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Maximum minimalism: Icelandic artist Gudmundsson’s striking works at Quint, his first solo exhibition, are striking

By Robert L. Pincus, UNION-TRIBUNE ART CRITIC / BOOKS EDITOR

“I am trying to work within the field of tension that exists between nothing and something.”

— Kristjan Gudmundsson

Perhaps you have never asked yourself: Is there a sophisticated art scene in Iceland? And it would be understandable if you didn’t think there was, since its population is small and it’s remote from art centers like New York or Berlin.

The answer, though, is yes — and, in fact, Kristjan Gudmundsson, a leading Icelandic artist, has exhibited in Berlin, among other places. But it’s unlikely he would have exhibited in San Diego, if not for the interest that Mark Quint has taken in some of the work being made there.

Quint Contemporary Art is pleased to exhibit new works by Icelandic artist Kristján Gudmundsson. The exhibition, Paintings in Gray and White Frames, will be on view from February 5 through March 6, 2010. Kristján Gudmundsson’s work is defined by the essential, both in form and concept – working as he describes “within the tension that exists between nothing and something.”

Gudmundsson (born 1941) is an important and central figure of the first generation of Icelandic conceptual art – intelligent, severe, humoristic and poetic. Kristján began his career in the 1960s as a member of SÚM, a group of young artists, many of who were influenced by then-new currents in conceptual and installation art, mainly through the Fluxus movement. His seemingly meandering oeuvre consists of series of works that are surprising in their manifestations and, despite their different appearance, form an uncompromisingly consistent whole that respects the same values. He has masterfully joined Minimalism and Conceptualism.

Quint Contemporary Art is pleased to present work by four artists from Iceland. The work brings together some of the finest aspects of Iceland’s cultural heritage, in particular it’s literary and linguistic trademark. The style used by these artists is concise, clear and direct. Only the essentials have been retained. The exhibition opens with a reception on March 21st and runs through April 26, 2008.

The mid-century preoccupation with poetry and storytelling forms an important background to the development of Icelandic conceptual art—characterized as “poetic-conceptualism” within Iceland’s arts community this provides an opportunity to consider the ways in which Icelandic artists make use of Icelandic literary traditions within the context of post-conceptual practices.

Birgir Andrésson (b. 1955) The exhibition will showcase “portrait” text works by the artist. Born in the Westmann Islands in 1955, Andrésson went on to study visual arts at the Icelandic Academy of the Arts and then received a graduate degree from the Jan Van Eyck Akademie in Maastricht in Holland.