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With Nevin Aladag, Chantal Michel, Libia Castro & Ólafur Ólafsson, Guy Ben Ner, Haraldur Jónsson.
Homesickness is a term used in a number of languages to express illness, pain or a longing for one's distant home. Homesickness is a concrete feeling or a romantic term. It is childish, antiquated and yet current and relevant since it touches on the question of one's own (individual or collective, ethnic or cultural) identity. The question of what 'home' can signify in times of globalised societies, which leads on to the question of what is signified by 'homesickness', can be put both concretely and metaphorically. The question can be grasped as an approach both towards the subjective phenomenon of people yearning for a sense of belonging and towards a cultural or ethnic group's collective pursuit of identity.
It was also its assonant double entendre that caused HOMESICK to be chosen as the laconic title of the exhibition project in which the desire to leave home is likewise expressed: to be sick of home. The globalised world economy demands modern nomadism from the individual; the home becomes a claustrophobic nightmare, escape represents freedom.
The artists invited to participate in HOMESICK approach the subject both in a subjective-emotional manner as well as intellectually or theoretically. The works of the three Icelandic positions correspond to those of the three guest artists. Directly or indirectly they ask the viewers to question his or her own moods.
Guy Ben-Ner (Israel, b. 1969) represented Israel at the Venice Biennale in 2005 and currently lives in New York. His own four walls often provide the setting and he or his own family are the protagonists of his metaphoric video works.
Nevin Aladag (Turkey, b. 1972) lives in Berlin. Her works reflect the search of young Turks living in Germany for an identity of their own — a search that is strongly expressed in music and dance.
Chantal Michel (Switzerland, b. 1968) enters alien private spheres for her performances, videos and staged photography. The nature of her physical presence is a threat to the intimacy of the home.
Haraldur Jónsson (Iceland, b. 1961) targets subjective perception. His works, which he calls psychosomatic sculptures, focus directly on the viewer, confronting him/her physically and intellectually with the materialisation of emotional sensations.
Home as a site and a concept is one of the central themes present in the works by Katrin Sigurdardóttir (Iceland, b. 1967). The artist's signature use of miniature models explores the ways in which the experience of one place is entangled in the memory of other places.
Libia Castro (Spain, b. 1971) & Ólafur Ólafsson (Iceland, b. 1973) have been working as a team since 1996, occupying public spaces with their installations. Their socially critical approach touches on socio-political themes and seeks to involve the visitor through active participation.
Online:
www.cia.is/news/homesick.htm
www.homesickx4.blogspot.com
www.listasafn.akureyri.is
Catalogue:
A catalogue with contributions of Hjálmar Sveinsson and
Christian Schoen will be published for the exhibitions