Term: February – April 2019
“Nordic-Leipzig” Stipendiary of the Goethe-Institut
Bjargey Olafsdottir on Instagram
Bjargey Olafsdottir on Vimeo
My work is not confined to a single medium as each of my concepts calls for a different tool: photography, film, sound art, performance, drawing and text. My works are oftentimes narrative by nature inspired by pop culture and memory. They are poetic yet humorous and playful, dealing with human relationships telling for example: stories of bored female dentists, rock stars in Japan and women that can see into the future and beyond. Play, experimentation and chance within a set of rules fuelled by curiosity are a vital part of my practice.
At the moment I am finishing a new film project. Therefore I plan to make a new body of work during my stay in Leipzig. I have recently started to add more colour and paint into my drawings as well as using more versatile surfaces as for example wood. I would like to focus on developing my drawings as my main body of work and experimenting with colour. But then I think it is important to be open for inspiration and go with the flow. Perhaps I will encounter something that will inspire new works in photography and film? I think the LIA resiendy in Leipzig is an ideal place where to cook up new art pieces.
2006-2007 Binger Film Institute, Screenwriting and Film directing, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1997-2002 Academy of Fine Arts Helsinki, Mixed media department, M.F.A.
2000 University of Photography and Film, Gothenburg, Sweden
1996-1997 University of Art and Design, Photography department, Helsinki, Finland
1996 feb, mars Winchester School of Art and Design, England, fine Art
1994-1995 Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain, Facultad de Bellas Artes
1992-1996 Iceland Academy of the Arts, Painting and mixed media departments
Selected Solo exhibitions
2017 The singing nomad project, The purpose project, Gallerí Úthverfa Ísafjörður, Iceland
2017 The singing nomad project, The purpose project, Malongen Project space, Stockholm, Sweden
2015 Jóhanna, Warsaw Art photography festival, Palac Braniskich, Varsjá, Pólland
2014 Johanna, Slunkaríki, Edinborg Cultural Center, Ísfjörður, Iceland
2011 Turmaline, XYZ Collective, Tokyo, Japan
2011 In the end all we care about is love, Kron kron, Reykjavík, Iceland
2010 Scintilla, BRAC, New York, USA
2009 Gold eaters-I read Italian Vogue and eat Polarbear meat with my fingers, Listasalur Mosfellsbæjar, Mosfell, Iceland
2009 Transmigration, Aldan Project Space, Seyðisfjörður, Iceland
2009 Escaping to Latin America, ASI Museum, Reykjavík, Iceland
2009 Scintilla, The Reykjavík Museum of Photography, Reykjavík, Iceland
2008 Lost my head, Galeria Sicart, Barcelona, Spain
2007 Its all about happiness, Kunstverein Langenhagen, Germany
2007 Leave me alone I am trying to sleep, Traschi Galleri, Santiago de Chile, Chile
2006 Drawings, Skaftfell, Seyðisfjörður, Iceland
2005 Lost my head, Ystads Konstmuseum, Ystad, Sweden
2005 Do not let my fragile apperance deceive you, Reykjavík Art Museum, Reykjavík, Iceland
2003 Flying/dying, Gerðarsafn, Kópavogur, Iceland
2000 Furs and emotions, Galleri Nema Hvað, Reykjavík, Iceland
2000 Blondes in Paris, Galleri@hlemmur.is, Reykjavík, Iceland
1999 False teeth, Alagalleria, Helsinki, Finland
1998 False teeth, The Living Art museum, Reykjavík, Iceland
Selected group exhibitions
2018 Evolvement, Kling og Bang, Reykjavík, Iceland
2017 FÍSL, Höfn, Hornafjörður, Iceland
2017 Bout, The Reykjavík Art Museum
2017 Nordic Matters, Southbank Centre, London, UK
2016 Lightpaint, The National Gallery, Iceland
2015 Ísó, Ísafjörður, Iceland
2015 Relooking-Icelandic landscape photography, Stara galleria, Varsjá, Pólland
2015 Framköllun, Hafnarborg, Hafnarfjörður, Ísland
2014 Icelandic Female photographers 1872-1913, The National Museum of Iceland
2014 The darkness within, SIM, Reykjavík, Iceland
2013 710IS Reindeerland, Nordic House, Reykjavík, Iceland
2012 Gallery 69, Lufthavna Performance Laboratorium, Oslo, Noregur
2012 Genius Loci, Nida Art Colony, Nida, Lithuania
2011 True or False, Galerie Gaby Senn, Vienna, Austria
2011 True or False, FISAK, Istanbul, Turkey
2011 True or False, RIP, Arles, Atelier Reflexe & Dirk Bakker, France
2011 True or False, 8ème Salon & Niklas Schechinger Fine Art Gallery, Hamburg, Germany
2011 The Icelandic suitcase gallery, Forfey festival, Fermanagh, Ireland
2011 Echo of The North, Galtarviti, Iceland
2011 Icelandscapes, Hay Hill Gallery, London, England
2011 CyprisIslandia, Stoa Aeshylou Arcade Gallery, Cyprus
2010 Christmas exhibition Kling and Bang, Kling and Bang, Reykjavík, Iceland
2010 Iceland-The Nordic third world country, Fargfabrikken Norr, Sweden
2010 Testimony, Tensta Konsthall, Stockholm, Sweden
2010 Reference Point, The Goethe Institute Riga, Latvia
2010 No soul for sale, Tate Modern, London
2010 Peripheral vision, Kling & Bang gallery, Reykjavik, Iceland
2009 Gallerí Havarí, Reykjavík, Iceland
2009 Alt_Cph, Kling og Bang, The alternative Art Fair Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
2009 No Soul for Sale, Kling & Bang, X-Initiative, New York
2009 Experencias 3, Museo de Bellas Artes, Santander, Spain
2009 Art films, Boras Museum of Art, Sweden
2009 Home Alone #3, series of shows in private spaces in New York
2008 Beyond the mind, Skaftfell, Seyðisfjörður, Iceland
2008 Botnik Space off #2, Skarholmen, Gerleborg, Sweden
2008 Traits de femmes, Gallery Claude Samuel, Paris, France
2008 VODOU, Gallery 54, Gothenburg, Sweden
2008 Drawings, Galeria Sicart, Barcelona, Spain
2007 VOUDOU-Galleri Bastard, Oslo, Norway
2007 ARTEBA, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2006 Fundacion Proa, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2006 El Basilisco, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2006 Landscape and folklore, National Gallery of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland
2006 Sequences, The real time festival, Reykjavík, Iceland
2006 Icelandic Videoart, KunstWerke Berlín, Germany
2006 Cold Hearts, Icelandic film and video, travelling exhibition, USA
2006 Hit the North, Nordic Film and Video Art, travelling exhibition
2005 Patricide and Witchtime, Nordic house, Iceland
2005 Tolerate me, Supermarket of Art, Warsaw, Poland
2005 E-flux video rental, Manifesta Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2005 E-flux video rental, The Moore Space, Miami, USA
2005 E-flux video rental, KunstWerke, Berlín, Germany
2004 E-flux video rental, E-flux, New York, USA
2004 Sýn-Vision, Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, France
2003 1978-2003: Icelandic Contemporary Art for half a century, The Living Art Museum, Reykjavík, Iceland
2003 New times in Icelandic photography, Reykjavík Art Museum, Reykjavík, Iceland
2003 Totally Motivated, Kunstverein Munchen, Germany
2003 The Photographic gesture, Minnesota Center of Photography, Minneapolis, USA
2002 Icelandic photography retrospective, Moscow House of Photography, Moscow, Russia
2002 Man and city, Reykjavík Art Museum, Reykjavík, Iceland
2002 The Tiger and the Polarbear, Creepy-evil-gay (the bebop kid), Gallerí Sævar Karl, Reykjavík, Iceland
2002 Opening hours, Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, Denmark
2002 Populated, IASPIS galleriet, Stockholm, Sweden
2001 Die Macht der Gewohnheit, WUK Kunsthalle, Vienna, Austria
2001 Blick, The Modern Art Museum, Stockholm, Sweden
2001 Blick, Nifca galleries, Helsinki, Finland
2001 Printemps de Septembré a Toulouse, Toulouse, France
2001 Tiger and polarbear, Slunkaríki, Ísafjörður, Iceland
2001 Performances, The Living Art Museum, Reykjavík
2001 Bitch, The Yellow house, Reykjavík
2001 Ready mades in the Yellow House, The Yellow House, Reykjavík, Iceland
2001 The future is now, Vision and reality, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art,
Denmark
2001 The future is now, Nifca galleries, Helsinki, Finland
2000 Open/Closed, Galleri@hlemmur.is, Reykjavík, Iceland
2000 Le(s) Nord(s), films, Batofar, Paris, France
2000 a5 invitational, Travelling exhibition: Stockholm, Reykjavík, Helsinki, Copenhagen, Oslo, Trondheim, Bergen.
2000 MARS, Glassbox, Paris, France
2000 Emotions, influence….The Yellow house, Reykjavík, Iceland
2000 Stockholm Art Fair, presented by Galleri 1% from Denmark
1998 Muu-media festival, Kiasma, Helsinki, Finland
1998 Northern poles, MS-Stubnitz, Stockholm, Sweden
1998 In the air, Kuvataideakatemia gallery, Helsinki, Finland
1998 Northern wilderness, Oxford University Press gallery, England
1998 Private parking, Ateneum, Helsinki, Finland
1996 Documenta Gúlp, The Living Art Museum, Reykjavík, Iceland
Selected Film festivals
2017 Queensland Film Festival, Australia
2009 Gothenburg International Film Festival, Sweden
2007 IETFF, Monte Carlo.Monaco
2006 Stockholm International Film Festival, Stockholm, Sweden
2005 Reykjavik Shorts and docs, Reykjavik, Iceland
2004 Nordisk Panorama, Reykjavík, Iceland
1999 Up and Coming filmfestival, Hannover, Germany
1999 Reykjavík short-film festival, Reykjavík, Iceland
1999 Palm Springs international film festival, USA
1998 Aix en Provence international short film festival, France,
1998 Blue sea film festival, Rauma, Finland
1998 Kill your Darlings, Stockholm, Sweden
Film projects
2005 Lost my head, super 16 mm, 7 min
2003 My Duvet, DV, 1 min for the Euroscreen project
1998 False teeth, 16mm, 3.45 min
1998 Jean 16mm, 4 min
1997 Sköna morgnar i Jönköpping, digital, 4 min
Nominations
2009 Deutsche Börse Photography Award
2009 Leopold Godowsky, Jr. Color Photography Awards
2006 DV Icelandic cultaral prize, filmmaking
2005 Eddan, Icelandic film and TV industry awards, Nominated for Best shortfilm of the year
Music and sound projects
2011 Now now, Music-dance piece for Reykjavík Dance Festival and Jaðarber, Reykjavík Art Museum, Iceland
2008 Angelina, soundpiece for piano, trombone and voice, performed in Við Djúpið music festival, Ísafjörður, Iceland
2007 Vodou, pan scandinavian sound project, exhibitions in Norway and Sweden and a Vinyl record.
2004 Iceland Airwaves, Glói-concert, Reykjavík, Iceland
2003 Glói, electronic-music project with Ólafur Breiðfjörð
2004 I want to be a DJ, project and a concert in KunstWerke in Berlin, Germany
2004 The composition “Chocolate” for piano and tape premiered at Salurinn Kópavogur, by Arne Jörgen Fæö, Iceland
2004 The song Gaypopstar written in cooperation w. Ólafur Breiðfjörð , appears in the german film Jargo
2003 Cooperation with Ólafur Breiðfjörð, music making and performances in Klink &Bank, Iceland
2003 I want to be a DJ, project for Kunstverein in Munich in cooperation with GIGOLO records, Germany
2001 It Sounds like art, Performance wih Melkorka Huldudóttir and the band Chiahuahua in the Modern Art Museum in Stockholm, Sweden
Other projects
2015 Skin walker-Theater play in colaboration with Albert Halldórsson, Smiðjan, LHÍ, Reykjavík
2013 Uppsprettan, Mr. Zeit, pop-up theater, Reykjavík Cultural Nights, Reykjavík, Iceland
2013 Collaboration with Johan Sandås, Photography and experimental music, Dionysia, Þingeyri, Iceland
2010 Red Polar Bear, A 4000 Square meter, 80 m x 50 m, Red polar bear painted with organic watercolour on
Langjökull Glacier. A part of the environmental project Earth: www.earth.350.org
2010 Tarzan, Installation in collaboration with Andreas Siqueland, Skaftfell, Seyðisfjörður, Iceland
2010 The Moving index, program two, Art Office, New York, USA
2010 Cabaret Ringsveen, Aipotu.org, Norway
2010 The collective man, Performance Theater, ISCP, New York, USA
2010 A bearded pregnant man in Burqa part of Explotation on demand, Sparwasser Hq, Berlin, Germany
2009 Pecha Kucha, Picture Parlour, ISCP, New York
2004 The theater of the Artists, Wrote/directed a play performed in Klink and Bank, Reykjavík, Iceland
