#sigurður guðmundsson

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Event, Sigurður Guðmundsson, 1975

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Ph Sigurður Guðmundsson

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Sigurður Guðmundsson Collage, 1979

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SIGURÐUR GUÐMUNDSSON

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Statement, Sigurður Guðmundsson, 1976-1977

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Sigurdur Gudmundsson: There Is No Visual Language from Louisiana Channel on Vimeo.

"Every new work requires a new language." Meet Icelandic artist Sigurður Guðmundsson, whose life in art expanse over more than 60 years. In the video, he shares his philosophies on art and love.

"My way into art started with completely failing at everything else." Sigurður Guðmundsson never succeeded in school and worked in forests around Iceland from a young age. One day, through his father, he met the principal of the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts, who helped him get into the school. Since then, Guðmundsson has been working with art. "I'm the type of artist that has no plan," he explains. "I desire something that is on the poetical side."

Sigurður Guðmundsson's most famous body of work is a series of photographs which he calls 'Situations'. "I have no connection with photography," he says and continues: "I didn't feel it as photography. I felt it more like sculptural or poetry." Thus, he sees the works more like poems than traditional photography.

As an Icelandic artist, poetry and literature is inevitable, according to Sigurður Guðmundsson. "Language is very dominant by us, the Icelandic artists. Our main culture, when it comes to art, was poetry in this country. Everybody was a poet." According to Guðmundsson, the visual arts are still a very new thing in Iceland, so he experiences that he and his peers went into the visual arts with a "literary attitude", as he calls it. "I always denied it when critics were talking about the visual language. And I said: No, there is no visual language," he continues, "Every new work requires a new language."

Sigurður Guðmundsson (b. 1942) is an Icelandic artist who lives and works between Xiamen, Amsterdam and Reykjavik. He studied at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and Academie '63, Haarlem, in the Netherlands. Inspired by the Fluxus movement and painters of the natural world, including Caspar David Friedrich, Guðmundsson conveys longing and a search for a better world in his works, which range from photography and painting to sculpture and text. In his "Situations" series, the artist placed himself in illogical situations to comical yet melancholic results. Sigurður Guðmundsson has had many solo exhibitions, including shows at Galleri Andersson/Sandström, Stockholm, Sweden; Levant Art Gallery, Shanghai, China; Galerie Martine et Thibault de la Châtre, France. He has also participated in multiple group exhibitions, including shows at i8 Gallery, Reykjavik; Moderne Museet, Stockholm, Sweden; The Living Art Museum, Reykjavik, Iceland; Weserburg Museum für modern Kunst, Bremen, Germany; and The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, USA.

Sigurður Guðmundsson was interviewed by Roxanne Bagheshirin Lærkesen at his home in Reykjavik, Iceland, in May 2023.

Camera: Simon Wehye Archive footage: 'Portrait of An Artist', 1982, by Dutch television NPS Edited and produced by Roxanne Bagheshirin Lærkesen

Copyright: Louisiana Channel, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 2023 Louisiana Channel is supported by Den A.P. Møllerske Støttefond, Ny Carlsbergfondet, C.L. Davids Fond og Samling, and Fritz Hansen.

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Sjaan - Sigurður Guðmundsson

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Skautbúningur

An icelandic ensemble that was designed by Sigurður Guðmundsson in the mid-19th century. It was made of black cloth with the bodice cut off at the waist with long, narrow sleeves; The long skirt was pleated all around with the pleats being tighter at the back than the front. The neckline and sleeves were decorated with velvet ribbons with motifs of gold or silver garlands of flowers. The bottom of the skirt was embroidered with the same kind of garlands. On the head was worn a faldur with a veil over the headpiece and a golden koffur worn around the veil and faldur.

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Seascape, 2011 - by Sigurður Guðmundsson (1942), Icelandic

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View, Sigurður Guðmundsson, 1970

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Youth by Ásgeir from the album Bury The Moon - Director: Einar Egils

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sigurður guðmundsson

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Sigurður Guðmundsson Composition (study) 1978

🇮🇸 #iceland

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Sigurður Guðmundsson

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Statement, Sigurður Guðmundsson, 1976-1977

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Looks aren't everything

Original article written for Dagblaðið by Halldóra Friðjónsdóttir on the 28th of December 2001: https://timarit.is/page/3026234?iabr=on#page/n0/mode/1up

It is just over 100 years since Edmond Rostand shot to stardom in France with his play about Cyrano from Bergerac, which premiered at the National Theater on Christmas Eve. The work is to some extent true, because Cyrano the Great-Nosed and the Warrior was actually alive and well at the same time as Rostand's work, or in the first half of the seventeenth century. The play was very well received and its popularity was remarkable in light of how different it was from the realistic works that were considered the most remarkable at the time. An attempt was made to dissect the contemporary in the most natural speech, but Rostand captivated the audience for centuries and drew a picture of a hero who was ready to sacrifice everything for love.

The play is restricted and the text is considered romantic, poetic and hilarious at the same time. Kristján Árnason discusses all of this in his successful translation, and it must therefore be considered somewhat unfortunate how poorly the text performs to the audience. It did not help that in some places he was almost suffocated in music. Hjálmar H. Ragnarsson has composed beautiful and moving music that still sounds inside you when the show is over, but obviously the music should not compete with the lyrics to the attention of the audience.

In fact, the whole setting of this installation is exceptionally beautiful, whether it is music, costumes, set design or lighting. Finnur Arnar Arnarsson uses the circle in a fun way and the bridge, which is the center of gravity in the play, changes role in each scene, as does the ever-changing background. The carpentry of an otherwise simple set makes Björn Bergstein Guðmundsson's mysterious lightwork, which could have been brighter in parts.

Cast list

Most of the actors perform with great splendor, but it was clear that the style of play played in their mouths differently. in some cases the emphasis on the rhymes became embarrassingly noticeable, but fortunately the main actors got a good grip on this difficult text. The first to be mentioned is Cyrano himself, played by Stefán Karl Stefánsson. The role is tailored for Stefán because he is particularly good at interpreting characters who show emotion with great dexterity. Cyrano is imaginative but also pitiful and comical and Stefán gets this well across to the audience. Nanna Kristín Magnúsdóttir played the lead role in the role of the romantic Roxana, who discovers far too late that she has directed her love at the wrong man. What she sees in Christian, who is rather colorless and dull in the treatment of Rúnar Freyr Gíslason, is actually difficult for me to understand, but that is a different story.

He has the wits - She has two very different suitors - He has the looks Stefán Karl in the role of Cyrano - Nanna Kristín Magnúsdótti in the role of Roxana - Rúnar Freyr Gíslason in the role of Christian (Photos credited to Hari)

Other actors include Sigurður Sigurjónsson who created a fun-loving type for Ragueneau the master baker, Linda Ásgeirsdóttir who made a considerable assessment of the role of the maid of Roxana and Pálmi Gestsson who played the jealous and vengeful Antoine de Guiche. Other actors were in many roles and all had their good runs. The group scenes were particularly well executed and it is safe to say that Hilmar Jónsson did well in this first project at the National Theater. It is again a question of what message this romantic love story has for us, but perhaps the message that appearance is not all necessary and is a reminder of the age of youth and beauty worship.

Halldóra Friðjónsdóttir

The National Theater performs on the big stage: Cyrano from Bergerac by Edmond Rostand. Translation: Kristján Árnason. Music: Hjálmar H. Ragnarsson. Music performance: Rússíbanar. Fencing: Seppi Kumpulainen. Lighting: Björn Bergsteinn Guðmundsson. Costumes: Þórunn María Jónsdóttir. Casting: Finnur Arnar Arnarsson. Directed by: Hilmar Jónsson.

Upcoming to DV

The man behind the nose

in Helgarblaði DV tomorrow is a detailed interview with Stefán Karl Stefánsson who plays the large nosed Cyrano de Bergerac in the National Theater's Christmas play. Stefán has become one of the nation's most popular actors in a surprisingly short time and shares with readers his views and experiences of love. The paper also includes an interview with Árni Sigfússon about his new projects in the field of politics, but he will probably be the next mayor of Reykjanesbær. Furthermore, the year that is passing is discussed in detail and its various events are recounted in words and pictures, fun and real.

(Note: you can read that interview here)