Ingólfur Arnarsson is an Icelandic artist whose works are characterised by their simplicity, clarity, precision, and understated elegance. He studied at the Icelandic College of Art and Crafts in Reykjavik, as well as at the Jan van Eyck Academie in Maastricht, The Netherlands. Alongside his artmaking, Arnarsson has worked as a curator and Fine Arts teacher at the University of Fine Arts in Reykjavík. In 1992, he was invited for a residency by Donald Judd to work on a permanent installation at the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas, USA.
Ingólfur Arnarsson (b. 1956, Iceland) lives and works in Reykjavik. His solo shows have been held at The Reykjavik Art Museum, Iceland (2018); ASÍ Art Gallery, Reykjavik (2014); and Hafnarborg, Hafnarfjörður, Iceland (2013). His work has also been showcased in group exhibitions at the LÁ Art Museum, Hveragerði, Iceland (2022); Tbilisi History Museum and Contemporary Art, Georgia (2019); National Gallery of Iceland (2016); Living Art Museum, Reykjavik (2008); and the Drawing Center, New York, USA (2007). A new publication with text by art writer and curator Gavin Morrison tracing four significant exhibitions of Arnarsson's career was released in February 2024.
-
Sea Lava Circle: Works from the Pétur Arason & Ragna Róbertsdóttir Collection
16 Jun - 30 Jul 2022 i8 Galleryi8 Gallery is pleased to present Sea Lava Circle: Works from the Pétur Arason and Ragna Róbertsdóttir Collection, which will be on view at the gallery from 16 June to...Read more -
INGÓLFUR ARNARSSON, SACHIKO M.
13 Feb - 22 Mar 2014 i8 Galleryi8 is pleased to announce a collaborative installation by Ingólfur Arnarsson and Sachiko M. Featuring intricate drawings and delicate concrete reliefs by Arnarsson and sparse digital sound work by Sachiko...Read more -
INGÓLFUR ARNARSSON
10 Jan - 7 Feb 1996 i8 Gallery
-
Are You Glad if You Can ask Something?
LÁ Art Museum, Hveragerði, Iceland 4 Jun - 4 Sep 2022A group show featuring works by i8 artists Ingólfur Arnarson, Eggert Pétursson, Kristján Guðmundsson, and Sigurður Guðmundsson opened June 4th at Iceland's LÁ Art Museum...Read more -
Ingólfur Arnarsson: Ground Level
Reykjavik Art Museum, Iceland 3 Nov 2018 - 10 Feb 2019New works by Ingólfur Arnarsson will be presented in Gallery A in Hafnarhús - Reykjavik Art Museum. Arnarsson has been influential on the Icelandic art...Read more -
Ingólfur Arnarsson: Drawings
Harnarborg - Center for Culture and Fine Art, Hafnarfjörður, Iceland 12 Jan - 17 Feb 2013From a distance, Ingólf Arnarsson's drawings appear as almost invisible units, precisely positioned hues, which are not isolated phenomena but part of a well-thought-out installation....Read more -
Ingólfur Arnarsson
Chinati Foundation, Marfa, Texas, USA 1 Jan 1992In 1992 Icelandic artist Ingólfur Arnarsson was invited by Donald Judd to Chinati as a resident artist, where he prepared the exhibition that later became...Read more
b. 1956 in Reykjavik
Lives and works in Reykjavik
EDUCATION AND MORE
2000-2007
Professor at Iceland Academy of the Arts, Reykjavik, Iceland
1992-1997
Co-founder and co-director of “Second Floor” exhibition space, Reykjavik, Iceland (with Pétur Arason)
1983-1993
Director of Mixed Media Department of the Icelandic College of Art and Crafts
1979-1981
Jan van Eyck Academie, Maastricht, The Netherlands
1976-1979
Icelandic College of Art and Crafts, Reykjavik, Iceland
Co-founder and co-director of Gallerí Sudurgata 7, Reykjavik, Iceland
1974-1978
Reykjavík School of Art, Iceland
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2019
Ferocious Glitter (3), Gallerí Úthverfa / Outvert Art Space, Ísafjarðarbær, Iceland
2018
Jarðhæð / Ground Level, Reykjavik Art Museum - Hafnarhús, Reykjavik, Iceland
2014
Skúrinn, Reykjavik, Iceland
Sleeper, Edinburgh, Scotland
Stöpullinn, ASÍ Art Gallery, Reykjavík, Iceland
Ingólfur Arnarsson and Sachiko M, i8 Gallery, Reykjavik, Iceland
2013
Hafnarborg, Hafnarfjordur, Iceland
2012
1.h.v., Reykjavik, Iceland
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024
more overall, Irene Laub Gallery, Brussels
2022
Sea Lava Circle: Works from the Pétur Arason and Ragna Róbertsdóttir Collection, i8 Gallery, Reykjavik
Are you glad if you can ask something?, LÁ Art Museum, Hveragerði, Iceland
2021
Góðir Gestir - group show with Icelandic artists, Cecilia Hillström Gallery, Sweden
2020
Structure and order: Draft of Contemporary Art History in Iceland (IV), Reykjavik Art museum. Iceland
2019
Nasasjón, Tbilisi History Museum and Contemporary Art Space Batumi, Georgia
2017
Nasasjón, Städtische Galerie Speyer, Speyer, Germany
Drawings, Galerie Kim Behm, Frankfurt, Germany
OPNUN, Kling and Bang, Reykjavik, Iceland
2016
Eggert Pétursson & Ingólfur Arnarsson, Gallerí Gestur, Reykjavik, Iceland
2015
Thurídur Rós Sigurthórsdóttir / Ingólfur Arnarsson, Skaftfell, Seydisfjördur, Iceland
2014
Andreas Karl Schulze / Ingólfur Arnarsson, Galerie Kim Behm, Frankfurt, Germany
Nasasýn, Peacock Visual Arts, Aberdeen, Scotland
Your Compound View, Listasafn Reykjavikur, Reykjavik, Iceland
2011
Faster and Slower Lines – From the Collection of Pétur Arason and Ragna Róbertsdóttir, Reykjavík Art Museum – Hafnarhús, Reykjavik, Iceland
Nasasynir, Olschewski & Behm, Frankfurt, Germany
2010
Iceland Hits Donube, Kunsthalle Krems, Donau festival, Austria
Straumur Burdarás, Akureyri Art Museum, Iceland
COLLECTIONS
National Gallery of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
Reykjavik Municipal Art Museum, Reykjavik, Iceland
Living Art Museum, Reykjavik, Iceland
University of Iceland Art Collection
Hafnarborg, The Hafnarfjordur Centre of Culture and Fine Art, Iceland
Art Museum of Isafjordur, Iceland
Museum Moderner Kunst, Landkreis Cuxhaven, Germany
Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach, Germany
The Chinati Foundation, Marfa, Texas, USA
Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany
Maxine and Stuart Frankel Foundation for Art, Michigan, USA
Safn, Reykjavík, Iceland