Ragnar Kjartansson: Sunday Without Love

This year’s exhibition for the Ruhrfestspiele at Kunsthalle Recklinghausen features Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson. Born in 1976, Kjartansson is one of the most influential contemporary artists of the Nordic region. He is known worldwide for his humorous and melancholic works that deal with life in a unique and entertaining way. Kjartansson first became known as a musician in the early 2000s, particularly as the frontman of the band Trabant. This musical background continues to shape his artistic practice to this day. In his works, he deals self-deprecatingly with themes such as love, melancholy, identity, power, and powerlessness, while at the same time deconstructing cultural and male role models. In doing so, he deliberately draws on art history traditions, in particular the genre of 19th-century landscape painting and feminist performance art of the second half of the 20th century.  

The exhibition includes the German premieres of the video installations Sunday Without Love (2025), No Tomorrow (2022), Figures in Landscape (2018) and S.S. Hangover (2013/14), as well as the new series of paintings Weekdays in Arcadia (2025), offering a concentrated overview of Kjartansson’s work characterized by three central themes: music, identity, and art history.  

Ever since gaining international recognition at the 2009 Venice Biennale, his works have been shown in major institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, the Barbican Centre in London, and The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art near Copenhagen.  

Kjartansson’s show in Recklinghausen is the first institutional collaboration between Kunsthalle, Ruhrfestspiele, and Kumu Tallinn, one of the most important art museums in Northern Europe.  

Curated by
Nico Anklam (Museum Director Recklinghausen) and Anders Härm (Exhibtion Curator Kumu Tallinn), with Kerstin Weber-Baumann (Exhibtion Curator) and Theresa Widua (Curatorial Assistant), Kunsthalle Recklinghausen.

Artistic and Managing Director of Ruhrfestspiele: Olaf Kröck; Administrative and Managing Director: Genia Nölle; Head Dramaturge: Jan Hein.

With generous support by
Ruhrfestspielstadt Recklinghausen, Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund, Ministry of Science and Culture of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Kunststiftung NRW, Sparkasse Vest Recklinghausen, and the network of 21 RuhrKunstMuseen.

Our media partner is WDR3.

Visual identity for this exhibition (online and print): TenTenTeam