SECOND WINDOW TO THE RIGHT

second window on the right – ENGLISH / english

Solo exhibition by Ídris Róbertsdóttir

Curator: Ægis Zita

Artistic Director: Inga Jónsdóttir

NOTE: The exhibition has been extended until September 14th.

Artist Talk September 6th from 4:00 PM-5:00 PM and September 14th from 4:00 PM-5:00 PM

Artist Ídris Róbertsdóttir will be in the area, answering questions and talking to visitors and passersby.

We warmly welcome you to the exhibition "Another Window on the Right", which is located in the nave of Hallgrímskirkja.

Hallgrímskirkja is open from 9:00-20:00 during the summer. It has been decided to extend the exhibition until September 14. From Monday, September 1, the winter opening of Hallgrímskirkja begins and the church will then be open from 10:00-17:00. The exhibition will be taken down on Wednesday, September 16 for those interested in watching.

Note: Opening hours may change due to holidays, events and concerts.

The second window on the right is an art exhibition where textiles dominate. Textiles, one of the world's oldest art forms, have received increased and deserved attention in recent years, and it is a joy to see Ídris Róbertsdóttir's installation in Hallgrímskirkja. It is intertwined with the history of Christianity, which can be seen in colorful, beautifully designed crochets and . With the work, the artist deals with the location, the space and the heritage. The curator, Ægis Zita, places it in a new context because the artwork was previously part of the award-winning anniversary exhibition of the Textile Society 50/100/55 in 2024, which was also curated by Ægis Zita.

The installation consists of colorful threads and lines that form diverse and multi-referential forms that are placed in one limited space, enclosed by four columns of the nave in front of the window that is second to the right when entering. The church was designed by the renowned architect, Guðjón Samúelsson (1887–1950), who has designed many of the country's most famous buildings. In no other church in Iceland can you see a ceiling like in Hallgrímskirkja, where lines and forms create a charming, stylish world, dedicated to the spiritual man Hallgrímur Pétursson (1614–1674), the country's most famous hymn poet. The poet's lines not only created the form of hymns but also secular verses and poems. His best-known work, however, is the Passion Psalms, which have been published more often than any other Icelandic book and translated into many foreign languages.

When Hallgrímur had to leave his studies in Copenhagen, he and his family settled in the Suðurnes peninsula, where he lived a difficult life as a laborer. His benefactor, Bishop Brynjólfur Sveinsson of Skálholt, appointed him as a priest in Hvalsnes Church a few years later, where his eloquence began to flourish and reached the ears of the parishioners. Later, when he was given a position at Hallgrímskirkja in Saurbær, his poetry reached its highest heights. A direct line of sight runs from the second window to the right to the Suðurnes peninsula, where powerful forces are now clashing in the bowels of the earth and shaping the land in a colorful spectacle.

In this way, the installation manages to lead the viewer's mind far beyond its limited space but also inward. By dissolving the form, opening the semi-closed form of the sculpture in the middle, Ídris Róbertsdóttir gives the work a certain tension as the earthbound clashes with the sublime, and the poetic lines Upp, up mín sál og allt mitt geð ... from the Passion Psalms involuntarily come to mind.

We hope you enjoy and reflect.

Inga Jonsdottir

Artistic advisor at Hallgrímskirkja