The Icelandic Love Corporation
Hospitality, installation, 2009
March 12 - May 31, 2009
Opening on March 12 at 5 pm, performance at 6 pm
Photo: Guy L'Heureux
The Icelandic Love Corporation (ILC) is a group of three artists: Sigrún Hrólfsdóttir (1973), Jóní Jónsdóttir (1972) and Eirún Sigurdardóttir (1971), formed in Reykjavik (Iceland) in 1996.
In this exhibition the ILC presents mostly new works, created during their stay at the Darling Foundry: sculptures, photographs, needlepoint and an animated film, along with their video The Tent Lady's Hospitality (2007).
A majority of ILC's work is rooted in the traditions of their ancestors as well as the spirit of the moment. Mixing the old with the new fuels their work. Craftsmanship, playfulness, humour, sincerity and love for life play an important role in their conduct. This collection of works represents an abstract vision and understanding of the idea of hospitality.
The ILC is interested in the patterns of society, its traditions and systems, and at the same time in how seemingly random incidents become a puzzle in a bigger picture. In their collaboration they have strived towards maintaining certain artistic randomness and following a kind of gut feeling, weaving new thoughts and inspirations into their family tree. The works of The Icelandic Love Corporation are interconnected in many ways and their body of work can be seen as just that, a family tree, where new branches grow continuously but stay connected to the root.
During their stay at the Darling Foundry the ILC have been in the role of the visitor but have also acted as the inviting hosts of new ideas and influences, opening their hearts to the unexpected.
"The three artists that are The Icelandic Love Corporation might add a smirk to a serious scene or, conversely, hint at seriousness and engage in cultural critique by means of face-value frivolity. In either case, when the ILC holds up a mirror to contemporary society through their art, reflected is an image of reality that is as complex and multifaceted as our daily lives on micro and macro levels. Love and pain, excitement and danger, lightheartedness and stoicism, a critique of society’s ills and an indulgence in society’s excesses-- these elements neither contradict nor push and pull against each other but work dialectically and, if we dare, allow us to enter into dialogue with the group’s work."
Shauna Laurel Jones - Excerpt from her essay on the ILC appearing in the forthcoming book Icelandic Art Today, 2009.
The ILC graduated from the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts in 1996. Since then they have lived and studied in New York, Berlin and Copenhagen and are currently based in Reykjavik. The ILC has presented over 200 performances and exhibitions worldwide, mostly in Europe and the US.
The Darling Foundry and The Icelandic Love Corporation thank the Embassy of Iceland for supporting this event.