Ragnar Kjartansson

On show at Luhring Augustine galleries, Kjartansson approaches his painting practice as performance, likening his films to paintings, and his performances to sculpture.

Ragnar Kjartansson, World Light – The Life and Death of an Artist, 2015. Four-channel video, looped,duration: 8 hours 27 minutes 22 seconds. Commissioned by Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, Vienna. © Ragnar Kjartansson; Courtesy of the artist, Luhring Augustine, New York, and i8 Gallery, Reykjavik
On show at Luhring Augustine galleries, Kjartansson engages multiple artistic mediums, creating video installations, performances, drawings, and paintings that draw upon myriad historical and cultural references. An underlying pathos and irony connect his works, with each deeply influenced by the comedy and tragedy of classical theater.
Ragnar Kjartansson, World Light – The Life and Death of an Artist, 2015. Four-channel video, looped,duration: 8 hours 27 minutes 22 seconds. Commissioned by Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, Vienna. © Ragnar Kjartansson; Courtesy of the artist, Luhring Augustine, New York, and i8 Gallery, Reykjavik
Top and above: Ragnar Kjartansson, World Light – The Life and Death of an Artist, 2015. Four-channel video, looped,duration: 8 hours 27 minutes 22 seconds. Commissioned by Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, Vienna. © Ragnar Kjartansson; Courtesy of the artist, Luhring Augustine, New York, and i8 Gallery, Reykjavik
The artist blurs the distinctions between mediums, approaching his painting practice as performance, likening his films to paintings, and his performances to sculpture. Throughout, Kjartansson conveys an interest in beauty and its banality, and he uses durational, repetitive performance as a form of exploration.
Ragnar Kjartansson Architecture and Morality, 2016   Oil on canvas 47 3/16 x 59 inches (120 x 150 cm)
Ragnar Kjartansson, Architecture and Morality, 2016. Oil on canvas, 120 x 150 cm. ©Ragnar Kjartansson; Courtesy of the artist, Luhring Augustine, New York, and i8 Gallery, Reykjavik
Scenes from Western Culture (2015) is a series that depicts idyllic representations of Western life. The nine videos, or “cinematic paintings,” present non-narrative scenes: a couple dining at a New York restaurant, children playing in a garden in Germany, a woman swimming in a private pool.
Ragnar Kjartansson Scenes From Western Culture, Rich German Children (Ingibjörg Sigurjónsdóttir), 2015 Single channel video Duration: 00:52:46  © Ragnar Kjartansson; Courtesy of the artist, Luhring Augustine, New York, and i8 Gallery, Reykjavik
Ragnar Kjartansson, Scenes From Western Culture, Rich German Children (Ingibjörg Sigurjónsdóttir), 2015. Single channel video, duration: 00:52:46. © Ragnar Kjartansson; Courtesy of the artist, Luhring Augustine, New York, and i8 Gallery, Reykjavik
Kjartansson presents World Light – The Life and Death of an Artist (2015), a four-channel video based on Icelandic author Halldór Laxness’s four-volume novel World Light (1937-40). World Light portrays the tale of an orphan who yearns to become a masterful poet and his search for greatness, a quest which is riddled with difficulties, mediocrity, and tragedy.

until 23 December 2016
Ragnar Kjartansson: Scenes from Western Culture, Architecture and Morality, World Light
Luhring Augustine
531 West 24th Street, New York

Luhring Augustine Bushwick 
25 Knickerbocker Avenue, Brooklyn, New York

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