In Sigurður Guðmundsson’s works, absurdity and occasional comedy shift into a mood of melancholy and a flight from life on earth as we know it. During his career, he has expressed himself in most media, including photography, text, sculpture, painting, and performance. Guðmundsson studied at the Academie 63 in Haarlem, Netherlands and later moved to Amsterdam, introducing Icelandic art to the Amsterdam art scene through his involvement with the SÚM movement.
Sigurður Guðmundsson (b. 1942, Iceland) lives and works between Xiamen, Amsterdam, and Reykjavik. Recent exhibitions include the LÁ Art Museum, Hveragerði, Iceland (2022); Bræðslan, Djúpivogur, Iceland (2021); Reykjavik Art Museum (2019); Chinese European Art Center, Xiamen, China (2019); The Living Art Museum, Reykjavik (2018); National Gallery of Iceland (2016); Reykjavik Art Museum (2014); Galerie Van Gelder, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2013), and Moderna Museet, Malmö, Sweden (2011).
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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...Read more -
4 Parts Divided
SIGURÐUR GUÐMUNDSSON, BIRGIR ANDRÉSSON, IGNACIO URIARTE, RAGNA RÓBERTSDÓTTIR 6 Oct - 25 Nov 2016 i8 Gallery4 Parts Divided is an exhibition of four large-scale works, each of particular significance in the career of four different artists. The works are shown separately, each on view in...Read more -
SIGURÐUR GUÐMUNDSSON
Situations 14 May - 26 Jun 2010 i8 GalleryThis exhibition of works by Sigurdur Gudmundsson (b. 1942), presents a period in the artist’s career in which he focused solely on the medium of photography yet conceived his work...Read more -
Winter Show
Karin Sander, Þór Vigfússon, Ólafur Elíasson, Hreinn Friðfinnsson, Kristján Guðmundsson, Ragna Róbertsdóttir, Ragnar Kjartansson, Sigurður Guðmundsson, Lawrence Weiner and more 13 Dec 2008 - 10 Jan 2009 i8 GalleryNew works by Karin Sander, Þór Vigfússon, Kelly Jazvac, Ólafur Elíasson, Gabríela Friðriksdóttir, Hreinn Friðfinnsson, Finnbogi Pétursson, Ívar Valgarðsson, Guðrún Einarsdóttir, A.K Dolven, Kristján Guðmundsson, Hrafnkell Sigurðsson, Ragna Róbertsdóttir, Ragnar...Read more -
SIGURÐUR GUÐMUNDSSON
17 Oct - 23 Nov 2002ART, MEANING AND LOVE How can chocolates become so meaningful ? Obviously I have managed to L them and therefore admire their beauty which is one way of celebrating them...Read more -
SIGURÐUR GUÐMUNDSSON
25 Jun - 26 Jul 1998 i8 GalleryRead more
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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...Read more -
Sigurður Guðmundsson: Journey of Being
hunt kastner, Prague, Czech Republic 5 Sep - 17 Oct 2020hunt kastner is very pleased to present an exhibition of work by the Icelandic artist Sigurður Guðmundsson, organized in cooperation with i8 gallery in Reykjavik...Read more -
Sigurður Guðmundsson: Intimacy and Sculpture
Reykjavik Art Museum, Iceland 19 Jan - 31 Mar 2019Sigurður Guðmundsson (b. 1942) studied in Iceland in 1960-63 and then moved to Holland for further studies. He lives and works in Reykjavík, China and...Read more -
Sigurður Guðmundsson: Situations
Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art 25 Jan - 21 Apr 2003During the 1970s and 80s, Icelandic artist Sigurdur Gudmundsson made a remarkable series of photographs documenting his temporary actions and interventions in the world around...Read more
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CHART 2024
Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, Denmark 29 Aug - 1 Sep 2024i8 Gallery's presentation at Chart 2024 features artworks by established artists associated with the gallery’s history. The exhibition showcases important works from each artist’s respective...Read more -
Frieze London 2020
8 - 11 Oct 2020Read more
b. 1942 in Reykjavik
Lives and works in Xiamen, Amsterdam and Reykjavik
EDUCATION
1963-1964
Academie ’63, Haarlem, The Netherlands
1960-1963
Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts, Reykjavik
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2021
The Universe is a Poem, Bræðslan, Djúpivogur, Iceland
2020
Journey of Being, hunt kastner, Prague, Czech Republic
2019
Sculptural Poems, Galleri Andersson/Sandström, Stockholm, Sweden
Skúlptúr of nánd / Intimacy and Sculpture, The Reykjavik Art Museum - Ásmundarsafn, Reykjavik, Iceland
Eight Poems, CEAC / Chinese European Art Center, Xiamen, China
2017
Sigurður Guðmundsson, Arion Banki (Headquarters), Reykjavík, Iceland
2016
4 Parts Divided, i8 Gallery, Reykjavík, Iceland
2015
Untitled Meanings, Levant Art Gallery, Shanghai, China
2013
Sigurdur Gudmundsson, Galerie Van Gelder, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2012
Petite Retro, Galerie Martine et Thibault de la Châtre, France
Situations, Museum Sønderjylland, Tønder, Denmark
Untitled Music, Chinese European Art Center, Xiamen City, China
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025
In the Undergrowth, Ars Longa, Djúpivogur
2024
Looking Inward, Looking Outward: 140 years of the National Gallery of Iceland, The National Gallery of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland
2023
hvað var - hvað er - hvað verður? ARS LONGA, Djúpivogur, Iceland
2022
Staged Moments, National Gallery of Iceland, Reykjavik
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
2019
Nordic Impressions - Contemporary Art from Åland, Denmark, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway & Sweden, ASF + Scandinavia House, New York, USA
Eccentric Abstraction, Moderne Museet, Stockholm, Sweden
Mind the Gap, Meinblau Projektraum, Berlin, Germany
2018
Pressure of the Deep, Nýlistasafnið - The Living Art Museum, Reykjavik, Iceland
From Iceland/Frá Íslandi, KEG-Expo gallery, Schijndel, Netherlands
2017
The Transported Man, Eli and Adythe Broad Art Museum at MSU, Michigan, USA
Rolling Snowball / 9, Djúpivogur, Iceland
2016
Behold the Man – 100 years, 100 faces, Museum de Fundatie, Zwolle, Holland
TEXT, National Gallery of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
Lightpaint, National Gallery of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
I Prefer Life (From the Reydan Weiss Collection), Weserburg Museum für modern Kunst, Bremen, Germany
2015
My first summer in the Sierra – Works from the Centre national des arts plastiques, Frac île-de-france - Château de Rentilly, Paris, France
2014
Pushing Reality, Grundemark Nilsson Gallery, Berlin, Germany
Absurde, vous avez dit absurde?, Les filles du calvaire, Paris, France
Your Compound View, Reykjavik Art Museum, Reykjavik, Iceland
Rolling Snowball 5, Chinese European Art Center, Djúpivogur, Iceland
SAGA (Island – Kunst and Narration), Kunsthalle Recklinghausen, Recklinghausen, Germany
Næturvarp/Video Knight, Slíjm, Reykjavik, Iceland
2013
En Thulé froiduleuse, aspects de la scène artistique islandaise contemporaine at the Maison d'Art Bernard Anthonioz, Nogent-sur-Marne, France
Drawing is Thinking, Thinking is Moving, Chinese European Art Center, Xiamen City, China
2012
Hangman´s Rock – The Delirium of Vision, Reykjavík Art Museum - Kjarvalsstaðir, Reykjavík, Iceland
The Imminence of Poetics, Thirtieth Bienal de São Paulo, Brazil
Nautn og notagildi, Listasafn Árnesinga, Hveragerdi, Iceland
Fragments of Unspoken Thoughts, Galerija Jakopič, Lubljana, Slovenia
Ends of the Earth – Land Art to 1974, Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany
Ends of the Earth – Land Art to 1974, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, USA
Rolling Snowball 3, Redtory Art & Design Factory, Guangzhou, China
Minning um Myndlist, ASÍ Art Museum, Reykjavik, Iceland
AWARDS
1989
Hendrik-Steffens Prize, Stiftung F.V.S. zu Hamburg, Germany
1987-1988
DAAD grant, Berlin
1978-1986
Teacher at the Academie voor Kunst en Industrie, Enschede, The Netherlands
1985
Prince Eugen medal, Sweden
1978
Co-Founder of The Living Art Museum, Reykjavik
1972
Co-Founder of In-Out Center, Amsterdam
1970-1971
Ateliers '63, Haarlem, The Netherlands
1969
Co-Founder of Gallerí Súm, Reykjavik