Press RoomPhoenix Art Museum to showcase work by internationally celebrated Icelandic artist in upcoming multisensory exhibition
Phoenix Art Museum to showcase work by internationally celebrated Icelandic artist in upcoming multisensory exhibition
Oct, 01, 2018
Exhibitions and Special InstallationsModern and Contemporary ArtCollectionsModern and Contemporary Art
Phoenix Art Museum to showcase work by internationally celebrated Icelandic artist in upcoming multisensory exhibition
Ragnar
Kjartansson: Scandinavian Pain and Other Myths represents the premiere of work by performance artist Ragnar Kjartansson
in the Southwestern US
PHOENIX
(October 1, 2018) –Phoenix Art
Museum presents the Southwestern US premiere of work by Icelandic artist Ragnar
Kjartansson (b. 1976), one of the most celebrated contemporary artists in the world, in Ragnar
Kjartansson: Scandinavian Pain and Other Myths. From November 3, 2018 through
April 14, 2019 in the Ellen and Howard C. Katz Wing for Modern Art, guests can
experience three multisensory works by the artist that explore themes of Nordic
identity, melancholia, repetition, and popular culture. Known for the
performative aspects of his art, Kjartansson has displayed his works in
renowned museums around the world, including the Migros Museum in Switzerland,
The Guggenheim in New York City, and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
in Washington, D.C. Phoenix Art Museum becomes one of only ten American museums
to welcome the addition of “The Visitors” to their collection.
“We are eager to present the work of this
important contemporary artist to Phoenix,” said Amada Cruz, the Sybil
Harrington Director and CEO of Phoenix Art Museum. “Ragnar’s work will give
residents and visitors of our city the opportunity to have a shared experience
that transcends generations and languages. We are excited to bring the world of
Scandinavian Pain to our community.”
Kjartansson was born in Reykjavik, Iceland.
Growing up, his mother was an actress and his father was a director and
playwright. This theater-centric upbringing would later inform his artistic
practice as he experimented with durational and repetitive performance pieces,
attempting to discover new meaning in the simplest of words and actions through
reiteration and time progression.
The exhibition at Phoenix Art Museum will showcase
three works by the artist, including The
Visitors, one of Kjartansson’s best-known pieces. The hour-long,
nine-screen video installation features nine performers, including Kjartansson,
in different rooms of the hauntingly beautiful Rokeby Farm in New York’s Hudson
Valley. Each performer is shown playing an instrument and singing a song with
lyrics by Kjartansson’s ex-wife. As with many of Kjartansson’s works, the song
lyrics are limited and simple, but through repetition, their meaning changes as
the installation progresses, resulting in an emotionally charged and moving
experience. As critic Hilarie Sheets from
The New York Times noted, “[T]he
singers created an entirely absorbing ensemble piece that was alternately
tragic and joyful, meditative and clamorous, and that swelled in feeling from
melancholic fugue to redemptive gospel choir.”
Also featured in the exhibition is the 40-fot
long neon installation titled Scandinavian
Pain, along with The End, a prime
example of endurance-based art and Kjartansson’s contribution to the 2009
Venice Biennale. Secluding himself in a fourteenth-century palazzo, Kjartansson
made one painting per day for six months, each depicting the same friend in a
Speedo. The resulting—and rarely exhibited—144-piece installation, displayed in
a salon-style space, is at once complex and over-simplified, making it a can’t-miss
experience for the Phoenix community.
“We are excited to share works by Ragnar
Kjartansson with Phoenix Art Museum guests,” said Gilbert Vicario, the Selig
Family Chief Curator and the curator of the exhibition. “Ragnar is one of the
most interesting performance artists working today, and The Visitors is considered one of the best video installations of
the last 20 years.”
Ragnar
Kjartansson: Scandinavian Pain and OtherMyths offers Museum guests
the chance to experience first-hand one of today’s rising contemporary stars.
Kjartansson’s artwork is more than a series of paintings or a simple video; it
is a master-class in elevating the mediocre, playfully facing failure, and
finding new ways for audiences to personally experience the artistic process
without even lifting a paintbrush.
About
the Exhibition
Ragnar Kjartansson: Scandinavian Pain and Other
Myths will be on view from November 3, 2018 through April 14,
2019 in the Ellen and Howard C. Katz Wing for Modern Art, andis organized by Phoenix
Art Museum and curated by Gilbert Vicario, the Selig Family Chief Curator. Ragnar
Kjartansson: Scandinavian Pain and Other Myths is made possible through the
generosity of the Diane & Bruce Halle Foundation.
Admission is free for Museum Members;
veterans, active-duty, and retired military and their families; Maricopa
Community College students, staff, and faculty (with ID); and youth aged 5 and
under. Entrance to the exhibition is included in general admission for the
general public. Duringvoluntary
donation, pay-what-you-wish admission hours (no General Admission required),
the exhibition is offered free to the general public. Pay-What-You-Wish times
include Wednesdays from 3 – 9 pm, the first Fridays of every month from 6 – 10
pm, and the second Sunday of each month from noon – 5pm. For a full breakdown
of general admission prices and hours, see bit.ly/VisitPhxArt.
To
request interviews and high-resolution photography, contact Phoenix Art Museum’s
Marketing and Communications Office at 602.257.2105 or margaree.bigler@phxart.org.
Exhibition
Programs and Events
First Friday | November 2, 6 – 10 pm
Celebrate the special
First-Friday exhibition preview of Ragnar
Kjartansson: Scandinavian Pain and OtherMyths on November 2!
This is a free event open during voluntary-donation times at the Museum. Please
check phxart.org/events/calendar for updates.
This exclusive annual gala kicks off a
full year of celebrations leading up to the Museum’s 60th
anniversary. Featuring an inside look at an anniversary-themed fashion
installation, an exclusive viewing of Ragnar
Kjartansson: Scandinavian Pain and OtherMyths,
fine food, custom cocktails, dancing under the stars, and the gala’s first-ever
guest of honor, Arizona State University President Michael Crow, The pARTy in
the Garden will play an essential role in supporting Phoenix Art Museum. All
proceeds from the event will support exhibitions and education programs at the Museum.
The afterpARTy is the late-night,
art-gala experience at Phoenix Art Museum, immediately following The pARTy in
the Garden annual gala and is inspired by Ragnar Kjartansson: Scandinavian Pain
and Other Myths,
featuring the acclaimed video installation The Visitors. Named after the final album of
Swedish supergroup ABBA, the immersive installation is spoken of as one the
best video installations of all time. See it exclusively at The afterpARTy!
Dancing with live music inspired
by Scandinavian Pain (hint: ABBA tributes!)and
beyond
Exclusive late-night access to the
Museum and special, one-night only installations
For more information or to purchase
tickets or sponsorships, please visit tickets.phxart.org or contact
specialevents@phxart.org or 602.307.2012.
Discount Tire Free Family Sunday| Second Sunday of each
month, noon – 5pm
Don’t miss Ragnar Kjartansson: Scandinavian Pain and
OtherMyths during voluntary-donation times on the second Sunday of each
month! Guests will also enjoy exciting activities, scavenger hunts, live
performances, story time, free tours, and more. Please check phxart.org/events/calendar
for updates.
About Ragnar Kjartansson
Ragnar
Kjartansson (b. 1976) lives and works in Reykjavík, Iceland. He draws on the
entire arc of art in his performative practice, and the histories of film,
music, theatre, visual culture, and literature often inform his video
installations, durational performances, drawings, and paintings. The artist
also uses pretending and staging in his work in an attempt to convey sincere
emotion and offer a genuine experience to the audience. Kjartansson has had
solo exhibitions at the Reykjavík Art Museum; the Barbican Centre, London; the
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Park, Washington D.C.; the Musée d’art
contemporain de Montréal; the Palais de Tokyo, Paris; the New Museum, New York;
the Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich; the Fondazione Sandretto Re
Rebaudengo, Turin; the Frankfurter Kunstverein; and the BAWAG Contemporary,
Vienna. He participated in The Encyclopedic Palace at the Venice Biennale in
2013 and Manifesta 10 in St. Petersburg, Russia in 2014, and he represented
Iceland at the 2009 Venice Biennale. Kjartansson is the recipient of the 2015
Artes Mundi’s Derek Williams Trust Purchase Award and Performa’s 2011 Malcolm
McLaren Award.
About Phoenix Art Museum
Phoenix Art Museum
has provided access to visual arts and educational programs in Arizona for
nearly 60 years and is the largest art museum in the southwestern United
States. Critically acclaimed national and international exhibitions are shown
alongside the Museum’s permanent collection of more than 19,000 works of American, Asian, European, Latin American, modern and contemporary art,
and fashion design. The Museum also presents festivals, a comprehensive film program, live performances, and educational
programs designed to enlighten, entertain, and stimulate visitors of all ages.
Visitors also enjoy vibrant photography exhibitions through the
Museum’s landmark partnership with the Center
for Creative Photography, University of Arizona. To learn more
about Phoenix Art Museum, visitphxart.org, or call 602.257.1880.
