Hallgrímur Árnason

Having primarily focused on the three-dimensional art of product-design and architecture, Hallgrímur took the step from three to two dimensions only shortly before returning to the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna in 2020, where he now is part of Daniel Richter´s class. Working in fewer dimensions of space and time has rather ironically opened up a host of other dimensions found within the abstract painting that is Hallgrímur's world. Hallgrímur's action driven abstract worlds, loaded with energy, have a tendency to subtly lose their abstraction to him, with the concrete fading in during the process. Vision of figurations and meanings slowly reveal themselves on the canvas, hidden within an interpretation of the color, chaos, form and order that compose the paintings. These appearances spark conversations within Hallgrímur who in his work reflects on society, every-day life and his own personal being. The titles spring from these conversations where humor and irony become the protagonists in short form abstract poems. The titles/poems serve as an entrance into the abstraction for the viewer, neither too revealing nor direct they invite the viewers own interpretation, sparking the interaction between viewer and painting where everything can, and should, happen. During his time in Vienna, Hallgrímur has participated in numerous exhibitions in Austria and several neighbouring countries. The most recent ones were a group exhibtion at the Wolkersdorf Palace in Austria and a group show at the Icelandic Embassy in Vienna, where icons of icelandic art history were exhibited amongst contemporary artists from Iceland.