Richard Vine, managing editor of Art in America and based in New York, has visited Iceland a number of times and his magazine has featured extensive coverage of the Icelandic art scene. We asked him about Guðjón Bjarnason's recent exhibitions in New York:

"The city is full of artists who would kill to have the exhibition opportunities that Guðjón has had here. Most artists count themselves lucky to have a private show here every three or five years but he has come and opened a new one every six months. The shows themselves are also impressive and people who see them realise immediately that this is a serious artist with a significant body of work. His art is also evolving. The exploded steel sculptures attract immediate attention but, to his credit, he has also continued to evolve his painting and has now moved into video which is very exciting."

Guðjón is represented by HP Garcia Gallery on Manhattan's Eigth Avenue and the gallery holds annual solo shows of his work, accompanied by a new catalogue each time. In addition, in the last two years he has had private exhibitions at the Amelie A. Wallace Gallery at SUNY (2007) and the Newhouse Center for Contemporary Arts/Smithsonian in Snug Harbor (2006). All this has happened in the short time since his large 2006 exhibition in the Reykjavík Art Museum where his scuptures and paintings filled the three largest spaces in the museums downtown location of Hafnarhúsið. Counting collective shows, Guðjón will feature in at least six exhibitions in 2008, most of them in the New York area.

Jón Proppé