FINNBOGI PÉTURSSON Artist talk September 27, 2006

Between sound and vision — acclaimed Icelandic artist Finnbogi Pétursson makes debut in Canada

FINNBOGI PÉTURSSON:
TRAPS

September 21, 2006 to November 4, 2006
Curated by Scott McLeod
Opening Reception: Thursday, September 21, 2006 at 7:30 pm – 11 pm

Installation view of Traps, Finnbogi Pétursson, 2006.

Artist talk: Wednesday, September 27 at 7pm
InterAccess Electronic Media Arts Centre, 9 Ossington Avenue, Toronto
The artist will also be present Saturday September 23 from 2-4 pm for informal discussions about the work.

InterAccess Electronic Media Arts Centre is pleased to present The Finnbogi Pétursson Project, in partnership with Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art. Curated by Scott McLeod, this exhibition has been conceived in two parts with Pétursson's work featured in inaugural Canadian solo exhibitions at both venues. Offering insight into the artist's creative process, Interaccess Electronic Media Arts Centre will show a new site-specific work, Traps, the result of Pétursson's residency at the centre. Traps is a site-specific work consisting of five black, rectangular, wall-mounted sculptures. Each of these five two-piece units will be hung precisely throughout the space and will respond and pay homage to a particular frequency. Although appearing to be a “silent” sound installation, the viewers' interactions with the work will yield subtle sound rewards when their ears are placed against the 2 cm gap in each unit. Sphere (2003) – a work that gives striking visual presence to the most elemental of sounds and provides a window onto the artist's previous work – will be presented at Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art courtesy of Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary (Vienna).

More about the artist and his works:

Known for electronic creations that fuse sound (the artist's primary medium), sculpture, architecture and motion – and with a practice that spans more than twenty years – celebrated contemporary Icelandic artist Finnbogi Pétursson has earned a solid reputation throughout the arts community, and among jazz, classical and experimental musicians, as an innovative artist whose work defies convention and easy categorization.
Pétursson is the recipient of numerous awards, including a 1997 Edstrand Award, and his work resides in public collections worldwide. Recent solo shows include: a 2005 show at Lichtkunst aus Kunstlicht, Museum fur Neue Kunst, Karlsruhe, Germany; a 2004 show at Akureyri Art Museum, Akureyri, Iceland; 2002 shows at Gothenburg Konstmuseum, Gothenburg, Sweden, and at the National Gallery of Iceland; and a 2001 show at the Venice Biennale.
“In Pétursson's work, the ancient and the contemporary, the material and the invisible, the elemental and the technological, co-exist. While the landscape of Iceland is not explicitly represented, Pétursson's experience of being born and raised in that country has clearly influenced his psychology and can be strongly felt in his work. The harshness, the austerity and the stark beauty of this extreme northern clime; the rumble and roar of the inner earth as felt on this volcanic island; the extended periods of darkness and light all contribute to the aesthetic, conceptual and experiential dimensions of this artist's work.” – Scott McLeod, curator

Sphere opens Thursday, September 28, 7 to 10 PM at Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art, 401 Richmond Street West, Suite 124, Toronto. Sphere will be shown until Saturday, November 25, 2006, with a closing reception on Thursday, November 23 from 7 to 10 PM, in conjunction with the launch of Prefix Photo 14. Visit www.prefix.ca

For more information or media inquiries, please contact Yvonne Bambrick at 416 826 2964 or email [email protected]