Undir berum himni – Guðmundur Ármann Sigurjónsson

Guðmundur Ármann Sigurjónsson will be opening an exhibition called Undir berum himni on the 7th of February in Deiglan. On show will be around thirty watercolor pictures, painted between 2019 and 2024, and the motifs are for the most part found in and around Eyjafjörður. The exhibition will also be open on the 11th of February from 2PM – 5PM, and the following weekend during the same hours.

All of the pictures from Undir berum himni are plein air, painted outside in nature. Some were finished right there on the spot, whereas details were finished on others in the artists studio. The reason usually being that it start to rain or the winds got too strong for the easel to remain steady. Then it was time to return to the calm of the studio.

All the pictures are figarative watercolors and were not considered to be preperatory works for bigger oil paintings, as sometimes is the case, but rather fully realised works in their own right. Thereby the artist still keeps one foot in the world of figurative representations. Painting with a simple mix of water, pigment and binders out in nature is a powerful experience that gives a unique perspective on nature, in respect to it’s colors, shapes and lighting. Working in the studio, on the other hand, where abstracts are made with oils, through drawing or printmaking techniques, there is introspection with more focus on some sort of motifs and principles of a two-dimensional plane.

Is there a fundamental difference between these different approaches? Where is the line that separates what lives in nature and that which is within us? That might be a subject for another time, and possibly another exhibition.