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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.
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.
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.
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.
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