Precious Okoyomon to Feature in Iceland’s Sequences Biennial
The exhibition, which opens during Iceland's darkest time of year, is titled Can't See.
Edith Karlson, Can't See (2023). Exhibition view from Art in the Age of the Anthropocene at Kumu Art Museum, Tallinn. Photo: Joosep Kivimäe.
Icelandic art festival the Sequences Biennial will explore the unseen when it returns to Reykjavík from 13 to 22 October.
This year's curators—Marika Agu, Maria Arusoo, Kaarin Kivirähk and Sten Ojavee from the Estonian Centre for Contemporary Art—are self-described outsiders to the Icelandic art scene.
'We believe that a perspective of this kind can also be valuable and provide grounds for new developments', they said.
The Biennial's 11th edition takes its title from a sculpture in the show: Can't See (2023), by Edith Karlson. It reflects both the uncertainty of the times and the unwillingness of people to see impending ecological catastrophe.
Precious Okoyomon, who will join the Nigerian Pavillion at the 2024 Venice Biennale, will partner with American artist Dozie Kanu on a commission to make a wind-based installation for the historic Grótta lighthouse in Seltjarnarnes.
American artist John Grzninch's 'harp towers' will also channel the wind to create sound.
In another new commission, Icelandic artist Bjarki Bragason will present his grandparent's reconstituted garden in the gallery at Kling & Bang, Reykjavík.
Alongside new works, Sequences will also present rarely-seen historical works loaned from Baltic and Icelandic museums.
Among them are works by Hungarian-American land artist Agnes Denes, who is known internationally for large-scale public interventions such as the massive Wheatfield (1982) in downtown Manhattan, and Finland's Tree Mountain (1982–1992).
Works by Denes and Eastern European artists Elo Järv, and Zenta Logina are brought into dialogue with Icelandic artists such as Valgerður Briem and Jóhannes Sveinsson Kjarval, a pioneering figure in Icelandic painting.
'It has been a privilege to be an advocate for smaller, sometimes yet to be heard narratives', stated this year's curators.
Over 45 exhibitors will participate in the Biennial across four Reykjavík art spaces—Nordic House, National Gallery, Living Art Museum and Kling & Bang—and select locations throughout the city.
'Through the exhibitions we hope to provide chances to think differently, using the symbolic potential of visual art', said Sequence's curators.—[O]
