Exhibition | Breiðholts boogie | Hafsteinn Michael

Hafsteinn’s visual world in the exhibition Breiðholts Boogie is unusual yet at the same time familiar: the artist deliberately works toward constructing his own mythology as a framework for his practice. It is a world governed by its own system of symbols and its own internal landscape. There is little room for the “outside world” in his works; it is almost rejected, and any references to it appear only in passing. Instead, Hafsteinn dives into a personal cosmology that often feels ancient and enigmatic. The colors in the works are dark and earthy, blending past, present, and future into a powerful and immersive atmosphere. Ancient religions and mythologies are intentionally evoked, though never through direct references to specific stories.

Viewers may feel as though they are meant to recognize the myths presented in the exhibition, yet in reality they do not exist. Rather, familiar motifs are placed in new contexts and new mythologies come into being. At times, one can sense alchemical ideas within the works; they are filled with symbols that allude to material substances while also evoking notions of transformation. The environment is ambiguous, not places but placeless spaces in which the subjects of the images exist. Occasionally, however, the surroundings may evoke something resembling a Reykjavík landscape. Hafsteinn appears to construct his own symbolic system, where characters, forms, and symbols recur and form an internal language. This renders the works elusive, as if they were fragments of a larger system of which the viewer is only allowed to glimpse a part, raising questions about what came before and what might follow. The viewer is left to search for meaning and, in doing so, perhaps attempt to connect with something greater, something that may not even exist.

Hafsteinn Michael Guðmundsson was born on November 11, 1976, and graduated from MHÍ in the spring of 1999. He had already become active in exhibiting as early as 1994, when he showed work with three friends at Listhúsið Laugardal at only eighteen years old. After graduating, he quickly became a visible presence in the art scene, particularly within areas that could be described as outsider or fringe art. However, he has never hesitated to exhibit both in established venues and in unconventional spaces alike. Hafsteinn has received considerable praise for his work across media, including oil painting, printmaking, and drawing. He has held around twenty solo exhibitions and participated in approximately twenty group exhibitions. Beyond his visual art practice, Hafsteinn has been active in other creative fields: he served, for example, as artistic director of the social media platform GogoYogo for over three years, and has worked in set design for institutions such as the Icelandic Opera, the Reykjavík City Theatre, and various film projects. Hafsteinn has also performed with numerous bands and released solo material under the name Rafsteinn.

For further information

Ilmur Dögg Gísladóttir, 
ilmur.dogg.gisladottir@reykjavik.is | 411 6170