You are warmly welcome to the opening of Dýrfinna Benita Basalan‘s exhibition Life lessons in Listval, Saturday 23rd of April from 4pm – 6pm. 

The exhibition is the graduating project of Björk Hrafnsdóttir from Curatorial Practice MA at the Icelandic University of the Arts. 

The inspiration for the exhibition was found in the classroom, old notebooks and school literature. In this exhibition Dýrfinna looks back on memories from childhood and the feeling of being stuck in the school system, daydreaming and craving freedom. Still we follow the system and wait patiently for summer, for freedom, but when school is out the harsh reality takes over that doesn’t compare to our classroom daydreams. We look back on these moments that had such a big impact on many of us. With her work Dýrfinna takes us into a dreamy memory where familiar items take on a slightly abnormal form. Dýrfinna’s ideas are manifested in paintings, drawings and sculptures in steel and wood. The viewers are participants that can mirror their own memories in these works and hopefully look at their own journey in a new light. The project has an emphasis on close collaboration between all participants and especially worth mentioning is the creative dialogue between Dýrfinna and Steinarr Ingólfsson.

Graphic design & creative collaboration: Steinarr Ingólfsson
Curator: Björk Hrafnsdóttir

 

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Björk Hrafnsdóttir (b.1993) is from Reykjavík and has a B.A. degree in Art Theory from the University of Iceland and Sorbonne IV in France. She is finishing her master’s degree in Curatorial Practice from the Icelandic University of the Arts where her focus has been on works based on artist‘s personal histories, feminist art and curatorial activism. As a curator Björk puts emphasis on intimate collaboration with artists and dialogue as a method for extracting knowledge.

Björk will have a curatorial discussion on Saturday 30th of April at 14:00.

Dýrfinna Benita Basalan (b.1992), also known as Countess Malaise, is born and raised in Iceland. In 2018 she graduated from Gerrit Rietveld Academie with a B.A. in Art and Design and has had an active artistic practice and worked across various media. In her practice she draws inspiration from different countercultures, manga, queer culture and her personal experiences as a mixed race person. Dýrfinna is one of the three members of the art group Lucky 3, along with Melanie Ubaldo and Darren Mark. Lucky 3 won the motivational award of the Icelandic Art Prize in 2022.

Steinarr Ingólfsson (b.1993) is born and raised in Reykjavík. He graduated from Gerrit Rietveld Academie with a B.A. degree in art and design in 2017. Since graduation he has worked as a graphic designer for various cultural initiatives, art groups and fashion brands. Steinarr resides in Paris where he has been working in print- and product design for the fashion house Balenciaga since 2019.

Opening hours:

Sat. 23.April: 16-18
Sun. 24. April: 12-16
Mon. 25. April: Closed
Tue. 26. April: Closed
Wed. 27.April: 12-16
Thur. 28. April: 12-16
Fri. 29.April: 12-16
Sat. 30.April: 12-16