When Georg Gudni made his debut in the 1980s, landscape painting was not much appreciated. Instead the Icelandic painting focused on urban questions, quite understandably considering the economic and technical development and belief in the future of the decade. Except for a brief period with purely geometrical shapes (for example the exhibition at Galleri Lars Bohman in 1991), Georg Gudni has worked with the landscape as his motif, even though his works show strong tendencies of abstraction.
Georg Gudni's paintings are no direct depictions of existent places. Instead they are characterised by a dreamlike atmosphere where the specific shapes and details in nature are replaced by a more harmonious experience of coherent forms and colours. The landscapes seem to be imbedded in a soft haze which enhances the sublime expression of the landscapes as memories or dreams. Georg Gudni's paintings witness about milieus undisturbed by the presence of man.
The paintings carry no nostalgic touch, instead they speak with clarity of the artist's deep and profound interest in nature and its variations, and how that functions as inspiration for his work. Sharply he illustrates the interplay between light and dark, and the paintings invite the viewer to a journey of contemplation and reflection in inner and outer spheres.
Georg Gudni was born in 1961 in Reykjavik, where he still lives and works. He studied at the Icelandic College of Art and Crafts in Reykjavik (1980-1985) and the Jan van Eyck Academie in the Netherlands (1985-87). Georg Gudni has exhibited widely, for example at Listasafn Islands (National Gallery of Iceland), Skaftfell, Seydisfjördur, Iceland (with Peter Frie), Nordiska Akvarellmuseet, Skärhamn, Sweden, Listasafn Reykjavik (Reykjavik Art Museum), Galleri Riis, Oslo, Norway, Galleri Forsblom, Helsinki, Finland, and just recently at Track 16 Gallery (with Viggo Mortensen) in Santa Monica, USA. Recent group shows include, Gustave Fayet, Sérignan, France, Carnegie Art Award for Nordic Painting (1999 and 2002), Confronting Nature, Icelandic Art of the 20th Century, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., USA.
Georg Gudni is represented at, among others, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden, Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki, Finland, Listasafn Islands, Reykjavik, Iceland, Museet for Samtidskunst, Oslo, Norway and Rooseum, Malmö, Sweden.
Georg Gudni's paintings are no direct depictions of existent places. Instead they are characterised by a dreamlike atmosphere where the specific shapes and details in nature are replaced by a more harmonious experience of coherent forms and colours. The landscapes seem to be imbedded in a soft haze which enhances the sublime expression of the landscapes as memories or dreams. Georg Gudni's paintings witness about milieus undisturbed by the presence of man.
The paintings carry no nostalgic touch, instead they speak with clarity of the artist's deep and profound interest in nature and its variations, and how that functions as inspiration for his work. Sharply he illustrates the interplay between light and dark, and the paintings invite the viewer to a journey of contemplation and reflection in inner and outer spheres.
Georg Gudni was born in 1961 in Reykjavik, where he still lives and works. He studied at the Icelandic College of Art and Crafts in Reykjavik (1980-1985) and the Jan van Eyck Academie in the Netherlands (1985-87). Georg Gudni has exhibited widely, for example at Listasafn Islands (National Gallery of Iceland), Skaftfell, Seydisfjördur, Iceland (with Peter Frie), Nordiska Akvarellmuseet, Skärhamn, Sweden, Listasafn Reykjavik (Reykjavik Art Museum), Galleri Riis, Oslo, Norway, Galleri Forsblom, Helsinki, Finland, and just recently at Track 16 Gallery (with Viggo Mortensen) in Santa Monica, USA. Recent group shows include, Gustave Fayet, Sérignan, France, Carnegie Art Award for Nordic Painting (1999 and 2002), Confronting Nature, Icelandic Art of the 20th Century, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., USA.
Georg Gudni is represented at, among others, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden, Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki, Finland, Listasafn Islands, Reykjavik, Iceland, Museet for Samtidskunst, Oslo, Norway and Rooseum, Malmö, Sweden.