January 23 April 2, 2023,?Skaftfell Bistr?
Photographs from the series Looking North, by Sey?isfj?r?ur-based artist Jessica Auer, will be presented in the Skaftfell Bistr? from January 23 April 2, 2023. Looking North was first shown as a feature exhibition at the National Museum of Iceland, Reykjav?k in 2020. The installation at Skaftfell will be the first time works from the series will be on view to the public since the exhibition two years ago.?
A native of Qu?bec, Canada, Auer relocated to Sey?isfj?r?ur as the tourism boom in Iceland was reaching its peak. The series Looking North is a five-year survey of Auers travels in Iceland, her encounters with tourist groups, and her close observations of her immediate surroundings in her adopted new home. In embarking on the project Auer set out to explore Icelands sightseeing destinations. The photographs document moments when travelers interface with their natural surroundings. ?
Artist Talk: Thursday, January 26, 17:00-18:00,?Skaftfell 3rd floor
The installation and artist talk coincide with Auer’s exhibition Landv?r?ur, curated by Sigr?n Alba Sigur?ard?ttir, opening at Sl?turh?si? in Egilssta?ir, on Saturday, January 28, 2023. For more information: www.slaturhusid.is.
About the artist:
Jessica Auer is a Canadian artist who teaches photography at Concordia University in Montr?al. She resides for half the year in Sey?isfj?r?ur, East Iceland, where she is director of Str?ndin Studio. Auers work is broadly concerned with the study of landscapes as cultural sites. Through a research-based practice, she examines our social, political, and aesthetic attitudes towards place, including, but not limited to, historic sites, tourist destinations, and small communities.?
Working mainly with large format photography, Jessica is best known for her tableau-style photographs that examine the ways in which landscapes have been preserved, altered or commodified for sightseeing. Through these photographs, she expresses a deep concern for nature and the vulnerability of remote sites and communities when confronted with mass tourism. Her images aim to reveal the geopolitical realities surrounding travel and the paradox of attempting to preserve the same landscapes that the industry often seeks to exploit.
Auer received her MFA from Concordia University in Montr?al, where she teaches part-time in the Photography department. Her work has been presented in several museums, galleries and festivals, such as the Canadian Center for Architecture, The Reykjav?k Museum of Photography and the COTM photography festival in Cortona, Italy.
Auer has been awarded grants and prizes for photography, art and cinema, and has been featured by Prefix Photo (Canada), Femmes Photographes (Paris), Radio Canada International, ARTE television network, and the Guardian. As her work often responds to place, she has participated in several residency programs including the Banff Centre in Canada, The Brucebo Foundation in Gotland and B?r Art Center in Iceland. Jessica was most recently awarded a residency with Artlink at Fort Dunree in Ireland.
While in Iceland, Auer runs Str?ndin Studio, a photographic research facility and educational institution in Sey?isfj?r?ur.
