Hringrás – a glimpse into Landsbankinn’s art collection
Is individualistic creation possible without outside influence? Creative processes are necessarily a product of conscious or unconscious inspiration, a cycle of influence. We look to the past, to our peers and contemporaries, we admire and ponder, we create, and the cycle continues. This is inherent to artistic creation - to adapt, evolve, and birth something new.
Hringrás presents work by over 20 artists: Anna Líndal, Arngunnur Ýr, Ásgrímur Jónsson, Dieter Roth, Edda Jónsdóttir, Eggert Pétursson, Erró, Gunnar Örn Gunnarsson, Gunnlaugur Scheving, Jóhann Briem, Jóhannes S. Kjarval, Karl Kvaran, Kristján Davíðsson, Nína Tryggvadóttir, Ragnheiður Jónsdóttir, Richard Serra, Róska, Sigurður Árni Sigurðsson, Snorri Arinbjarnar, Svavar Guðnason, Valtýr Pétursson and Þorvaldur Skúlason.
The Landsbankinn art collection is a seminal one, consisting of classic, iconographic works of older generations, as well as a strong contemporary collection ranging between painting, photography, sculpture, and mixed media works. To present these works to the public is to give the viewer a glimpse into the breadth of Icelandic art history, as well as that of several international artists whose work was influenced by Iceland.
The exhibition marks an important milestone in the history of the Bank itself; the exhibition serves as a farewell to its old headquarters at Austurstræti 11 before the Bank moves to a new building at Reykjastræti 6.
Hringrás is the third exhibition of work from the Bank’s collection since 2020. The first of the three was an exhibition of works by Jóhannes S. Kjarval and, in late 2021, the Bank opened an exhibition of Icelandic abstract art. The exhibition will be open until the branch at Austurstræti 11 closes and moves to the Bank’s new headquarters at Reykjastræti 6, currently scheduled to take place in September.
