UPSTAIRS
HVERFISGALLERY
2017, Reykjavík, Iceland
Hverfisgallery opened the group exhibition Upstairs in August 2017, in an open floor space which was under renovation and for temporary use. The exhibition included installations, sculptures, and paintings from five artists presented by Hverfisgallery: Guðjón Ketilsson, Kristinn E. Hrafnsson, Steingrímur Eyfjörð, Sigurður Árni Sigurðsson, Guðný Rósa Ingimarsdóttir and Hildur Bjarnadóttir.
The installation Shell is a collection of objects that all relate to the body in one way or another. Essentially the work is made up of a shelf system: two wooden framework-shelf units and an open space between them. The objects placed on the shelves can be divided into two main components: Structure/Skeleton and Surface/Skin. On some levels, these factors overlap. In this installation, Ketilsson refers to some of his older works. In installing the objects he finds it important to establish a sort of relationship/association between the objects, creating a context that invites the viewer to walk around the work and read different meanings from this constellation.
According to Hindu cosmology, the eternal cycle of creation and destruction has no beginning and no end. It is the breath of the world. Our whole lifes we are creating, using, moving, packing and destroying objects that play a part in the composition of our life. The stacking of everyday objects can be a creative act – which follows the rules of an inner organisation, conflict, composition, texture, as in the visual arts. Objects that have lost their original purpose are stacked into a cairn. Each item has a correlation to another item parallel to an axis. These objects are both personal and common – memories, used or unusable objects – different references to people´s lives and history.
