VC PROJECTS

EXHIBITION OPENING ON SATURDAY, JUNE 21, 2025

El Nido by vc projects, 1028 1/2 n. Western avenue, los angeles, ca 90029

BJARNI SIGURBJÖRNSSON

CUTTING THROUGH SPACE: WORKS ON PAPER (2003–2004)

IN THESE LARGE-SCALE DRAWINGS FROM 2003–2004, BJARNI SIGURBJÖRNSSON BEGINS ARTICULATING A FOUNDATIONAL CONCEPT IN HIS PRACTICE: THE ACT OF CUTTING THROUGH SPACE. HERE, PAPER IS NOT MERELY A SUPPORT, BUT THE SKIN OF SPACE ITSELF—A LIVING SURFACE TO BE DEFINED THROUGH GESTURE. INFLUENCED BY A CHINESE AESTHETIC PHILOSOPHY THAT VIEWS PAPER AS AN UNDEFINED FIELD AWAITING DEFINITION, SIGURBJÖRNSSON ENGAGES THE ACT OF MARK-MAKING AS A METAPHYSICAL ENCOUNTER.

THIS APPROACH ALIGNS WITH THE NOTION OF THE MIND BRUSH—A MEDITATIVE ACT WHERE THE ARTIST ATTEMPTS TO ENCAPSULATE A STATE OF BEING IN A SINGLE, DELIBERATE MOTION. WORKING WITH INK, CHARCOAL, AND WATER, SIGURBJÖRNSSON WELCOMED MATERIAL INTERFERENCE, ALLOWING THE MEDIA TO INTERACT ORGANICALLY. THESE EARLY WORKS REVEAL A DELICATE TENSION BETWEEN CONTROL AND UNPREDICTABILITY, AND MARK THE EMERGENCE OF A VISUAL PHILOSOPHY THAT CONTINUES TO INFORM HIS ARTISTIC LANGUAGE.

BLACK SOAR CUTTING: CONFLICT AND MATERIAL ALCHEMY

“LATER, I CREATED PAINTINGS ON CANVAS AND WATERCOLOURS THAT I CALLED BLACK SOAR CUTTING.
IN THE WATERCOLOURS, I LAID DOWN VARIATIONS OF COLOUR, THEN ADDED SALT AND BLACK INK ON TOP. THE PAINTINGS ON CANVAS WERE MY FIRST ON THAT SURFACE SINCE STUDYING IN SAN FRANCISCO.
FOR THESE, I RETURNED TO THE TRADITIONAL PROCESS OF PREPARING CANVAS WITH RABBIT SKIN GLUE AND HANDMADE GESSO.
HALFWAY THROUGH PREPARATION, I WOULD ATTACK THE CANVAS WITH BLACK, FORCEFUL STROKES, MIXING SALT AND WATER ONTO THE OIL SURFACE.
THE CONFLICT BETWEEN UNMIXABLE MATERIALS—CREATING PATTERNS—AND MY DELIBERATE ACTIONS IS THE PRIME VEHICLE IN MY CREATIVE PROCESS.
IN PAINTING, AS WITH THE WATERCOLOURS, EXPERIMENTATION HAS ALWAYS PLAYED A CENTRAL ROLE IN MY DEVELOPMENT.”
— BJARNI SIGURBJÖRNSSON

TOGETHER, CUTTING THROUGH SPACE AND BLACK SOAR CUTTING TRACE A TRAJECTORY IN BJARNI SIGURBJÖRNSSON’S PRACTICE—FROM CONTEMPLATIVE GESTURES ON PAPER TO VISCERAL, ALCHEMICAL CONFRONTATIONS WITH CANVAS. WHAT UNITES THESE WORKS IS A PERSISTENT INQUIRY INTO HOW THOUGHT BECOMES FORM AND HOW MATERIALS—WHETHER OBEDIENT OR UNRULY—CAN MIRROR STATES OF BEING. SIGURBJÖRNSSON’S EMBRACE OF BOTH PRECISION AND UNPREDICTABILITY POSITIONS HIS WORK WITHIN A LINEAGE OF ARTISTS WHO TREAT THE SURFACE NOT AS A SITE OF REPRESENTATION, BUT AS A SPACE OF BECOMING. THESE EARLY EXPERIMENTS LAY THE GROUNDWORK FOR A PRACTICE THAT CONTINUES TO UNFOLD AT THE INTERSECTION OF MATTER, MOVEMENT, AND METAPHYSICAL PRESENCE.

Included in the exhibition is a recent painting titled Hugarhold (Mind-Field), 2022, oil on canvas, 25 1/5 × 19 3⁄4 inches. In this small-scale work, dramatic color and expressive gesture signal the artist’s evolution while maintaining his core philosophy. The surface becomes a charged field—an intimate yet expansive space—where thought, motion, and pigment converge. Like his earlier works, this painting affirms Sigurbjörnsson’s enduring commitment to entering space through mark-making, allowing intuition and matter to meet.

Together, these works span two decades of artistic exploration—from contemplative gestures on paper to visceral, chromatic expression on canvas—each one a testament to the artist’s persistent inquiry into the boundaries of perception, presence, and transformation.

BJARNI SIGURBJÖRNSSON IS A DISTINGUISHED ICELANDIC ARTIST WHOSE CAREER SPANS OVER THREE DECADES, MARKED BY A DEEP COMMITMENT TO EXPLORING THE BOUNDARIES OF VISUAL EXPRESSION. EDUCATED AT THE SAN FRANCISCO ART INSTITUTE, WHERE HE EARNED BOTH HIS BFA AND MFA, BJARNI DEVELOPED A DYNAMIC ARTISTIC PRACTICE THAT MERGES ABSTRACT VISUAL LANGUAGE WITH EMOTIONAL AND NATURAL ENERGY.

UPON RETURNING TO REYKJAVIK, HE WAS AWARDED A TWO-YEAR GOVERNMENT STIPEND FOR A SIGNIFICANT LAND ART COMMISSION THAT COMBINED PAINTING AND SCULPTURE—AN EARLY TESTAMENT TO HIS INTERDISCIPLINARY VISION. HIS CAREER HAS SINCE INCLUDED INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION, INCLUDING PARTICIPATION IN THE 2003 LOS ANGELES INTERNATIONAL BIENNIAL AND THE 2004 PILSEN INTERNATIONAL BIENNIAL OF DRAWING, WITH EXHIBITIONS ACROSS THE U.S. AND EUROPE.

BJARNI’S SOLO PROJECTS, SUCH AS EKKERT AT HAFNARBORG MUNICIPAL MUSEUM, TENEBOROUS FLESH AT REYKJAVÍK ART GALLERY, AND HIS RECENT BODY OF WORK HUGARHOLD (CONSCIOUS CORPUS), REFLECT HIS ABILITY TO CONSTRUCT IMMERSIVE, COMPLEX VISUAL NARRATIVES. HIS ABSTRACT COMPOSITIONS ARE KNOWN FOR THEIR INTENSITY, VIBRANT COLOR, AND LAYERED DETAIL—BRIDGING ICELANDIC TRADITIONS WITH CONTEMPORARY AESTHETICS.

IN ADDITION TO HIS STUDIO PRACTICE, BJARNI PLAYS AN ACTIVE ROLE IN ICELAND’S CULTURAL SPHERE THROUGH EDUCATIONAL ENGAGEMENT AND CURATORIAL COLLABORATION. HIS INNOVATIVE CONTRIBUTIONS CONTINUE TO SHAPE THE VISUAL ARTS COMMUNITY IN ICELAND AND ARE INCREASINGLY RECOGNIZED ON AN INTERNATIONAL STAGE.

HTTPS://HIMINBJORG.IS/THE-ARTISTS/BJARNI-SIGURBJORNSSON/

VICTORIA CHAPMAN

ECHOES OF HELLISSANDUR - PHOTOGRAPHS (2025)

FOLLOWING A CONTEMPLATIVE RETREAT IN HELLISSANDUR, ICELAND, VICTORIA CHAPMAN SPENT TIME IN CLOSE DIALOGUE WITH ARTIST BJARNI SIGURBJÖRNSSON, TRACING THE ELEMENTAL LANDSCAPE THAT SHAPES HIS WORK. GUIDED BY SIGURBJÖRNSSON, CHAPMAN WAS BROUGHT TO VARIOUS SITES OF HISTORICAL AND MYTHIC SIGNIFICANCE—PLACES WHERE TIME FOLDS INTO TERRAIN, AND MEMORY LINGERS IN STONE, MOSS, AND WIND. WHAT EMERGED FROM THIS JOURNEY IS A SERIES OF EMOTIONAL PHOTOGRAPHS: NOT DOCUMENTARY IN NATURE, BUT INTUITIVE RESPONSES TO PLACE. THESE IMAGES SPEAK NOT ONLY TO THE VISIBLE LANDSCAPE BUT TO THE VIBRATIONS OF WHAT REMAINS UNSEEN—EVIDENCE OF LIVES LIVED, ENERGIES EXCHANGED, AND THE QUIET PERSISTENCE OF HISTORY WITHIN NATURE’S BREATH.

“MY PRACTICE WEAVES PHOTOGRAPHY, WRITING, AND CURATORIAL INQUIRY AS A MEANS OF TRACING THE HUMAN CONDITION IN RELATION TO ENVIRONMENT, MEMORY, AND EXISTENCE. I AM DRAWN TO LANDSCAPES—BOTH INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL—WHERE CHANGE IS PALPABLE AND HISTORY LINGERS IN QUIET FORMS. OFTEN WORKING IN REMOTE OR TRANSITIONAL SETTINGS, I RESPOND TO THE ATMOSPHERE OF A PLACE: ITS TEXTURES, RHYTHMS, AND EMOTIONAL UNDERCURRENTS.

RATHER THAN DOCUMENTING, I ENGAGE IN A PROCESS OF WITNESSING—ALLOWING INTUITION AND REFLECTION TO GUIDE THE WORK. MY IMAGES EMERGE FROM LIVED EXPERIENCE AND ATTENTIVE PRESENCE, SHAPED BY CONVERSATIONS, SOLITUDE, AND THE LAYERED NARRATIVES OF TERRAIN.

THROUGH THIS PRACTICE, I EXAMINE HOW WE LIVE IN RELATION TO PLACE—HOW WE ADAPT, REMEMBER, AND EXIST WITHIN THE THRESHOLDS OF A CONSTANTLY EVOLVING WORLD.” - VICTORIA CHAPMAN