comme ça louise ?

The exhibition “comme ça louise ?” consists of a combination of visual elements related to a girl’s voice reading from a translation of Steinn Steinarr’s poem Time and Water. The reader is Icelandic and does not understand the English words, yet the essence of the message gets through to the attentive listener. The formal meaning of the sounds is of little consequence, as we communicate with each other – sparingly but intensely – while the waves of the sea murmur on in harmony with the advance of time.

The entirety of the elements gives the observer no more than a starting point for interpretation, where he has to find his own way through the numerous connections and escape routes. The drawings form an intersection of fragments that often remain unfinished. They contain doorways to the imagination and lead to ‘frozen’ moments in time from the past and the future. Each moment seems eternal, with the potential for recurrence. The networks also suggest the existence of several dimensions in the folds of linear time, while other possibilities that are still waiting for realisation are part of the universe, but belong to a different order of things. Everything depends on the connections we ourselves choose.

Hafnarborg – the Hafnarfjörður Centre of Culture and Fine Art was founded in 1983, becoming the home of the town’s art collection. Il was formally inaugurated on May 21st 1988. By that time, an extension had been added to the building, designed by architect Ingimar H. Ingimarsson.

The exhibition comme ça louise ? fits into the exhibition programme of Hafnarborg, meant to display works significant to Icelandic art history, from treasured artwork by the pioneers of Icelandic art to experimental work by contemporary artists.

Read more about Gudny Rosa Ingimarsdottir