90 years of Erró

On July 19th Erró was celebrated as it was his 90th birthday. Many of you might not be aware, but Erró is one of the few Icelandic artists who has gained international recognition for his craft. I am happy that Aztiq is one of the supporters of his current exhibition in partnership with other stakeholders.

The exhibition, “The Power of Images”,?opened on April 9th and will be open till September 29th. It is a comprehensive overview of his colourful career, during which he has experimented with various media in his visual arts. This overview explores everything from performances, video works, graphics, multiples, and collages, to larger works in public spaces and paintings of all scales. It is his courage to try, his undeniable talent, and versatile forms of expression that have helped earn his place in the art history of Europe. The exhibition?The Power of Images?reflects Erró’s remarkable career and is largely a collection based on the artist's donation of his works to the City of Reykjavík. In 1989 the City of Reykjavík accepted a large collection of around 2000 works by Erró.

The collection has grown over the past years, with it now being comprised of nearly 4000 works. The Erró Collection can be visited at Hafnarhús, the Reykjavík Art Museum, and is the most extensive exhibition of any artist's works in Iceland. Erró finds inspiration in world themes such as globalization, and the continuous flow of images and information. He developed almost storytelling pieces of consumer-driven society and spins on world politics, provoking thought amongst his audiences. Erró challenges cultural stereotypes and hierarchies, drawing the past into the present, as well as comparing fiction and reality. He is known as Erró, but was born Guemundur Guemundsson in 1932 in ólafsvík, Iceland. He had established himself as one of the most prominent figures of the European avant-garde art scene in the 1960s, not only due to his narrative collage paintings but also with the Happenings movement and experimental cinema. As Reykjavík Art Museum rightly states “Although his work is often, rightly, attached to artistic groups like Surrealism, Narrative Figuration or Pop art, it cannot be reduced to any one of them.” This powerful exhibition will travel to Denmark and open in ARos Museum in Aarhus in April 2023. To further include the public in the celebration of this national treasure, a public transportation bus has been decorated in his artwork, bringing his creations to the streets of Reykjavík. I hope as many of you as possible can see this incredible collection and reflect on the foreshadowing he was able to create.

What an incredible achievement, congratulations Erró, Reykjavík Art Museum, and the City of Reykjavík.