Overview
Hreinn Friðfinnsson (b. 1943, d. 2024) born in Bær Dölum, Iceland, lived and worked in Amsterdam, The Netherlands from 1971. He graduated from the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts in Reykjavik in 1958 and co-founded the influential Icelandic artist group SÚM in 1969. Friðfinnsson has exhibited widely internationally, including major solo shows at the Malmö Konsthall in Malmö, Sweden (1978 and 2008); Le Magasin-Centre national d’art contemporain in Grenoble, France (1987); the National Gallery in Reykjavik, Iceland (1993); the Kyoto Art Center, Japan (2002); the Domaine de Kerguéhennec in Bignan, France (2002); the Serpentine Gallery, London, United Kingdom (2007); the Centre d’art Contemporain in Geneva, Switzerland (2010); the KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin, Germany (2019); and the Museum of Art and Design (MOAD) at Miami Dade College in Miami, Florida, United States (2021-2022). In 1993, Friðfinnsson represented Iceland at the Venice Biennale, and in 2000, he received the prestigious Ars Fennica Prize.
Works
Video
Exhibitions
Public Exhibitions
Biography

b. 1943, d. 2024

Born in Dalasýsla, West Iceland

Lived and worked in Amsterdam

 

EDUCATION AND MORE

 

1965

Co-founder of Gallerí SÚM, Reykjavik, Iceland

 

1958-1960

Icelandic Academy of Arts and Crafts, Reykjavik, Iceland

 

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

 

2024

Klettur, Ásmundarsalur, Reykjavík, Iceland

 

2022

About the Day and the Ray, Meessen-De Clercq, Brussels, Belgium

Conduct 10, i8 Gallery, Reykjavik

To Light, Shadow and Dust, Galerie Nordenhake, Berlin, Germany

By the Waterfall, EENWERK, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

 

2021

For the Time Being, Museum of Modern Art and Design, Miami, USA

One Thing and Another, and Then Some More, Galería Elba Benitez, Madrid, Spain

 

2020

MIDNIGHT JUMPRozenstraat - a rose is a rose is a rose, Amsterdam, Netherland

A Group of Pieces, Galerie Nordenhake, Stockholm, Sweden
Dark, Light and Green, The Icelandic Folk and Outsider Art Museum, Svalbarðsströnd, Iceland

 

2019

To Catch a Fish with a Song: 1964–Today, Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève, Geneve, Switzerland; KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany

Moving Image Department #11 IMAGE (ofSILENCE, National Gallery Prague, Prague, Czech Republic 

 

2018
By the Ocean, Eenwerk, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

 

2017

Hulduklettur, Galerie Nordenhake, Berlin, Germany

 

2016

Gallerí Gangur / The Corridor, Reykjavik, Iceland

 

2015

I Collected Personal Secrets, Kunstverein, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Between what and what not, Meessen-De Clercq, Brussels, Belgium

Echoes and Reflections, Gallerie Nordenhake, Stockholm, Sweden

 

2014

A Portrait of a Sculptor of a Sculpture, with a Sculpture by the Sculptor, i8 Gallery, Reykjavik

Time and time again, The Living Art Museum, Reykjavik, Iceland

 

2013   

Around and About, Galeria Elba Benitez, Madrid, Spain

Hreinn Friðfinnsson, Galerie Nordenhake, Berlin, Germany

Hreinn Fridfinnsson: Untitled, Meessen de Clercq, Brussels, Belgium

 

2012

House, Hafnarborg – Center of Culture and Fine Art, Hafnafjörður, Iceland

 

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

 

2023

 Kaleidoscope: Ielandic 21st Century Art, Reykjavik Art Museum, Reykjavík, Iceland

 

2022

Nr 4 Umhverfing / No 4 Around, Academy of the sense, Westfjords, Iceland

A Family Story, MAC Lyon, Lyon, France

 

2021

Abrakadabra, Reykjavik Art Museum, Reykjavik, Iceland

 

2020
Fortieth Anniversary Exhibition of The Corridor, Gallerí Gangur / The Corridor,

Reykjavík, Iceland
For Eyes That Listen, Arter, Instanbul, Turkey

Dark, Light and Green, The Icelandic Folk and Outsider Art Museum, Svalbarðsströnd, Iceland

 

2019 

30 ans pile!, Galerie Papillon, Paris, France

Outline, Gerðarsafn - Kopavogur Art Museum, Kopavogur, Iceland

 

2018

Speak of Money and Love, Galerie Papillon, Paris, France

Honey, I Rearranged the CollectionHamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany
The Unending Gift, Meessen De Clercq, Brussels, Belgium
Una fornace a Marsiglia / A furnace in Mareille, Cirva, Fondazione Querini Stampalia, Venice, Italy
After Finitude, a selection by Elena Damiani, Galerie Nordenhake, Mexico City, Mexico

 

2017

The Unique versus Series versus the Multiple, Galerie Van Gelder, Amsterdam,

The Netherlands

Salon Hang bi-annual, Kunstverein, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Happy People, The Living Art Museum, Reykjavik, Iceland

Skulptur Projekte Münster, Münster, Germany

Many. More. Most.,  Nordiska Akvarellmuseet, Skärhamn, Sweden

Rolling Snowball /9, Djúpivogur, Iceland

 

2016

TEXT, National Gallery of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland

Cycle Music and Art Festival, Gerdarsafn Kópavogur Art Museum, Kópavogur, Iceland

Lightpaint, National Gallery of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland

Once we were next-door neighbours with John Zurier, ASÍ Art Museum, Reykjavik, Iceland

Blancs d'hiver, Galerie Papillon, Paris, France

Expanding Frontiers, Fundaccion Hippocren, Paris, France

Frequent Long Walks, Hannah Barry Gallery, London, United Kingdom

After Gerolama Cardano's suspense, Galerie van Gelder, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

198920072016, Galerie Papillon, Paris, France

 

2015

25 años, Galería Elba Benítez, Madrid, Spain

My first summer in the Sierra, Frac île-de-france - Château de Rentilly, Paris, France

Real Life, Skaftfell Art Center, Seydisfjördur, Iceland

Notions of Time, with Roman Signer, Safn, Berlin, Germany

Narrativas monumentales. Figuras, paisajes y rituales, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Gas Natural Fenosa (MAC), A Coruña, Spain

A.N.T.H.R.O.P.O.C.E.N.E., Meessen De Clercq, Brussels, Belgium

 

2014

Pushing Reality, Grundemark Nilsson Gallery, Berlin, Germany

Solides Fragiles, Mudam Luxembourg, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg

Your Compound View, Listasafn Reykjavikur/Reykjavik Art Museum, Reykjavik, Iceland

Hreinn Fridfinsson & Bruce McLean, Grazer Kunstverein, Graz, Austria

Saint Jerome, Meessen de Clercq, Brussels, Belgium

DRAWN, Galerie Nordenhake, Berlin, Germany

Do it Moscow, Garage Center for Contemporary Culture / GCCC, Moscow, Russia

 

2013

Works on Paper, i8 Gallery, Reykjavik

Otremare, Gallery Vistamare, Pescara, Italy

Mon Íle de Montmajour, Abbaye de Montmajour, Arles, France

Only To Melt, Trustingly, Without Reproach, Galerija Skuc, Ljubljana, Slovania

 

2012   

The Imminence of Poetics, 30th São Paulo Biennial, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Performing Abstraction, Galeria Luciana Brito, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Ends of the Earth – Land Art to 1974, MOCA, Los Angeles, USA;

Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany

Disserting Nature, Quint Contemporary Art, La Jolla, USA

Explorateurs, Musée de l'Abbaye Sainte-Croix des Sables d'Olonne, Les Sables d'Olonne, France

 

PERMANENT INSTALLATIONS

 

2007   

Domaine de Kerguéhennec, Sculpture Park, France

 

2006

Isafjordur Collage, Ísafjörður, Iceland

 

2004   

Reykjavik Energy, Reykjavík, Iceland

 

1993   

Artscape Nordland, Hattfjelldal, Norway

 

1982   

Amsterdam City Hall, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

 

WORKS IN PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

 

FNAC (Fonds national d´art contemporain), Puteaux, France

FRAC (Fonds régional d´art contemporain), Dijon, France

FRAC Limousin, Limoges, France

FRAC Pays de la Loire, Carquefou, France

Liechtensteinische Staatliche Kunstsammlung, Vaduz, Liechtenstein

ASI Art Museum, Reykjavík, Iceland

Reykjavik Art Museum, Reykjavík, Iceland

The Living Art Museum, Reykjavík, Iceland

Malmö Konsthall, Malmö, Sweden

Malmö Konstmuseum, Malmö, Sweden

Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden

Musée national d´art moderne - Centre Pompidou, Paris, France

Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki, Finland

National Gallery of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland

Netherlands Government Collections, The Hague, The Netherlands

Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage (ICN), Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Vehbi Koç Foundation, Istanbul, Turkey