Sunday January 18th at 2 p.m., literary scholar Þröstur Helgason will give a talk on the art of Eggert Pétursson in relation to the exhibition Redden, currently on view at Hafnarborg. Þröstur will place the works in the exhibition within the context of Eggert’s artistic career, with particular emphasis on his use of the colour red. He will also discuss a series of works by Eggert in which the colour blue plays a prominent role. The talk will address the meaning of these colours and their use in the history of visual art. In addition, attention will be drawn to Eggert’s prints included in the exhibition.

The exhibition features paintings that Eggert has created especially for this occasion, in which the artist continues his exploration of Icelandic nature – now 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 Divine Comedy, where the spiritual and symbolic world resonates with the artist’s grounded vision.

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.

Þröstur Helgason holds a PhD in comparative literature from the University of Iceland and has had a long career as a cultural journalist, critic, editor and scholar. He is currently working on a book on the cultural history of the colour blue.

Free entry – everyone welcome.