Water and Blood
The Icelandic Love Corporation
2.10.2019 — 1.3.2020
Room
2
2.10.2019 — 1.3.2020
Project Manager of exhibitions
Júlía Marinósdóttir
Conservation
Ólafur Ingi Jónsson
Events and Educational Programme
Guðrún Jóna Halldórsdóttir
Translation
Anna Yates
Water and Blood is a new videowork by the Icelandic Love Corporation which seeks inspiration in the life and art of painter Ásgrímur Jónsson (1876-1958). In the work past meets present, as creativity, intuition and nature play an important role in an enigmatic world.
As part of the preparation for the work, a psychic was brought in to make contact with Ásgrímur, who expressed his views on the energy that inhabits art and artists‘ shared need to create. This is the second time that the Love Corporation has called upon the assistance of a medium in preparation of a work; the first was the participation installation Psychography (2016). The artists of the Icelandic Love Corporation call the method “Medium-medium.”
The Love Corporation has held many individual exhibitions and participated in group exhibitions in museums and galleries around the world, including AroS in Denmark, MoMA in New York, Kunsthalle Wien in Austria, Schirn Kunsthalle and Hamburger Bahnhof in Germany, Amos Anderson in Helsinki and Lilith Performance Studio in Sweden.
Eirún Sigurðardóttir (b.1971) and Jóní Jónsdóttir (b.1972) work together as the Icelandic Love Corporation, which was founded in 1996 and is one of Iceland's most enduring artist groups. A feminist perspective, along with humour and sincerity, characterise the work of the group, whose members work with different media as appropriate to each project. The Love Corporation applies technique passed down by grandmothers, craftsmanship and resourcefulness in its works, combined with elegance and modern technology.
Water and Blood was commissioned by the National Gallery of Iceland. The project has also received grants from the City of Reykjavík Department of Culture and Tourism, the Artists' Salary Fund and Myndstef, the Icelandic Visual Art Copyright Association.