Hreinn Friðfinnsson

Contributions, 2011
mixed media, glass hands

HREINN FRIDFINNSSON is a key figure in Icelandic conceptual art whose work is characterised by diverse forms of expression, clear thinking, humour and simple presentation. Friðfinnsson’s art is both pure – lucidly thought out, scant and even mundane in its themes – as well as lyrical. It is able to evoke strong feelings of wonder, recognition and communality. He knows what kinds of experience, knowledge and memories are shared by people and how feeling can be crystallized in the experience of viewing. Even his smallest works are in some way more significant than their scale – each one of them contains a big idea or emotion, or both.

Hreinn Friðfinnsson (b. 1943, Iceland) is a founding member of the 1960s Icelandic artist collective SÚM, which had a decisive influence on the emergence of avantgarde art in Iceland. Friðfinnsson lives and works in Amsterdam. He has exhibited extensively, including at Guggenheim Museum in New York, Centre Pompidou in Paris, Serpentine Gallery in London, Reykjavik Art Museum, Malmö Art Gallery, Sao Paulo Biennal, Centre d’Art Contemporain Geneva, MOAD – Museum of Art and Design in Miami, and KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin.

L=Iω=L0 A Portrait of a Sculptor as a
Sculpture (I), 2014
HD video
50 minutes
Edition of 5

Image: Courtesy if i8

Ma=mg-ky A Portrait of a Sculptor as a
Sculpture (Ill), 2014
HD video
01:04 min
Edition of 5

Image: Courtesy if i8

Tinkering (to Mondrian), 2011
photograph diptych
51,7 x 51,7 cm

installation view

Recent Works
8.9.–2.10.2011

Tinkering (to Mondrian), 2011
photograph diptych
51,7 x 51,7 cm

One of Four Corners of Infinity, 2010-11
painted mdf

BioCVExhibitions

Exhibitions

Bio

HREINN FRIDFINNSSON (b.1943 in Iceland) is one of the leading classics of Icelandic conceptual art and Icelandic conceptual art is a concept in its own right.

Within a few decades Icelandic artists – of whom there are far too many good ones in relation to the population of Iceland – have developed it into a genre in its own right. In addition to questions undermining conventional thinking and seeing and the reformulation and rearrangement of the categories of seeing and experiencing which are all characteristic of conceptual art, Icelandic conceptual art is also marked by an extremely refined and usually meagre form: severity and lyricism.

Hreinn Friðfinnsson is one of the leading classics of Icelandic conceptual art. Another Icelandic artist, Sigurdur Gudmundsson, has, with due cause, remarked: “Hreinn Friðfinnsson’s art is pure poetry.” It is both pure – lucidly thought out, scant and even mundane in its themes – as well as lyrical. It is able to evoke strong feelings of wonder, recognition and communality.

In terms of form, Hreinn Friðfinnsson’s work can be almost anything: a photograph of a fairy cathedral in Iceland, the mood of an evening or a quasi-scientific experiment with beauty as its objective. A pencil tracing through paper of the forms of the rock of Mont Sainte-Victoire, a three-dimensional sculptural illusion based on reflection, or an installation of pieces of glass, giving corporeal form to snow, rain or the feeling of tears. Friðfinnsson investigates ways of seeing, feeling and understanding. He knows what kinds of experience, knowledge and memories are shared by people and how feeling can be crystallized in the experience of viewing. Even his smallest works are in some way more significant than their scale – each one of them contains a big idea or emotion, or both.

CV

download as pdf

H R E I N N  F R I D F I N N S S O N

Born 1943 in Dalir, Iceland
Lives and works in Amsterdam

EDUCATION
1958–60 Studies at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts, Reykjavík

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

  • 2022
    • Conduct 10, i8 Gallery, Reykjavik
    • To Light, Shadow and Dust, Galerie Nordenhanke, Berlin
    • By the Waterfall, EEWERK, Amsterdam
  • 2021
    • For the Time Being, Museum of Modern Art and Design, Miami, Florida
      One Thing and Another, and Then Some More, Galería Elba Benitez, Madrid
  • 2020
    • Midnight Jump, Rozenstraat – a rose is a rose is a rose, Amsterdam
    • A Group of Pieces, Galerie Nordenhanke, Stockholm
    • Dark, Light and Green, The Icelandic Folk and Outsider Art Museum, Svalbarsströnd
  • 2019
    • To Catch a Fish with a Song, Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève, Geneve
    • Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin
    • Image (of) Silence, National Gallery Prague, Prague
  • 2018
    • Hulduklettur, Galerie Nordenhake, Berlin
  • 2015
    • Between What and What Not, Galerie Meessen De Clercq, Brussels
    • Echoes and Reflections, Galerie Nordenhake, Stockholm
    • I Collected Personal Secrets, Kunstverein, Amsterdam, curator Krist Gruijthuijsen
  • 2014
    • A Portrait of a Sculptor as a Sculpture, with a Sculpture by the Sculptor, i8 Gallery, Reykjavík
    • Æ ofaní æ / Time and Time Again, The Living Art Museum, Reykjavík
  • 2013
    • Around and About, Galeria Elba Benitez, Madrid
    • Galerie Nordenhake, Berlin
    • Untitled, Meessen de Clercq, Brussels
  • 2012
    • House, Hafnarborg, the Hafnarfjörður Centre of Culture and Fine Art
  • 2011
    • Galerie Anhava, Helsinki
  • 2010
    • i8 Gallery, Reykjavik
  • 2009
    • Galería Elba Benitez, Madrid
    • Galerie Nordenhake, Stockholm
    • Gallery Meessen De Clercq, Brussels
  • 2008
    • Malmö Konsthall
    • Bergen Konsthall
  • 2007
    • Reykjavik Art Museum, Hafnarhus, Reykjavik
    • Serpentine Gallery, London
  • 2006
    • Sudsudvestur, Keflavik
  • 2006
    • Claudin Papillon Galerie, Paris
  • 2005
    • Reykjavik Arts Festival, Gallery Slunkaríki, Ísafjordur
  • 2004
    • Galerie Nordenhake, Berlin
  • 2003
    • Safn Collection, Reykjavik
    • Gallery i8, Reykjavík
  • 2002
    • Galerie Papillon-Fiat, Paris
    • Domaine de Kerguéhennec, Centre d´art contemporain, Bignan
    • Kyoto Art Center, Kyoto
  • 2001
    • E 541 Art House, Iceland
    • Ljósaklif, Hafnarfjördur
  • 2000
    • Galerie Papillon-Fiat, Paris
    • Hämeenlinnan Art Museum
    • Ars Fennica, Waïnö Aaltonen Museum of Art, Turku, Finland
  • 1999
    • Gallery Alexandra Von Scholz, Berlin
    • Gallery i8, Reykjavik
    • Gallerie Anhava, Helsinski
    • Edition Camomille, Brussels
  • 1998
    • Collection, Another Place, Amsterdam
    • Gallery Fiskurinn, Reykjavik
    • Gallery 20m2, Reykjavik
  • 1997
    • Gallery Corridor, Reykjavik
    • Galerie Claudine Papillon, Paris
  • 1996
    • Galerie Nordenhake, Stockolm
    • Gallery Sólon Islandus, Reykjavik
    • Gallery Alexandra von Scholz, Berlin
  • 1995
    • Gallery Riis, Oslo
    • Gallery i8, Reykjavik
    • Galerie Nordenhake, Stockholm
  • 1994
    • Ultima Thule, Amserdam
    • The Living Art Museum, Reykjavik
    • Gallery Riis, Oslo
    • Gallerie Anhava, Helsinki
    • Galerie Camille von Scholz, Bruxelles
    • Galerie Claudine Papillon, Paris
  • 1993
    • National Gallery, Reykjavik
    • Venice Biennale, Icelandic Pavillon
  • 1992
    • ICA, Amsterdam, Rhythms in Space
    • Galerie Nordenhake, Stockholm
  • 1991
    • Gallery Van Gelder, Amsterdam
  • 1990
    • Reykjavik Arts Festival, Gallery II, Reykjavik
    • Galerie Claudine Papillon, Paris
  • 1989
    • Gallery Slunkaríki, Isafjördur, Iceland
    • Galerie Nordenhake, Stockholm
  • 1988
    • Kunstnerens Hus, Oslo
    • Nordic Arts Center, Gallery Augusta, Helsinki
  • 1987
    • Le Magasin/Centre National d’Art Contemporain, Grenoble
    • Gallery Suzanne Biederberg, Amsterdam
    • Forum, Galerie Bama, Zürich, Switzerland
  • 1986
    • Galerie Bama, Paris
  • 1985
    • Gallery Suzanne Biederberg, Amsterdam
  • 1984
    • Galerie Bama, Paris
  • 1979
    • Galerie Bama, Paris
    • Gallery Helen Van der Meij, Amsterdam
  • 1977
    • Seriaal, Amsterdam
    • Gallery Sudurgata 7, Reykjavik
  • 1976
    • Galerie Elsa Von Honolulu, Gent
    • Galerie Gaëtan, Geneve
  • 1974
    • Gallery SÚM, Reykjavik
  • 1973
    • In-Out Center, Amsterdam
    • Gallery Fignal, Amsterdam
  • 1972
    • In-Out Center, Amsterdam
  • 1971
    • Gallery Balderich, Mönchengladbach
    • Gallery Fignal, Haarlem, Netherlands
    • Gallery 845, Amsterdam

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

  • 2023
    • Light Departures, Galerie Anhava, Helsinki
  • 2022
    • Nr 4 Umhverfing, Academy of the sense, Westfjords
    • A Family Story, MAC Lyon, Lyon
  • 2021
    • Abrakadabra, Reykjavik Art Museum, Reykjavik
  • 2020
    • For Eyes That Listen, After, Istanbul
  • 2019
    • 30 ans pile! Galerie Papillon, Paris
    • Outline, Gerarsafn – Kopavogur Art Museum, Kopavogur
  • 2018
    • Speak of Money and Love, Galerie Papillon, Paris
    • Honey, I rearranged the Collection, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg
    • A furnace in Mareille, Cirva, Fondazione Querini Stampalia, Venice
    • After Finitude, a selection by Elena Damiani, Galerie Nordenhake, Mexico City
  • 2017
    • Skulptur Projekte Münster, Munster curated by Kasper König
    • Lightpaint, National Gallery of Iceland, Reykjavik
    • Many. More. Most., Nordiska Akvarellmuseet, Skärhamn, Sweden
    • Once we were next-door neighbours with John Zurier, ASÍ Art Museum, Reykjavik
    • Happy People, The Living Art Museum, Reykjavik, Iceland
  • 2016
    • 198920072016, Galerie Papillon, Paris
    • After Gerolama Cardano’s suspense, Galerie van Gelder, Amsterdam
    • Frequent Long Walks, Hannah Barry Gallery, London
  • 2015
    • Gathered Fates, Galerie Nordenhake, Berlin
    • My first Summer in the Sierra – Works from the Centre National des Arts
    • Plastiques, FRAC Ile-de-France / Le Plateau, Paris
    • Galería Elba Benítez, Madrid
    • A.N.T.H.R.O.P.O.C.E.N.E., Meessen De Clercq, Brussels
    • Nouvel accrochage, Claudine and MarionPapillon, Paris
    • Narrativas monumentales. Figuras, paisajes y rituales, MAC / Museo de Arte
    • Contemporáneo Gas Natural Fenosa, A Coruña
  • 2014
    • Pushing Reality, Grundemark Nilsson Gallery, Berlin
    • Solides Fragiles, Mudam Luxembourg, Luxembourg
    • Grazer Kunstverein, Graz
    • Saint Jerome, Meessen de Clercq, Brussels
    • DRAWN, Galerie Nordenhake, Berlin
  • 2013
    • Works on Paper, i8 Gallery, Reykjavik
    • Otremare, Gallery Vistamare, Pescara
  • 2012
    • Ends of the Earth: Land Art to 1974, MOCA, The Geffen Contemporary, Los Angeles
    • Hangman’s Rock – The Delirium of Vision, Kjarvalsstaðir, Reykjavík
    • The Imminence of Poetics, 30th São Paulo Biennial, Sao Paulo
    • Performing Abstraction, Galeria Luciana Brito, Sao Paulo
    • Ends of the Earth – Land Art to 1974, MOCA Los Angeles, USA; Haus der Kunst, Munich
    • Disserting Nature, Quint Contemporary Art, La Jolla, CA
    • Explorateurs, Musée de l’Abbaye Sainte-Croix des Sables d’Olonne, Les Sable
      d’Olonne
  • 2012
    • São Paulo Biennial – The Imminence of Poetics, São Paulo
  • 2011
    • Perspectives – On the Borders of Art and Philosophy, Reykjavik Art Museum, Hafnarhus
  • 2010
    • Exhibition, Exhibition, Castello di Rivoli Museum of Contemporary Art, Turin
    • Cornered Rooms, Waterside Projects, London
  • 2009
    • Volcano Lovers – From Iceland and Japan, Ise Cultural Foundation, New York
    • Quiet Revolution, Hayward Touring Curatorial Open 2009
  • 2008
    • Icelandic Art, Quint Contemporary Art, San Diego
    • Dreams of the Sublime and Nowhere, Reykjavik Art Museum, Reykjavik
  • 2007
    • Ad mynda ord, Hoffmannsgallery, Reykjavik
    • Drawing A Tiger, Galerie Nordenhake, Berlin
    • O-Nattura Alas Nature, National Gallery of Iceland, Reykjavik
  • 2006
    • Northern Images, Hoffmannsgallery, Reykjavik
    • EMMA (opening exhibition), Espoo
    • Chers Amis, Domaine de Kerguéhennec
    • Wintery Cold, Gallery Van Gelder, Amsterdam
  • 2005
    • Polyfoni, Suomenlinna, Helsinki
    • Tivoli, Hveragerdi
    • Horizontal Memories (Water Event), Astrup Fearnley Museum, Oslo
  • 2004
    • Do it, e flux
    • Out of Place, Galerie Nordenhake, Berlin
    • Ars Fennica, Aboa Vetus Ars Nova, Turku
    • Ars Fennica, Russian State Museum, St. Petersburg
    • Where Do We Go From Here, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York
    • Handlungsanweisung, Kunsthalle Wien
    • Les mémes et méme quelques autres, Galerie Claudine Papillon, Paris
    • Éblouissement, Jeu de Paume, Paris
  • 2001
    • Somewhere Of the Rainbow, FRAC Haute Normandie, France
  • 2000
    • Azerty, un avécédaire autour des collections du FRAC Limousin”, Centre
      Pompidou, Paris
    • Museum of Earth, Varsaw
    • 64°N – 20° V, Galerie Nordenhake, Stockholm
    • In the Mirror of Space & Time, Ásmundarsalur, Reykjavik
    • Árátta, Listasafn Kópavogs
    • Interplay, Contemporary Art Museum, Oslo
    • Amateur / Eldsjäl, Goteburg Art Museum, Gothenburg
    • Norden, Kunsthalle, Vienna
    • Carnegie Art Award 2000, Helsinki, Oslo, Goteborg, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Reykjavik
  • 1999
    • Natures Mortes, Galerie Papillon-Fiat, Paris
    • Museum of Foreign Art, Riga
    • Dularfulli gardurinn, Ásmundarsalur, Reykjavik
    • 00, Gallery Van Gelder, Amsterdam
  • 1998
    • Look Me in the Eyes, Gallery Van Gelder, Amsterdam
    • Losse werken, rake klappen, Gallery van Gelder, Amsterdam
  • 1997
    • Tekeningen, Gallery Maria Chailloux, Amsterdam
    • De Verbouwing, de Verhuizing & de Verandering, Gallery Van Gelder, Amsterdam
  • 1996
    • Maisons-Cerveaux, La Ferme du Buisson, Noisiel
    • Dix ans de Création à Marseille, CIRVA, Musée de la Charité, Marseille
    • Landscape, Reykjavik Municipal Art Museum, Reykjavik
  • 1995
    • Pas pour la galerie, Galerie Camille Von Scholz, Bruxelles
    • Tekeningen & tekeningen, Gallery Van Gelder, Amsterdam
    • Collection, FRAC Limousin, Limoges
    • Maisons-Cerveaux, FRAC Champagne-Ardenne, Reims
  • 1994
    • Wanås 94, Wanås
  • 1993
    • Reconsidered images, Gallery Van Gelder, Amsterdam
    • Edities & unica, Gallery Van Gelder, Amsterdam
  • 1992
    • Artscape Nordland, Hattfjelldal
    • Il paesaggio Culturale, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome
    • Ijsland – Island, Zeeuws Museum, Middelburg
    • Gallery Van der Berge, Goes
  • 1991
    • Ruhrfestspiele, Recklinghausen
    • They See the Light, Gallery van Gelder, Amsterdam
    • Galerie Claudine Papillon, Paris
    • Kunst Europa 1991 – Island, Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne
    • Six Logos Around The Carpet, Gallery Van Gelder, Amsterdam
  • 1990
    • Nordic Art Center, Helsinki
    • The Nordic ’60s, Upheaval and Confrontation, National Gallery, Reykjavik;
    • The End of the Century, The Museum for Crafts, Moscow
    • Achilles de kwetsbare plek, Kasteel Groenevald, Baarn
    • New Nordic Art, The Central House of Artists, Moscow
    • Ruhrfestspiele, European Workshop, Kunsthalle Recklinghausen
    • Utopies, Grand Palais, Paris
  • 1989
    • Many Pearls for a Line, Gallery Van Gelder, Amsterdam
    • Utopies 89 – L’Europe des Créateurs, Grand Palais, Paris
    • Gallery Suzanne Biederberg, Amsterdam
    • Borealis 4, Nordic Art Center, Helsinki; Louisiana, Humlebaek
    • SÚM, 1965-1972, Reykjavik Municipal Art Museum, Reykjavik
    • Galerie Claudine Papillon, Paris
  • 1988
    • Nýlistasafnid 10 ára, The Living Art Museum, Reykjavik
    • Aldarspegill, National Gallery, Reykjavik
  • 1986
    • Nordanad, Malmö Konsthall, Malmö
    • Nordanad, Musée des arts décoratifs, Paris
  • 1984
    • 10 gestir á Listahátíd, Reykjavik Municipal Art Museum, Reykjavik
  • 1983
    • ARS ’83, Ateneum Art Museum, Helsinki
  • 1982
    • The Port of History Museum, Philadelphia, Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles
    • Sleeping Beauty – Art Now, Scandinavia Today, Guggenheim Museum, New York
    • Einkaheimar – Personal Worlds, the Living Art Museum, Reykjavik
  • 1981
    • Aspects de l’art déaujourd’hui 1970-80, Musée d’Art et d’Histoire, Genève
  • 1978
    • Personal Worlds – Reality as Metaphor, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
    • Elva moderna isländska konstnärer, Malmö Konsthall, Malmö
  • 1977
    • Ça va?, Ça va?, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
  • 1975
    • Galerie Waalkens, Finsterwolde, Holland Kunstmuseum, Lucerne
  • 1974
    • Driemans-tentoonstelling, Gallerie t’Hoogt, Utrecht
    • H20, St. Nicolaj Kirke, Copenhagen
    • Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem
  • 1973
    • 8e Biennale de Paris, Musée d’art moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris
  • 1972
    • Communications, Gallery Inhibodress, Sydney
    • SÚM á Listahátid í Reykjavik 1972, Gallery SÚM
  • 1971
    • SÚM IV, Museum Fodor, Amsterdam
  • 1969
    • SÚM III, Gallery SUM, Reykjavik
  • 1967
    • UM ’67, Laugardalshöll, Reykjavik
  • 1966
    • Den Nordiske Ungdomsbiennale for Bildende Kunst, Louisiana, Humlebaek
  • 1965
    • SÚM I, Ásmundarsalur, Reykjavik

PUBLIC WORKS
2007 Domaine de Kerguéhennec, Sculpture Park, Bignan
2006 Isafjordur Collage
2004 Reykjavik Energy
1993 Artscape Nordland, Hattfjelldal
1982 Amsterdam City Hall

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
FNAC (Fonds national d´art contemporain), Puteaux
FRAC (Fonds régional d´art contemporain), Bourgogne, Dijon
FRAC Limousin, Limoges
FRAC Pays de la Loire, Carquefou
Liectensteinische Staatliche Kunstsamlung, Vaduz, Liechtenstein
ASÍ Art Museum, Reykjavík
Reykjavik Art Museum
The Living Art Museum, Reykjavík
Malmö Konsthall, Malmö
Malmö Konstmuseum, Malmö
Moderna Museet, Stockholm
Musée national d´art moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris
Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki
National Gallery, Reykjavík
Netherlands Government Collections, The Hague
Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage (ICN), Amsterdam
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
Vehbi Koç Foundation, Istanbul