The prestigious and well-funded Carnegie Art Award exhibition will open at Iceland’s National Gallery in Reykjavík in January. For Icelandic artists and audiences, this year’s exhibition marks a special occasion as an Icelandic artist, Kristján Guðmundsson, has taken first prize in the competition – the first Icelander to do so in the decade-long history of the awards. The jury praised Kristján’s contribution:

“Kristján Guðmundsson has been impressively consistent in his explorations over more than four decades of the terms and foundations of drawing and painting, and how time and dimensions, cause and effect, can be visualised. His Black and White Paintings in Grey and White Frames consist of black and white monochrome paintings that have been placed in custom made grey and white metal frames. A sound-insulating material has again been placed behind the painted canvases, with the effect that the works attain a synaesthetic quality, absorbing the surrounding noise. In these sound-absorbing paintings, he has characteristically, and with a shrewd wink at minimalism, once again merged material and idea into aesthetic objects replete with meaning.”

The exhibition will be formally opened by Iceland’s prime minister, Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir.

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