Within the world of Georg Guðni, it is hard to know where your mind stops, and where the actual painting begins. In an utterly elegant and yet nude and non-negotiable way, Guðni invites the viewer to experience the otherworldly aspect of the Icelandic landscape. His paintings filled with air and space are a creation of his relentless studies of Icelandic nature. Since childhood he was fascinated by the land, the horizon, and the mountains. And as he started to paint the mountains, very geometrically in the early works, he became increasingly interested in what lay in between the mountains, in the valleys. Guðni realized the valleys were no voids, but rather vessels filled with air, space and mind. By reducing impressions and filling the canvas with the air, the light and by only the sensation of a landscape, Guðni’s paintings became a projection surface for every mind’s wandering thought. Thus, he created a direct bond between the viewer and the artwork itself.
Georg Guðni made his debut in the 1980’s when the art scene was filled with wild and bright–colored Neo–expressionist painting. Guðni’s abstractions of the Iceland nature stood in stark contrast as his paintings were silent and dwelled in a very solemn scale of blues, greys and greens. They did not scream of attention, rather they waited silently for the viewer to approach. Nevertheless, his first solo exhibition at the Living Art Museum in Reykjavik in 1985 attracted much attention as his paintings presented a new formal and conceptual view of landscape painting. His more formal approach inspired many and he received several awards for his artistic work.
GEORG GUÐNI (1961–2011) received his artistic education at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts in Reykjavik (1980–1985), and later at the Jan van Eyck Academie in Maastricht, The Netherlands (1985–1987). Guðni’s work has been exhibited at National Gallery of Iceland, Reykjavik; Reykjavik Art Museum; Hverfisgalleri; National Gallery of Faroe Islands, Torshavn; Trondheim Art Museum; Helsinki Art Museum; Track 16 Gallery, Los Angeles; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.; Espace Gustave Fayet, Sérignan; Victoria Miro Warehouse, London; Stenersenmuseet, Oslo; Sophienholm, Copenhagen; Nikolaj Kunsthal, Copenhagen; Palazzo Espoizioni, Rome; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; Röda Sten Konsthall, Gothenburg; Malmö Konsthall; Nordic Watercolor Museum, Skärhamn; Lars Bohman Gallery, Stockholm; Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki; among others. Georg Guðni is represented at Moderna Museet, Stockholm; Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki; and National Gallery of Iceland, Reykjavik, among others.
