Ragnar Kjartansson

Biography

Ragnar Kjartansson ([ˈraknar̥ cʰar̥tansɔn]) is an Icelandic contemporary artist who engages multiple artistic mediums, creating video installations, performances, drawings, and paintings that draw upon myriad historical and cultural references. An underlying pathos and irony connect his works, with each deeply influenced by the comedy and tragedy of classical theater. The artist blurs the distinctions between mediums, approaching his painting practice as performance, likening his films to paintings, and his performances to sculpture. Throughout, Ragnar conveys an interest in beauty and its banality, and he uses durational, repetitive performance as a form of exploration. Ragnar (b. 1976) lives and works in Reykjavík. Major solo shows include exhibitions at Reykjavík Art Museum, Reykjavík; the Barbican Centre, London; the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C.; the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal; the Palais de Tokyo, Paris; the New Museum, New York; the Migros Museum of Contemporary Art, Zurich; the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin; the Frankfurter Kunstverein; Louisiana Museum in Humlebæk, Denmark; the BAWAG Contemporary, Vienna, amongst others. Ragnar participated in The Encyclopedic Palace at the Venice Biennale in 2013, Manifesta 10 in St. Petersburg, Russia in 2014, and he represented Iceland at the 2009 Venice Biennale. He returned to the Venice Biennale in 2013 to show SS Hanover. He is the recipient of the 2015 Artes Mundi's Derek Williams Trust Purchase Award, and Performa's 2011 Malcolm McLaren Award.

Bio from Wikipedia