More Information to artist Ragnar Kjartansson, the band The National concerning the video installation «A Lot of Sorrow» from 6.11 - 15.11
Ragnar Kjartansson (Foto: Nielsen Omvik)
Who is Ragnar Kjartansson?
Ragnar Kjartansson (b.1976) lives and works in Reykjavík, Iceland. He studied at the Iceland Academy of the Arts and at The Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm.
Kjartansson draws on the entire arc of art in his performative practice. The history of film, music, theatre, visual culture and literature finds its way into his video installations, durational performances, drawing and painting. Pretending and staging become key tools in the artist's attempt to convey sincere emotion and offering a genuine experience to the audience. Kjartansson's playful work is full of unique moments where a conflict of the dramatic and the banal culminates in a memorable way.
Kjartansson has exhibited widely around Europe and the US, most recently at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington; the New Museum, New York and at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, Vienna, The End, at the Fremantle Arts Centre in Perth and Me and My Mother 2015 at i8 Gallery, Reykjavík. A current exhibition is held at Palais de Tokyo, Paris.
Solo exhibition include The Visitors, Hangar Bicaocca, Milano (2013); A Lot of Sorrow - a six-hour performance with the band The National, MoMA’s PS1, New York (2013); The Visitors, Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich (2012); Song, Carnegie Museum of Art (2011) – touring to MOCA North Miami and to ICA Boston (2012); Take Me Here by the Dishwasher, the Bawag Foundation, Vienna, Austria (2011); Endless Longing, Eternal Return, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Germany (2011). Group exhibitions featuring major works by Kjartansson include the 55th Venice Biennale, The Encyclopedic Palace curated by Massimiliano Gioni; Performa 11, New York (2011) where his 12-hour performance Bliss was awarded the Malcolm McLaren Award; Icelandic Pavilion, 53rd Venice Biennale (2009); the 2nd Turin Triennial, Italy (2008); Manifesta 8, Italy (2008) and the Reykjavik Arts Festival in Iceland (2012, 2008, 2005, 2004). In 2015 his work S.S. Hangover was featured at the Creative Time project Drifting in Daylight: Art in Central Park, New York.
Galerie Luhring Augustin of Ragnar Kjartansson:
http://www.luhringaugustine.com/artists/ragnar-kjartansson
The Visitors at Migros Museum für Contemporary Art Zurich
http://www.migrosmuseum.ch/ausstellungen/jahresprogramm/ragnar-kjartansson-the-visitors/
Island as focus of CultureScape 2015
http://www.culturescapes.ch/island
Video-Links
Ragnar Kjartansson Performance at Manifesta10 in St. Petersburg (2014)
Ragnar Kjartansson about The Visitors
Who is The National?
The National is an American indie rock band formed in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, in 1999, and currently based in Brooklyn. The band's lyrics, which have been described as "dark, melancholy and difficult to interpret", are written and sung by Matt Berninger, a baritone. The band's music is composed and performed by Aaron Dessner (guitar and keyboard), Bryce Dessner(guitar), Scott Devendorf (bass) and Bryan Devendorf (drums). The band has recorded six studio albums; the most recent,Trouble Will Find Me, was released in May 2013 and was nominated in the 2014 Grammys for Best Alternative Album. (wikipedia)
Website von THE NATIONAL
http://americanmary.com/