Ólöf Helga Helgadóttir

Ólöf Helga Helgadóttir (b.1972) graduated from Iceland University of the Arts in 2005 and completed a Masters in Visual Art from Slade School of Fine Art, London in 2010. In 2001 she studied at the Icelandic Film School. Ólöf lives and works in Siglufjörður.

Recent exhibitions include Mild Humidity – The (Digital) Age of Aquarius in Verksmiðjan at Hjalteyri, 2019; The man that resembles many things in Kompan, Alþýðuhúsið in Siglufjörður, 2019; Bodies, materials and spaces in The Art Museum of Reykjanesbær, 2018.

In her work Ólöf pushes everyday material out of its traditional role, shedding unexpected light upon a familiar point of view. The material that she uses often has historical significance that is very personal.

The title of the exhibition resembles the Italian animated series La Linea created by the cartoonist Osvaldo Cavandoli. The series features Mr. Linea walking on an infinite line of which he is a part of. Mr. Linea encounters annoying obstacles that prevent him from walking. More often than not he gets angry with his creator which would then appear holding a pencil while drawing a solution with various degrees of success. At the end of every episode, the infinite line abrupt and Mr. Linea is gone.

At Harbinger drawing is in the form of mixed media installation where specific cleansing process takes place. The man that resembles many things appears here one more time but every now and then he has been appearing in the artist work since 2015.