Thursday November 20th at 6 p.m., we invite you to the opening of new solo exhibitions by Una Björg Magnúsdóttir and Eggert Pétursson at Hafnarborg. The exhibitions will be opened by Valdimar Víðisson, Mayor of Hafnarfjörður.
Una Björg Magnúsdóttir
Fill & spill
The exhibition spaces of Hafnarborg are built around a stately house from 1921, originally a home and pharmacy. The museum’s main gallery still bears traces of this history, as the curved outer wall of the old building remains a distinctive feature of the space. One of the exhibition’s central works plays on this architectural dialogue – a low partition stretches across the room, tracing its contours while defining a new interior within it – a void, a stage, a potential arena. Other works, including sculptures, images and works on paper created especially for the exhibition, form a subtle narrative that draws on the space’s inherent qualities, its materiality and light, its possibilities and limitations. The works weave together the building’s historical and imagined timelines, exploring relationships between originals and copies, doubles and reflections.
Curated by Þórdís Jóhannesdóttir.
Una Björg Magnúsdóttir (b. 1990) employs diverse methods in her work to pose questions about beauty, value, existence and behaviour. She uses texture and value-laden materials with subtlety and restraint, where precise arrangements of simple objects create a surface of illusion that challenges conventional notions of meaning and perception. Una Björg studied fine art at the Iceland University of the Arts and completed postgraduate studies at ÉCAL in Switzerland, graduating in 2018. She lives and works in Reykjavík, and her works have been shown at the Reykjavík Art Museum, ASÍ Art Museum, Gerðarsafn, Y Gallery, Ásmundarsalur, KEIV in Athens and Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin. She was nominated as Artist of the Year at the Icelandic Art Prize 2025 and received the Guðmunda Award in 2024.
Eggert Pétursson
Redden
Eggert Pétursson has long been recognised for his singular and passionate engagement with Icelandic nature, particularly the country’s flora. In the lower gallery of Hafnarborg, he presents new works, including paintings made especially for this exhibition, continuing his exploration of Icelandic nature – this time turning his gaze slightly upward, toward the mountain slopes and open sky. The smallest plants become part of a vast landscape, where vegetation and the surface of the earth are transformed into finely tuned compositions that reflect time, light and the shifting character of the land. The exhibition also includes a series of new prints made in connection with a forthcoming Icelandic translation of Paradise from Dante’s The Divine Comedy, where the spiritual and symbolic world resonates with the artist’s grounded vision.
Curated by Aldís Arnardóttir.
Eggert Pétursson (b. 1956) lives and works in Reykjavík. He studied at the Icelandic College of Art and Crafts and the Jan van Eyck Academie in Maastricht. His works have been exhibited at The Living Art Museum, Reykjavík Art Museum, Hafnarborg, Nordatlantens Brygge in Copenhagen and Pori Art Museum in Finland. In 2006, he received second prize in the Carnegie Art Award (Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki, Reykjavík, Copenhagen and Nice). He also illustrated the popular edition of Icelandic Flora by Ágúst H. Bjarnason, first published in 1983. Eggert is represented by i8 Gallery in Reykjavík, where he has exhibited frequently, and several books have been dedicated to his work.
Free entry – see you at Hafnarborg.