The video screening of his artwork Bliss (2020) chronicles continuously, for 12 hours, a performance of the final 3-minute aria of Marriage of Figaro opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
A superstar of contemporary art, as Washington Post named him, and the author of The Visitors, “the best artwork of the 21st century” according to The Guardian, famous artist Ragnar Kjartansson arrives in Bucharest on March 18 for an artist talk and the screening of Bliss (2020), one of the most exciting video artworks in his portfolio.
The event is organised by Gaep (Bucharest), in partnership with Gallery i8 (Reykjavík), one of the galleries that represents Kjartansson. The event will take place at ARCUB Hanul Gabroveni.
Ragnar Kjartansson comes to Bucharest to share with the Romanian public the stories behind his work. He will do that at the artist talk that will take place in ARCUB’s foyer (Sala Mare), on March 18, during 17.00-18.00. Kjartansson will share the behind-the-scenes story of the video production, will outline his path from a childhood spent on the fringes of drama rehearsals and performances in theatres where his parents had been actors – to an international career in visual arts. Kjartansson will be in conversation with representatives of both galleries – i8, Börkur Arnarson, and Gaep, Andrei Breahnă.
The video screening of Bliss will take place in Sala Mare of ARCUB during 11.00 am – 11.00 pm without any interruption, in full alignment with the live performance that had been a resilient 12-hour marathon for vocalists and the orchestra. The initial performance was commissioned by Performa 11 Biennale from New York, in 2011.
Admission to both the artist talk and the screening is free. As for the screening, the public could stay for 12 minutes or 12 hours, up to their choice. We encourage participants to wander in and out during the day to see how the durational performance chronicled in the video transforms throughout.
Recognized as one of the most fascinating and significant voices of contemporary art, Kjartansson masters multiple genres, mediums and roles, acting as a visual artist and a director, a musician and a showman. His artistic method revolves around theatricality and ritual and their common features: repetition and endurance.
The recent video Bliss (2020) is a masterpiece that chronicles Kjartansson’s durational performance of the same name, a staging of the final aria from Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. Replicating the lavishness of traditional opera with a full orchestra, elaborate scenery and rococo costumes, the work presents a cast of singers – the artist included – performing the three-minute aria on repeat for 12 hours straight. Because of this extreme form of repetition, situations and emotions transform over time. Thus, the aria evolves, starting by gallant interpretation, then moving to an ironic or an ecstatic mood. In the end, it comes back to the original elegance, also bearing the inevitable physical and emotional weight resulting from a continuous 12-hour interpretation, without any interruptions or breaks.
Ragnar Kjartansson lives and works in Reykjavík. His solo shows include exhibitions at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Reykjavík Art Museum; Barbican Centre, London; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Park, Washington D.C.; Palais de Tokyo, Paris; New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York; Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburg etc.
He received Ars Fennica Award (2019), Artes Mundi’s Derek Williams Trust Purchase Award (2015) and Malcolm McLaren Award (2011), the latter for the Best Artist under 40 years old, at Performa 11 Biennale.
He participated in the main exhibition at the 2013 Venice Biennale, at Manifesta 10 in St. Petersburg, 2014 and he represented Iceland at the 2009 edition of the Biennale.
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This event is organised under the umbrella of Accelerator. Mentoring and production for emerging artists programme, implemented by Asociația Culturală Eastwards Prospectus in partnership with Gallery i8 and Gaep Gallery. Accelerator is the first and the most complex mentoring programme rolled-out in Romania until now whose aim is to boost the careers of 10 Romanian emerging artists selected. Until now, the program included a comprehensive mentoring stage consisting in workshops and one-on-one sessions with artists as well as national and international cultural managers. Accelerator has recently presented the exhibition Back to Where It All Began, now on view at Gaep, featuring new artworks by the 10 emerging artists who are part of the programme. Until May 13, the exhibition will host various related events. In summer, the 3rd part of Accelerator – public art – will kick-off in Bucharest and 3 other Romanian cities.
Accelerator began on October 1, 2021, and will be rolled-out for 24 months, until September 30, 2023. The programme budget is 1,069,301.00 LEI (216,707.74 EUR) for its entire duration. The non-refundable value of the financing (85% EEA Grants and 15% national budget) is 962,370.90 de lei (195,036.97 euro).
Accelerator is financed with the support of EEA Grants 2014-2021 within the RO CULTURA Programme and is implemented by Asociația Culturală Eastwards Prospectus.