Hulda Stefánsdóttir is known for her sparse and deceptively simple paintings, where surface moves fluidly between functioning as the background and the prominent feature. “… like low-pitched voices that we only hear when all else goes silent.“ Her experiments with the history of painting revolve around the subject of time and the impossibility of presenting any given moment without echoes or traces of its past. The overlaying of sensory worlds which take place through physical experiences and memories is at the core of her practice, as are contemplations of the relationship of painting with photography and film. The impression or imprint is at the heart of this investigation. The drawings, prints and painted works employ repetition and chance conjuring up questions about the original and the copy. She has described the process behind her non-representational paintings as a search for a timeless essence that also establishes a clear sense of what could only belong to the here and the now. Images are repeated, dissolved and reduced to an open ambiguity that stress the instability of our perception.
Hulda Stefánsdóttir has exhibited her paintings and drawings internationally since graduating with MFA in 2000 from the School of Visual Arts, Fine Arts Department, in New York City. In addition to her art journal writing for the daily “Morgunblaðið” in Iceland, between 1997 - 2006, and holding a professorship at the Iceland University of the Arts from 2008 - 2016 she is represented by BERG Contemporary in Reykjavík, Iceland. http://bergcontemporary.is/artists/hulda-stefansdottir/
Publication of “Time Map” an artist book/ monograph was launched in 2020 by Space Sisters Press, Beacon NY in collaboration with BERG Contemporary. https://www.spacesisterspress.com/artists/hulda-stefnsdttir/
HULDA STEFÁNSDÓTTIR
b. 1972 in Reykjavík, Iceland
Education
MFA, The School of Visual Arts, New York, NY, USA
Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts, Reykjavík, Iceland
1998-2000
1993-1997
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2021 BERG Contemporary, In Media Res, Reykjavík, Iceland
BERG Contemporary, Shift, Reykjavík, Iceland
Hallgrímskirkja (Hallgrims church), Catalysis, Reykjavík, Iceland
Gallerí Ágúst, Hlutlaus. á hreyfingu, Reykjavík, Iceland
Institute of Contemporary Art, Plug In, The Neutral; In Motion, Winnipeg, Canada
Listasafn ASÍ, Ásmundarsalur, Yfirlýstir staðir, Reykjavík, Iceland
Dandruff Space & Shroud, A Hole in Your Time, Brooklyn, NY, USA
Gerðarsafn Municipal Museum, Leiftur, Kópavogur, Iceland
The Living Art Museum, Reykjavík, Iceland
2016
2010
2007
2005
2003
2001
Selected Group Exhibitions
BERG Contemporary, Event Horizon, Reykjavík, Iceland
Gallery Punto, SEER-European Painting and Drawing, Tokyo
Hafnarborg Center of Culture & Fine Art, Painting - Not a Medium, Hafnarfjörður, Iceland
Hafnarborg – Center of Culture & Fine Art, Traces of Water, Hafnarfjörður, Iceland
The Reykjavík Art Museum, Kjarvalsstaðir, Just Painted, Reykjavík, Iceland
Gimli, offices of Icelandic Art Center and Reykjavík Arts Festival, Reykjavík, Iceland
The Reykjavík Art Museum, Hafnarhús, Perspectives – On the Borders of Art and Philosophy, Reykjavík, Iceland
The Reykjavík Art Museum, Kjarvalsstaðir, Watery Hues, Reykjavík, Iceland 2009 The Reykjavík Art Museum,
Hafnarhús, Reykjavík Arts Festival, Possibilities, Reykjavík, Iceland
Scandinavia House, From Another Shore: Recent Icelandic Art, New York, NY, USA
The National Gallery of Iceland, Painting After 1980, Reykjavík, Iceland
The National Gallery of Iceland, New Icelandic Art II, Moving Centres, Reykjavík, Iceland
Boston Center for the Arts, A Polar Bear in a Snow Storm, Boston, MA, USA
Visual Arts Gallery, Subjects + Objects, New York, NY, USA
Exit Art, The Stroke, Painting Now, New York, NY, USA
SVA Gallery, Mischievous Formalism, New York, NY, USA
2019
2017
2016
2015
2011
2010
2008
2006
2005
2000
1999
Collections
The Reykjavík Art Museum, Reykjavík, Iceland
The National Gallery of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland
The Art Museum of the University of Iceland, Reykjavík Iceland
Grants / Awards / Residencies
2019
2018
2008
2006
1999
Cape Cod Modern House Trust Artist / Scholar Residency, invited guest of artist Suzanne McClelland
Artists stipend, the Icelandic Ministry of Culture, Iceland
The Guðmunda Fund, Reykjavík Art Museum, Reykjavík, Iceland
Artists stipend, the Icelandic Ministry of Culture, Iceland
Sheila F. Rhodes Scholarship Award, The School of Visual Arts, New York, NY, USA
Academia
2008–2016
2012-2016
2012, 2014
2009-2016
2012-2016
2011
2004-2006
Professor of Fine Art at the Iceland University of the Arts, Reykjavík, Iceland
Programme Director for the MA fine art programme
Acting Dean of Fine Art, Iceland University of the Arts, Reykjavík, Iceland
Member of the Iceland University of the Arts Research Committee
Member of Steering Committee for KUNO, Nordic Baltic network of Fine Art Academies (chair 2014–2016)
Visiting tutor/lecturer at the Royal Academy of Fine Art, Copenhagen
Part-time lecturer at the Department of Fine Art, Iceland University of the Arts