Ambassador Thórir Ibsen opens the exhibition of Sigurður Guðmundsson “The Past and Future Journey” at the Chinese European Art Center in Xiamen
The internationally renowned Icelandic artist Sigurður Guðmundssson opened on April 11 his exhibition “The Past and Future Journey” at the Chinese European Art Center in Xiamen. The exhibition is open until 9 May.
In his opening address, Ambassador Thorir Ibsen said that Sigurður Guðmundsson “stands out as an international artist and remains an inspiration to several generations of artists, having been one of the pioneers of conceptual art in Iceland. … Sigurður Guðmundsson is a man of many talents. Not only is he a visual artist and a mentor to young artist, but he is also an avid writer. Moreover, he has been a pioneer in introducing China to a host of Icelandic artists and has thus been a key figure in building the bilateral cultural relations between our two countries.”
Sigurður Guðmundsson (1942) is one of Iceland’s most internationally influential artists. His creative practice is highly diverse, encompassing documented and undocumented performances, photography, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, installation, as well as what he calls “visual poems.” His photographic works from the 1970s present human existence as part of nature in a humorous and pointed manner. After 1980, he shifted toward sculpture and boldly experimented with performances involving a hypnotist, re-evaluating his own work from the perspective of an “art beginner.” He has also published five novels.
His solo exhibitions have been held at the National Gallery of Iceland, Reykjavik Art Museum, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead (UK), Malmö Konsthall in Sweden, and Kunsthalle Kiel in Germany, among others. His works are in the collections of major European museums, and he has created numerous public sculptures in Northern and Central Europe. For the past two decades, he has primarily lived and worked in Xiamen, China, and his sculptures and installations have also been exhibited in several shows in China.