ORGANIZING PRINCIPLES

06. Nov 31. Dec 2021

As the second chapter of the INTRO development program, O—Overgaden is excited to welcome the solo exhibition by selected artist Sóley Ragnarsdóttir, which will open 5 November 5pm

A hyper-ornamented artistic universe emerging from a sculptural approach to painting unfolds in Sóley Ragnarsdóttir’s first institutional solo exhibition. With large-scale paintings and mobiles, amber, napkins, and seashells, Ragnarsdóttir presents a seductive environment that has evolved from her newly established life in a small village in rural Thy, by the North Sea. Life among amber hunters, fishermen, and surfers has made a profound impact on the artist’s unique visual language.

In the exhibition Organizing Principles, Ragnarsdóttir directs our eyes towards the life-giving symbiosis that can occur when otherwise separate materials, stories, and worlds meet and entangle. Her works are made from layered synthetic and natural materials: acrylic, epoxy, shells, amber, and ocean-blunted pieces of glass adorn canvases as well as napkins, surfboard materials, and wallpapers. With a pictorial language that extends from the canvases to the walls and frames, the artist invites us to step into a fascinating, aestheticized world flirting with kitsch and drawing lines to the Arts and Crafts movement, as well as to her Icelandic origins. The decorative tradition of handicraft has long figured as inferior to Fine Arts, but Ragnarsdóttir redirects attention to the artistic qualities of decoration as something valid and precious within the scope of contemporary art.

Sóley Ragnarsdóttir (b. 1991, DK/IS) holds a MFA from Städelschule, Frankfurt (2014–19) under Amy Sillman, Monika Baer, and Nikolas Gambaroff, and has exhibited at Städel Museum in Frankfurt, Historisches Museum in Frankfurt, Jean Claude Maier in Frankfurt, and Kunstforum in Darmstadt.

INTRO is Overgaden’s customised development program for young artists in Denmark, culminating in a solo exhibition accompanied by a publication. INTRO is a three-year pilot project, generously supported by Aage og Johanne Louis-Hansens Fond.

Overgaden
Neden Vandet 17
1414 Copenhagen