Ragnar Kjartansson

The versatile works of Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson always lie between visual and performance art. The main focus of his work is performance, in which he combines elements of painting, sculpture, theatre, acting and music. Influenced by 1970s-style video and performance art, Kjartansson explores his own physical and psychological limits in performances that last for long periods of time. In his contribution to the 2005 Reykjavik Arts Festival called The Great Unrest, he spent one week singing the blues, dressed in a Viking costume in an abandoned theatre in the Icelandic countryside. The existential tenor of these performances is combined with the artist’s penchant for the ironic and absurd. His emotionally charged performances veer between melancholy and joy, horror and beauty, drama and humour.