Our Inaugural Artist

Ragnar Kjartansson draws on the entire arc of art in his performative practice. The history of film, music, theatre, visual culture and literature find their way into his video installations, durational performances, drawing and painting. Pretending and staging become key tools in the artist's attempt to convey sincere emotion and offer a genuine experience to the audience.

Kjartansson's work has been exhibited widely. Recent solo exhibitions include the Barbican Art Gallery in London, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington DC, the Palais de Tokyo in Paris and the New Museum in New York. Kjartansson was born in 1976 in Reykjavík and studied at the Iceland Academy of the Arts and The Royal Academy, Stockholm.