep a strong bond with their home country that more often than not is a direct influence in their work. We therefore dared to make a full Icelandic show with a younger generation of artists, to call it ICE and to program it, tongue-in-cheek, during a (hopefully) hot summer. Another typical feature of Icelandic art is certainly its cross-over mentality. The opening weekend of this show therefore also hosts some musical and theatrical performances by Raggi Kjartans (Trabant), Poni and Bennihemmhemm. Belgian band Dez Mona will give a special Icelandic performance. During the show you can listen to more Icelandic music and videos in the Etoiles Polaires-space. Contact us for more information and come over to enjoy an Icelandic summer in Belgium. You can also take a look at the websites of the participating artists: http://this.is/ausgot/ http://this.is/endless http://www.gabriela.is http://www.ilc.is http://this.is/comet http://www.libia-olafur.com http://users.skynet.be/fa098476 http://www.hlemmur.is/artists http://www.i8.is http://this.is/fyll/artists/maggi http://www.this.is/rassi http://www.dezmona.com With kind support of the Icelandic Ministry of Education, Science and Culture (Menntamalaraduneytid) |
