Gallery

Anna Jóelsdóttir

Statement & Resume

Paintings

Works on Paper
Reviews
 

"space/time #1" mixed media on canvas, 9"x 72" (detail images below)

 
Artist Statement:

When I awake in the morning, I translate the time on the alarm clock to Icelandic time, turn on the computer, read, mother’s  email and  e-mails from other family members and friends. I respond in Icelandic. Then I log on to the Icelandic newspaper, “ Morgunblađiđ,”  read headlines and the occasional article. Only after this am I ready for the “Chicago Tribune” and “The New York Times”  Later, over coffee with my husband, we  compare notes from our different cultures. This conversation takes place in English.

I paint hard edge structures that look like stripes, paths, planes of something larger. From these hard edge structures burst ink drawings of controlled and chaotic fragments of color, interupted lines, shapes, signs, and symbols.  The fragments move, search, connect, erupt, burn, disconnect, fade, and disguise as they imply both natural landscapes and urban architectural forms. They distort vision, interupt time, and echo space – as our memories do. Large white areas of the paintings are sanded-down gesso, creating smooth, cool, “neutral” space for the hard edge structures and chaotic drawings. The paintings become personal places in a world where time and space are no longer centered.

The core of my work is about bridging cultures, off centeredness, the inbetween nature of our existance, and the turmoil that comes with it. Titles of series I have worked on in the last few years reflect this core, and include:  42şN/66şN,  here / hér,  flökt / flutter,  space / time,  heima?/home?, and gaps. Each title allows me the opportunity to see my themes from a slightly different angle, thus helping me to move and develop the work.

Working both large and small with different shapes, including the 3rd dimension of painting on sticks, gives me the opportunity to challenge the perceptions with which I start every morning.

Resume:
Education: MFA.  The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate.  The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
M.A.  Applied Research in Education, University of East Anglia, England
B.Ed.  University Teachers College of Iceland
Awards& Grants:
2005 Individual Artist Award Nominee, The Richard H. Driehouse Foundation, Chicago.
2004 American Scandinavian Foundation
2003 Myndstef, travel grant
Residency Fellowship, Hafnarborg Art Museum, Iceland
Residency Fellowship SÍM, Union of Icelandic Artist, Reykjavík, Iceland
2002 Honorary Mention, School of the Art Institute Graduation Fellowship
2001 Nippon Steel /USA Residential Award
Teaching Assistantship, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
2000 Teaching Assistantship, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Scholarship from the Soroptimists of Europe
Residency Fellowship at Hafnarborg Art Museum, Iceland
Parson Group, Student Award
Nippon Steel /USA Residential Award
1999 Bryan Lathrop Fellowship. The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
1984 Foreign & Commonwealth Official Scholarship & Award Scheme
Solo Exhibitions:
2006 heima? / home?, Zg Gallery, Chicago, IL
heima? / home?
, ASÍ Art Museum, Reykjavík, Iceland
2005 space/time, New Paintings, Stefan Stux Gallery, New York
2004 SubCity Projects, Chicago, 25 Sticks, an installation of 3D paintings
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. 42şN/ 66şN, Staci Boris, curator
2003 Hafnarborg, Institute of Culture and Fine Arts, Iceland, Flutter/Flökt
SIM Gallery, Reykjavík, Iceland
Contemporary Art Workshop, Chicago
2000 Hafnarborg, Institute of Culture and Fine Arts, Iceland
Group Exhibitions:
2007

Group, Zg Gallery, Chicago, IL

2006

Land Escape”, River East Art Center, Chicago curated by Joseph Tabet
Open House Project,  
Evanston, curated by Jodie Jacobi
Summer Show '06,
Zg Gallery, Chicago, IL
Six Degrees of Separation,
Stefan Stux Gallery, New York, NY
Art Chicago, International Contemporary Art Fair, Zg Gallery, Chicago, IL

2005 Beijing Biennial, Beijing, China, catalog
Zg Gallery Chicago, “Working Process”

Evanston Art Center, Invisible Worlds, Curated by Shona Macdonald, Evanston, IL
The Living Art Museum, curator: Ransu, Reykjavík, Iceland, Cataloge
2004 Evanston Biennial, Monique Meloche & Dominic Molon, curators
Higher Gallery, Chicago, Touch, Ed Schad, curator
Feltre School, Chicago, Collegiere/To Collect
2003 Prater Rouse Gallery, Norfolk, Virginia, Tabla Rasa
The Open Gallery, Reykjavík, Iceland
Fassbender Gallery,
Chicago
2002

Contemporary Art Workshop, Chicago, “New Talent”
MFA Graduate Exhibition, School of the Art Institute of
Chicago
Nippon Steel/ U.S.A. Residential Award Exhibition.      

2001 Hotel Show, Embassy Suites, Chicago
Parson Group Award Exhibition, Partners in the Arts Project,
Chicago
Nippon Steel/ U.S.A. Residential Award Exhibition. Chicago 
2000 Gerđuberg Center for Arts, Reykjavík, Iceland
Chicago Art Open Student Show
1999 The School of The Art Institute of Chicago, Spring exhibition
1995 West Bend Art Museum, West Bend, Wisconsin 
Bibliography & Publications:

2006

"Anna Joelsdottir: Heima Home" by Audry Mast, Flavorpill Chicago, Issue 108, October 10, 2006
"Finding Order in Chaos,"
by Fred Camper, Chicago Reader, September 15, v.35, no. 52, sec. 2
"The Start of New Art," by Joanne Hinkel, Center Stage Chicago, August 28, 2006
"Gallery Beat," Style Chicago, September 1, 2006

2005

LIST #3, CIA.is - Contemporay Icelandic Art . Web Magazine.
Morgunblađiđ, (Icelandic newspaper)p.39
 NEW YORKER,  Review July 4, p.21
“Morgunblađiđ” (Icelandic newspaper) May 21 , p.63
“Morgunbla
điđ” (Icelandic newspaper). Review. Feb.21. p. 37
Living Art Museum Reykjavík, Iceland. Exhibition Catalogue.
Evanston Art Center, catalogue

2004 

ART PAPERS.  Review by Michelle Grabner, Nov/Dec issue, p.50
“M
orgunblađiđ.”  Interview. August 13
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. Summer Catalogue.

2003

“Morgunblađiđ.”  Review. August, 2003
“Fr
éttablađiđ” (Icelandic newspaper). August, 2003
New American Painting, The Open Studio Press. No. 47, Staci Boris, curator,
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago

2001

“Back to the Books,” American Artist. January, 2001

2000

Morgunblađiđ.”  Review, March 28, 2000
“Dagblađiđ” (Icelandic newspaper), Review,
April 10, 2000

1987

I Have Feelings. Series of photographs and a Teacher’s Guide. National Center for Educational Materials of Iceland.
 
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