Sýningarinnar Roman Signer: Íslensk verk er í sýningarsal Skaftfells 4.júli – 27. september, Austurvegur 42, Seyðisfjörður.

Roman Signer (b. 1938) is a Swiss artist who describes himself as an Aktionskünstler, an action artist. He makes films, videos, photographs and installations of choreographed events: things falling out of equilibrium, mundane objects subjected to unusual acts and to juxtaposing forces. These actions are inflicted upon a recurrent lexicon of things: tables, stools, Wellington boots, kayaks, umbrellas. Everything is normal but in unexpected circumstances.

Signer is recognised as one of the most significant contemporary artists and since the early 1990s he has been visiting Iceland to travel and also to make work. Iceland has become more than a backdrop for videos; it is almost a protagonist in his work. This relationship has generated some of his most important works such as: A kayak trip to Snæfellsnes in 2000, a video installation with a battered kayak. The video shows the artist in a kayak being dragged around the gravel roads of Snæfellsnes. It is absurd, poetic and joyous.

This exhibition exists as a retrospective of work that he has made during trips to Iceland. Many of these trips have begun in Seyðisfjörður. The exhibition will include early super-8 films, installations, sculpture and photographs. It will provide a means to consider the role landscape plays within his work and the nature of his special relationship with Iceland.

In conjunction with this exhibition a new edition of the book: When you travel in Iceland you see a lot of water, will be published. The book is a dialogue between the Icelandic artist Tumi Magnusson and Signer as they travel around Iceland.

The exhibition is supported by:
Pro Helvetia, Kanton st. gallen, Myndlistarsjóður, Uppbyggingarsjóður, Austurlands, Landsbankinn and Alcoa.