August 17th, 2008 | 2008, works
Recent Works – Künstlerhaus Bethanien – 14.08 – 31.08 – 2008
Installation view Recent Works
Vistitor listening to/viewing the music piece The Constitution of The Republic of Iceland
Libia Castro & Ólafur Ólafsson work with a wide range of artistic media and examine themes relevant to the socio-political situation of public and urban space; their art is a matter of language, urban identity and the effects of globalisation on local communities. The projects are ‘nomadic’: numerous journeys, long periods staying on site and cooperation with local communities and activist groups are established components of Castro’s and Ólafsson’s artistic practice.
In Studio 3, Castro & Ólafsson are showing selected works from the past five years as a representative insight into their artistic practice. Sculptures, photographs, video and sound works made in such contrasting places as Cuba, Spain, the Netherlands, Iceland, Turkey and Germany reflect their personal, poetic-realistic style of committed artistic work as well as the everyday life of a wide spectrum of people – together with its minor and major events, encounters and spaces.
Libia Castro and Ólafur Ólafsson are participants in the International Studio Program of Künstlerhaus Bethanien.
In front Bosbolobosboco # 5, 2005
Visitor viewing Untitled (Portrait of the artists wearing the Icelandic national women’s costume; Peysuföt and Upphlutur), 2000
Installation view
Mirror Beam 2001-08, Uterus Flags, 2005-08 and Dein Land gibt es nicht (Your Country Doesn’t Exist) Postage Stamp Prototype, 2008
Mirror Beam and Avant-garde Citizens – Mpa´s Story, 2007-08
Avant-garde Citizens – Mpa´s Story
Dein Land gibt es nicht (Your Country Doesn’t Exist) Postage Stamp Prototype, 2008
Installation view
Installation view. To the right 115 Bajos Esmeralda (Signs and People), 2003
115 Bajos Esmeralda (Signs and People), Havana 2003
The photo-series is shot in the neighborhood of Vedado in 2003 as a diary-mapping, during two visits of in total one and a half month on the occasion of the 8th Havana Biennial.
In this series we mapped signs and texts in the urban environment and photographed our friends, their families and ourselves in our encounters, everyday life situations and actions together.
Thanks to The Dutch Embassy, CIA (Center of Icelandic Art) and Sjóður Listamannalauna for supporting our residency and exhibition.