Points of contact

Anna Eyjólfsdóttir · Birgir Snæbjörn Birgisson · Helgi Hjaltalín Eyjólfsson · Helgi Þorgils Friðjónsson

Ragnhildur Sefánsdóttir · Þórdís Alda Sigurðadóttir · Þuríður Sigurðardóttir

July 13 – September 14, 2014

Margrét Elísabet Ólafsdóttir

Stand with your back to the cone

and lean into it

Find the sore point between the shoulder blades

and drive it onto the cone

and release the tension

Breathe slowly into the pain while doing so.

Points of Contact by Ragnhildi Stefánsdóttur

The social context of contemporary Icelandic art rarely receives proper consideration. Art historians have not put effort into examining contemporary art specifically within social light, and there has not been a focus on sociological research done within the art world. Art history rather concentrates more so on the process and direction of individual artists, and art theoretical analysis. This is relevant although art history cannot overlook the fact that art is social in nature – not any less than national (social) linearity. This is evident in the historical overview of Icelandic art, where the record of art in the country is counted from the later part of the 19th century.¹ The artist Hörður Ágústsson was in his time a harsh critic of those who excluded the art history of prior centuries, and pointed out its social role.² Now Ólafur Rastrick has pointed out that scholars in the beginning of the 20th century viewed that art and culture possessed the social role of civilizing the nation and played a social obligation in cultivating both art and culture.³ The connection of such ideas and Hörður’s perceptions are interesting. Hörður believed that the reason scholars in Iceland have overlooked the long history of visual practices in the country is a result of the hierarchy of the study of literature and scholarship, but regular society and the small farmers were engaged in handwork, craft and visual art. This interpretation is coloured with a historical view of the first part of the 20th century because recent studies by Þóra Kristjánsdóttir show that those at the top of the hierarchy also practiced art.⁴ Þóra considers this specifically in one chapter of her book Mynd á þili⁵, but otherwise minimizes the division between hierarchies. She also believes that it is hard to divide between a “carpenter” and an “artist”⁶, but that is the point of view based on contemporary attitudes that choose to look away from the idea that the historical distinction⁷ is rooted in social differentiation.⁸ These two matters, however, shine throughout the story of Hjalti Þorsteinsson, the priest from Vatnsfjörður, who leaned towards art early in life but made the priesthood his livelihood. It seemed more appropriate for a man of his class.⁹

It is almost impossible to understand what lies behind such attitudes without looking to Europe. When Hjalti was born in 1665, seventeen years had passed since the establishment of the first Academy of Art in France. The year of his death, 1754, marked the beginning of the Royal Danish Academy of Art in Copenhagen. These academies were formed as offspring of the influence of the Renaissance in Italy, where artists began investing in theoretical knowledge in addition to practical skills.¹⁰ The demand for scientific knowledge led to the development of art academies in Rome during the 16th century. The presence of the Academy increased gradually, which impacted the value of the craftsman upon the education of the artist and increased the involvement of the upper class society on ideas of art. Immediately artists climbed a notch on the social ladder. Artists of the Academy were not connected with the ideas but instead had to rely on the support of the nobility and the royal, who considered themselves benefactors of the arts. After the French Revolution the government took over this role in France, where a close connection was made between the Academy in Paris and the government. The Academy was arranged according to the rigid hierarchy, as within society, but when the revolution shook this structure, the foundations of the Academy also began to tremble. Around the same time the first group formations were seen between artists that had not been included within the ruling structure of the Academy. The most well known example of such is the French Impressionists. Their paths crossed around the same time as the new artistic environment began to take shape in the midst of the 19th century, and by then Paris had already staked its claim as the centre of European art.

Gallery and artist-run spaces

The role of the Academy was to educate artists, but it also influenced the career of the artist in the public sector. The career of the artist was determined by annual Salon exhibitions, where works were juried based on excellence. The Art Academy was not the only Academy in France, where many smaller and otherwise influential schools were founded throughout the country during the 19th century. The schools led to the increase in painters who in turn had little chance of public support. Artists that were not accepted into the Academy, or rather wanted to educate elsewhere, had less chance of having their works shown in the Salon exhibitions. This was the initial step towards the famous show of those excluded or the Salon des Refusées, which also marks the beginning of the impressionist period.

Art dealers saw new opportunity within this change of situation. One such individual, Durand-Ruel¹¹, had sold works by the Barbizon school of French painters who studied landscape painting out in the open air. Landscape was not highly regarded as a subject matter within the Academy, but was popular among art buyers arriving from ordinary society. Durand-Ruel saw possibility in a young group of artists who had become friends and peers who sometimes painted together like the Barbizon painters. This group of friends was known by the name Impressionists after having exhibited in Nadars photography studio. As famous as it is, it was a negative critic who coined the group with their name, but it was the art dealer who used the gift of the name to bring the works to the forefront. The role of the art dealer was to ensure that the artists had financial stability by steadily purchasing their work. The dealer later sold the works to his benefit for profit upon that which he had paid towards them originally. To increase the demand and price for art by the Impressionists, the dealer held exhibitions of their works, which had a role in distinguishing them from the group that showed in the Salon exhibitions. The exhibitions themselves required the attention that response of both negative and positive writing by critics helped to create. They played a large role in awakening attention to the artists and gradually the opinion of the critic became more important than recognition from the jury of the Salon. Some critics were also friends of the artists whom they supported, and claimed that they were misunderstood. This is how a misconception was created and played a role in influencing the perceived myth of the misunderstood genius. The opinion was later confirmed through the art market increase. It may be said that the free market required the figure of the misunderstood genius. Gradually a new system developed that was not only built upon the relationship between the Academy and public, but also associated with the art dealer and critic.

As the 20th century continued to progress, state support for the arts did not disappear, it rather changed and evolved beside the progressing market. The influence of the market on the success of the artist reached a new level in the United States after the Second World War.¹² Art critic Clement Greenberg and art dealer Leo Castelli played major roles in bringing the work of the Abstract Expressionists to the forefront, but what determined their popularity was the publication of photos by Hans Namuth of the artist Jackson Pollock at work.¹³ It was then that Walter Benjamin’s predictions of the influence of the photograph upon the original were revisited, but instead of decreasing the value of the work the aura grew subsequently with value.

The interplay between market value and visibility of the artist in the media has been dominant ever since but it has also had paradoxical consequences. When the seventies took form a new generation of artists in the United States came into the forefront who were in resistance to the market. This generation wanted to be able to create and exhibit their art without having to think of its need.¹⁴ This was the dawn of independent artist-run spaces that were not for profit. These artist-run spaces operated based on common interest and friendship, but at the same time projected the manifestation of the idea of the independence of the artist and the artists need for visibility and financial support. In fact, if the artist-run space is to survive, it requires either support from the government or an adaptation to the market system.

The formation of artist-run spaces may also have reasons that have nothing to do with protesting the power of the market. This is the case in Iceland, where there has never been a strong market for contemporary art. Artists that have run their own exhibition space are therefore not in resistance to anything except perhaps indifference. It is safe to say that they are reacting to the situation that the Icelandic art scene has endured in the last decades.¹⁵ Here little awaits the artist when they have finished their studies, neither institution nor the market. This encourages them to take matters in their own hands. Therefore many artist-run spaces have been created over the last forty years, only few of which have obtained long-term success.¹⁶ The exceptions are spaces run without a roof ¹⁷ or by membership.¹⁸ Only one artist-run space in Iceland has stepped into the international art market.¹⁹ Icelandic artists must do the same if they want to live off of their art. Artists living in the country, for the majority, do other jobs alongside creating. What drives them forward is not the hope of financial success, fame and fortune, but the need to create works regardless of what the surrounding environment does. We shall call it intrinsic motivation although there are some who doubt such motives exist.

Renewal

In this environment, which is surely more complicated then scope allows description for here, groups of artists have formed that display well alongside one another. The exhibition Points of Contact brings together two such groups, consisting of the seven artists: Anna Eyólfsdóttir, Þuríður Sigurðardóttir, Þórdís Alda Sigurðardóttir, Helgi Þorgils Friðjónsson, Ragnhildur Stefánsdóttir, Birgir Snæbjörn Birgisson and Helgi Hjaltalín Eyjófsson. The artists are different from one another and have not emitted any manifesto. Their cooperation is built on friendship and spiritual kinship. There are nevertheless many elements in common that do not connect to their work except indirectly. They are all around middle age and studied at the Icelandic College of Art and Crafts. The school was established in 1939 in order to promote craft²⁰ but those plans were in the spirit of ideas of ́aesthetic craftsmanship ́²¹ Originally the school had more in common with the Arts and Crafts movement associated with William Morris then the Art Academy of the 18th century. The groups that have works in the exhibition were not created within the school. Social connections were created later and comply with gender. We can therefore divide the group into four women and three men. Each group of which has put up a number of exhibitions in recent years in different locations, both here and abroad. The women have also run a gallery together.²²

The fact that the groups are divided by gender has given rise to speculation but here it is merely to draw attention to the fact that all of the women, with the exception of Ragnhildur Stefánsdóttir, began their studies much later in life than the men. The youngest and the oldest artists, Anna Eyólfsdóttir and Helgi Hjaltalín Eyjófsson, were in the Icelandic College of Art and Crafts at the same time. They also have studying within the sculpture department in common with Þórðís Alda and Ragnhildur. This department had not yet been established when Helgi Þorgils Friðjónsson studied there in the beginning of the seventies and was closed down just as the painting department, a year before Þuríður Sigurðardóttir graduated from the Icelandic Academy of Arts. Þuríður is the second oldest of the group, but at the same time “the youngest artist” and the only one to have graduated from the Academy. The seventh artist in the group, Birgir Snæbjörn Birgisson was a student at the graphic department.

In the three decades that passed since the period where Helgi Þorgils began his art education in 1971 and until Þuríður graduated in 2001, the Art Academy went through many changes. Instead of putting emphasis on graduating students with a certificate that provided them with qualification, the emphasis shifted to the so-called free art. These changes took into account the demand for a more liberal freedom that followed the generation of ’68 and the movements that first appeared in the local art scene in the sixties. The changes are often referenced to the exhibitions of the SÚM group and The Sculpture Association of Reykjavík in Skólavörðuholt, but they can also be attributed to the influence of television and other forms of media.

The most drastic change was the formation of the conceptual art department that later received the name multimedia department. The department was different from others in the sense that more emphasis was placed on conceptual ideas rather than practical implementation. Such thing would have been unthinkable before the days of conceptual art. The multimedia department also built upon the multidisciplinary foundation that can be traced to Fluxus and the Dick Higgins description of cross-transmission in art.²³ Cross-transmission refers to the idea that the boundary between media and the arts should not have or need to be clearly defined. Higgins was like many other artists of his generation, under much influence from media and was inspired by the teachings of Marshall McLuhan, along with their role in contemporary culture. Multimedia built upon technical media, which has been called new media. The conceptual art department was intended to create a space for these new forms, but photography, film and video, and electronic sound were also considered under this title. Various forms of other media and exotic materials that had not been thought to have a place in the visual arts also became a part of the department; among that fabricated, factory-produced items. Although none of the artists that have work in Points of Contact studied in the multimedia department influence is evident, as it is within all of the other departments.

Another characterization of this period in the history of contemporary art is the idea that an end had come for what has been called the avant-garde. The avant-garde has been defined as a revolutionary force, which would transform art or society. This kind of idea usually includes a negative stand towards the past, which is then rendered old and obsolete. Fluxus and conceptual art involved such rejection, but these movements also seemed to be an end point. The reach was not further than to the creation of anti-art in the spirit of the Fluxus, or to the turn away from the art object itself by denying the creation of works such as the conceptual artists did. Whether we choose to look at these movements as a dead end or as providing power for renewal, as with the painting during the eighties, the paintings by Helgi Þorgils Friðjónsson are clear examples of what constituted a renewal in painting in Iceland.

When everything becomes permissible

What happened in the beginning of the eighties could be likened to an internal bomb. It was as if art no longer saw the possibilities of developing in forward evolution. Art could not find the cause in challenging the past. The goal was no longer to overturn older criteria in the same sense as Magnús Pálsson did when he cast Best Pieces (Bestu stykkin), or rejecting tradition as did Dieter Roth when he created literature sausages (Literaturwurst) out of works by German philosophers. Instead an era of reflection began, where the past and present time merged in an endless fountain of subject for artists. We see this in the work of Helgi Þorgils, Workshop (model and flower) VII (Vinnustofan (módel og blóm) VII). The subject of the painting is the model, which Carol Duncan believed served the purpose in the works of avant-garde painters in the beginning of the 20th century, to show the dominant role of the male over the female.²⁴ The dominance was underlined with erotic undertones that are not only connected to the works of the 20th century. ²⁵ Helgi is well aware of this tradition, but rather than challenging in the spirit of the avant-garde painters there is a sense of melancholy. The artist seems more preoccupied within a conversation with the past then he is to the present when he shifts the model into different positions. The positions create movement and narrative in the mind of the viewer, while the paintings rest in a sense of calmness highlighted with still life and painted flat surfaces of the back of the paintings. Cut lilies that once would symbolize chastity have now become the symbol of sensuality that is beyond reach. With the melancholy attached to lost power, another lighter tone may be sensed. This tone is ironic. The tone is exemplified in the strange positioning of the models but no less in the bird head that hangs as overgrown balls between the legs of a man in the series Staring (Gláp). This subtle mixture of grief and humor is also present in the works of Birgir Snæbjörn Birgisson. Birgir approaches the subject nonetheless in a slightly different way as he seeks inspiration in present media and popular culture.

Women are common subject matter for Birgir, especially blond women. Birgir utilizes, in accordance with the subject, a very light use of colour. The colours have the effect upon the subject to virtually disappear, which is in direct opposition to the noise that characterizes the contemporary media through which the artist seeks inspiration. In the work Nurses Pride an image of white nylon socks merges with the background. The title of the work takes its name from a brand of nurse’s clothing, but in the photo series there are also images of blond wigs. The wig can be viewed as a part of the nurse’s uniform if we keep in mind the stagnated image of the blond nurse. It can also lead to an interpretation pointing towards its worship as a holy object and a dark eroticism.

Birgir shares compulsive collecting in common with Anna Eyjólfsdóttir. Anna uses things she collects or arranges in multiple. She elevates the object, magnifying the meaning set forth. This includes Side by Side (Hlið við hlið) where a dozen white rubber boots are lined up on a shelf, but under the shelf hang as many white rubber aprons. Women who work in the fish industry have worn and still wear such clothing. The work possesses nostalgia for vanishing work habits and memories of the solidarity in fish processing. At the same time the work is an ode and a reaction to changes within contemporary society, and refers back but not forth. Þórdis Alda also looks back but her work Footprint on the Galaxy (Spor á Vetrarbraut) is more personal in the sense that is seeks to challenge local community. The social reference is not as vivid in this work as in the works by Birgir and Anna, as it refers to the journey of the individual through life. At the same time a number of different footprints is reminiscent of the involvement of each and everyone in shaping what is common. Each footprint is unique but together they create a path for those who follow behind. The work is composed of many units that hang from the ceiling by spring. This presentation offers a sense of play in which the viewer is invited to engage. As such, actual movement is created, as opposed to the symbolic motion in the work of Helgi Þorgils.

Common within all of the works is a reference to the body. The body is evident in Helgi Þorgils work, which struggles with the human body that is nowhere to be found in the other works. It is the clothing, boot, socks, aprons and shoes that refer to the body’s lack of presence or its forthcoming. The presence of a missing body produces a different meaning in the work of Helgi Hjaltalín Just one piece of lead. The title is borrowed from the lyric of the song I hung my head by Johnny Cash, which describes the consequences of a hasty riffle shot. Watercolours show different types of guns, which upon closer examination are rendered useless as a result of defect or malfunction. Above them are the targets, painted as decoration like stripes and the buttons decorating bags that hang next to the paintings. Helgi often works as a carpenter, and here he has constructed bags that despite being elaborate could be used as holsters for the guns. The gun itself is a symbol of masculinity and freedom in the world of film and popular culture, but it is also a deadly weapon, which has here been deprived of its function. The work of Helgi Hjaltalín is a fusion of cultures where references are mixed and tidy presentation is used to discuss complex meanings in contemporary popular culture.

Ragnhildur Stéfansdóttir also uses accepted practices as applies to the tradition of sculpture. She and Helgi Þorgils along with Þuríður have commonly built upon the traditions of art, painting and sculpture. A comprehensive and flawless representation of the human body was one of the major challenges for the artists of the Renaissance and Classical periods, but in the works by Ragnhildur it is subdivided, taken apart, or detached from itself. Heart (Hjarta) is in that sense a traditional sculptural work as it is made from a mold. In place of the human heart are molds that are cast into each other. Alternating from white plaster and coloured rubber, they are open and exposed, and recall a sense of loneliness and pain. Ragnhildur works differently in the installation for LA Art Museum, which is specifically tailored to the gallery. Here she uses a thermal camera that detects the physical presence of the viewer, and which projects their coloured outline onto a screen. The work can be seem as a “sculpture” of the body in real time, which is reminiscent of the nature of ephemeral that the artists all approach, each in their own way.

Even the works by Þuríður Sigurðardóttir include certain nostalgia. It is not in the subject, but the method of painting. Þuríður does not look to art history for a subject like Helgi Þorgils but she has adopted methods reminiscent of past times. The subject she finds however is in her hobby, horses. She looks at the horse and then walks towards it until she no longer sees its outline. The horse is not seen as a whole, but the texture of the coat and the thickness of the flesh on single monochrome coloured surfaces. Although it is possible to draw connections between individual works of the artists in the exhibition regarding subject, each is a world in itself, ready to touch the viewer and lead them on a personal engagement. Each work carries the audience into a unique journey, as the horse carries the rider out into the unknown.

Artists

Anna Eyjólfsdóttir

Anna Eyjólfsdóttir was born in 1948. She attended Reykjavik School of Visual Arts in 1986-1988, Icelandic Colege of Art and Craft in 1988-1991, The Arts Academy in Dusseldorf Germany in 1991-1993 and Iceland University of Education in 1993-1995. Eyjólfsdóttir´s work has been exhibited both in Iceland and abroad. Her work often consists of large installations where she conceptualizes with memories and the relationship between arts and everyday live and uses ready-made products as part of the installation. Besides her artwork Eyjólfsdóttir has also worked as a teacher and she was the director of the Sculpture Department at the Icelandic College of Art and Craft for a few years and later at Iceland Academy of the Arts for one year. She has been active within associations of visual artists in Iceland and was the chairman of the The Icelandic Sculptors Society for a while, during which the Society opened three large outdoor exhibitions, the Coastline 1998 and 2000, and Firma ’99 (partly inside). Anna is co-founder of Gallery StartArt which operated in Reykjavík in 2007-2009.

Birgir Snæbjörn Birgisson

Birgir Snæbjörn Birgisson was born in 1966. He graduated from the department of visual art at The Akureyri Junior College and then attended Icelandic College of Art and Craft in 1986-1989. In 1991-1993 he studied at École des Arts Décoratifs in Strassburg, France, in the multimedia department. Birgisson also lived and worked on his art in London for some time but now lives and works in Reykjavik, Iceland. He and his wife Sigrún Sigvaldsdóttir co-founded Gallery Skilti in 2007, an art gallery located at their home in Dugguvogur 3, Reykjavik. Birgisson’s art has been exhibited both here in Iceland and abroad. In his work he often uses Nordic stereotypes and an example of such work are the series Blond Nurses, Blonde Professions, Blond Miss World 1951- , Humility, Blonde Artists and Blonde Musicians. His artworks contains both social and political references.

Helgi Hjaltalín Eyjólfsson

Helgi Hjaltalín Eyjólfsson was born in 1968. He graduated from the visual art department in Breiðholt Junior College and then studied at Icelandic College of Art and Craft 1988-91, The Arts Academy in Dusseldorf, Germany in 1991-1992, AKI, Academie voor Kunst en Industrie in Enschede, Holland 1992-94 and San Francisco Art Institute 1994-95. He has been working on and exhibiting his art since then within Iceland and abroad. Eyjólfsson founded and managed the exhibition space 20m2 for a while and has worked on art related matters such as board member for the Icelandic Sculptors Society and the Living Art Museum, been part of exhibition committees and worked as teacher. His art works are usually skilled handiwork of wood that appears to have practical purpose but don´t anyway. He has also worked with other media such as photographs, watercolours and video. Eyjólfsson has made a series of installation under the name of Favourable Circumstances where the base idea is that all circumstances are favourable, if not for you then somebody else.

Helgi Þorgils Friðjónsson

Helgi Thorgils Friðjónsson was born in 1953. He studied at Icelandic College of Art and Craft in 1971-76 and continued his studies in Holland at De Vrjie Academie in Haag 1976-77 og Jan van Eyck Akademie in Maastricht 1977-79. He has been working on and exhibiting his art ever since on numerous solo and joint exhibitions in Iceland and abroad. Friðjónsson is mostly working on oil paintings but has also done drawings, graphic art, texts, book art and sculptures. His works are figurative and he has said that in his works he is assembling history of mankind and history of art and his subject is also the human solitude. Friðjónsson is founder and co-founder of several exhibition spaces such as Gallery Vísir which was a page in the newspaper Vísir, The Living Art Museum, and Gallery Suðurgata 7 in Reykjavík and Gallery Lóa in Amsterdam, Holland. Gallery Gangur is a well-known exhibition space since 1980 in his home and is now located at Rekagrandi 8 in Reykjavík. Along with his artwork Friðjónsson has also been teaching, served as member of boards at art institutions and been curator on some exhibitions, one of which was Picasso in Iceland that was put up at LA Art Museum in Hveragerði in 2008.

Ragnhildur Sefánsdóttir

Ragnhildur Stefánsdóttir was born in 1958. She studied at Icelandic College of Art and Craft in 1977-80 and did further studies in USA at Minneapolis College of Art and Craft 1980-81 and Carnegie Mellon University – College of fine Art 1985-87. Stefánsdóttir has mainly worked on figurative sculptures and existential questions. In her work she considers the humans materialism and subjectivity and seeks both into Oriental and Western studies. Her artwork has been exhibited in numerous exhibitions, solo as well as group, inland and abroad and has participated in open and closed sculpture-competitions. She has taught at Iceland Academy of the Arts and at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, USA and worked as stage designer. She was the chairman of the Icelandic Sculptors Society for a while and has also been active within the Association of Visual Artists. Stefánsdóttir was one of the co-founder of Gallery StartArt, which operated in 2007-09.

Þórdís Alda Sigurðadóttir

Thórdís Alda Sigurðardóttir was born in 1950. She graduated from Iceland University of Education in 1972. She attended Reykjavik School of Visual Arts 1977-79, Icelandic College of Art and Craft 1980-84 and the Art Academy in Munich, Germany 1985-86. She has been working on and exhibiting her art since then in Iceland and abroad. Sigurðardóttir often makes large installation and seeks her inspiration and her raw materials in the “toy box” of contemporary life and focuses on the examination and reuse of objects from our shared existence, as well as elements and actions that relate us to nature. She has been active within the Society of Icelandic Sculptures and served on the board. She was one of the co-founder of Gallery StartArt, which operated in 2007-09. Together with her husband she also founded the Dungal Art Found which has given grants to young emerging artist but is now emphasizing on publishing Art books in cooperation with the publishing house Crymogea.

Þuríður Sigurðardóttir

Thuríður Sigurðardóttir was born in 1949. She attended Reykjavik School of Visual Arts and studied visual art in Breiðholt Junior College 1996-98. She studied at the Icelandic Colege of Art and Craft in 1998-2000 and got her BA-degree from Iceland Academy of the Arts in 2001. She also attended course in Icon-painting by Yuri Bobrow, professor at the Art Academy in St. Petersburg. Sigurðardóttir is mainly working with oil on canvas, often with close-up or unexpected view and her works have been exhibited in Iceland and abroad. Along with her own artistic work Sigurðardóttir has also thought at Reykjavik School of Visual Arts and held courses at her own studio. She was curator with Markús Þór Andrésson at the exhibition Tívolí in LA Art Museum in Hveragerði in 2005. She has also been active within Association of Icelandic Visual Artist and the Federation of Icelandic Artists. She was co-founder of the Open Gallery which occupied various open spaces within the area 101 in Reykjavík 2002-3 and Gallery StartArt in Reykjavík 2007-9. Sigurðardóttir was appointed the Artist of Garðabær 2004.

Curator: Margrét Elísabet Ólafsdóttir

Margrét Elísabet Ólafsdóttir was born in 1965. After graduating from the Junior College at Laugarvatn she enrolled into Sorbonne-Panthéon University in Paris, France where she got her Diploma in Cultural and Communication Studies. She then specialized in Aesthetics and graduated 1999 with a higher degree and finished her Doctorate from the same University in 2013. In 1987 Ólafsdóttir started working as a journalist at Morgunblaðið in Reykjavík and during her studies she also wrote numerous articles, mainly about art and cultural activities. For one year she worked as Head of Collection and Exhibition Department at the National Gallery of Iceland but since 2002 she has been researching electronic and media art with focus on its history in Iceland. Ólafsdóttir organised the electronic art festival Pixlaverk in Reykjavík 2010 and 2011 and she was one of the curators of the exhibition Perspectives – On the Borders of Art and Philosophy in Reykjavik Art Museum in 2011. She was curator for the performance Power Struggle by Olga Kisseleva at the Living Art Museum in Reykjavík in 2013 and same year she curated the exhibition Icelandic Video Art from 1975-1990 in Reykjavik Art Museum based on her research.