Helgi Þorgils Friðjónsson
Big world

At the exhibition of Helgi Þorgils Friðjónsson, Big world, where a dreamlike reality meets a contemplation on human existence and its relationship with nature, in which man and nature appear as an inseparable whole. The artist's imagery is figurative and narrative, composed of countless symbols. The figures appear in ambiguous yet familiar situations where Icelandic nature, birds, sea creatures, and religious and symbolic elements are interwoven in a lyrical manner. The visual world is both subtle and powerful, and the aesthetics reach beyond the earthly reality. A vast world, where narrative and emotion work together and beauty hovers on the borders of the tangible and the imaginary.
The curator is Aldís Arnardóttir.

For decades, Helgi Þorgils Friðjónsson has been one of the country's most prolific visual artists. From the beginning of his career in the mid-1970s, he attracted attention for an innovative and personal narrative style, which has earned him a unique position in the Icelandic art scene and recognition on the international stage. Over a long career, his imagery has been in constant development, with the human presence at its centre. Helgi Þorgils has exhibited widely around the world since 1974, including representing Iceland at the Venice Biennale in 1990 and in prestigious museums and galleries in Europe and the United States.

Sveinn Fannar Jóhannsson
Reverse/Right side

Over the years, Sveinn Fannar Jóhannsson has collected photographs that he has found along the way, outside their original context: pictures of couples, of a coastline, of an undecorated Christmas tree. The categories are familiar but the location is unclear. In the exhibition, the photographs appear as if they are transparent. Photographs of the backs of the found pictures are taken so that their front, or Right side, shines dimly through. Back, or back, each image is then shown alongside a soundtrack created from the artist's conversations with various media. The work draws us into the act of interpretation itself – viewing and listening are interwoven, and perception does not occur in the order we are accustomed to.
The curator is Daría Sól Andrews.
The exhibition is supported by Norske Billedkunstnere, Norsk Fotografisk Fond and Office for Contemporary Art Norway.

What connects the works is their shared emphasis on the objectification of context. Meaning is shaped by displacement and framing. These works make us more aware of how we look at things: how quickly we try to pin down a specific context, a reliable narrative or a source. After all, they remind us that belief, interpretation and memory are dependent on many interconnected factors.

Free admission – see you at Hafnarborg.