Katrín Elvarsdóttir
born 1964, Iceland
info@katrinelvarsdottir.com
Education
1993 Art Institute of Boston, B.F.A.
1990 Brevard Community College, photography
1988 University of Iceland, B.A. in French
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2023 BERG Contemporary, Fifty Plants for Peace — Reykjavik, Iceland
2021 Hafnarborg, Songbirds — Hafnarfjörður, Iceland
2019 Residence of the Ambassador of Iceland, Space-Time Continuum — Berlin, Germany
2018 Berg Contemporary, The Search for Truth — Reykjavik, Iceland
2016 Gerðarsafn, Double Happiness — Kópavogur, Iceland
2015 Schody Galeria, Equivocal — Warsaw, Poland
2014 Deborah Berke, Vanished Summer — New York, USA
2013 ASÍ Museum, Vanished Summer — Reykjavík, Iceland
2012 The Shed, Here You’ll Find No Roses Growing — Reykjavík, Iceland
2010 Gallerí Ágúst, Equivocal: The Sequel — Reykjavík, Iceland
2010 Reykjavík Art Museum, Nowhereland — Reykjavík, Iceland
2008 Gallerí Ágúst, Equivocal — Reykjavík, Iceland
2008 Reykjavík Museum of Photography, Home-Away — Reykjavík, Iceland
2007 National Museum of Iceland, Without a Trace — Reykjavík, Iceland
2007 ASÍ Museum, Of This World — Reykjavík, Iceland
2005 Ísafjörður Art Museum, Longing — Ísafjörður, Iceland
2005 SÍM House, The Savior — Reykjavík, Iceland
2004 Hafnarborg Institute of Culture and Fine Art, Memory — Hafnarfjörður, Iceland
2003 Mokka, Breathless — Reykjavík, Iceland
2003 Seventh and Second Gallery, Revenants — New York, NY, USA
2002 Akureyri Art Museum, Revenants — Akureyri, Iceland
2002 Gallerí Skuggi, Revenants / Proximal Dimension — Reykjavík, Iceland
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023 The Northern Photographic Centre — Snowflakes and Other Surprises, Oulu, Finland
2023 BERG Contemporary — ‘’Tis the season… , Reykjavík, Iceland
2022 Landskrona Foto — Snowflakes and Other Surprises, Landskrona, Sweden
2022 Akureyri Art Museum — Black and White, Akureyri, Iceland
2022 Ísafjörður Art Museum — Nr4 Umhverfing, Ísafjörður, Iceland
2022 Ars Longa Art Museum — Rolling Snowball, Djúpivogur, Iceland
2022 National Gallery, Staged Moments — Reykjavík
2021 Fotografisk Center — Snowflakes and Other Surprises, Copenhagen, Denmark
2021 Dunker’s culture house — Nordic Salong, Helsingborg, Sweden
2021 Reykjavík Art Museum — Abracadabra, Reykjavík
2021 Streetlevel Photoworks — Forever changes, Glasgow, Scotland
2021 Bærum Kunsthall — PULS- ISLAND, Oslo, Norway
2021 Reykjavík Art Museum — Eilíf endurkoma, Reykjavík
2021 LÁ Art Museum — Iðustreymi, Hveragerði
2020 BERG Contemporary — Vegetation, Reykjavík
2020 Reykjavík Museum of Photography — Fjarski og nánd, Reykjavík
2020 Sláturhúsið, MMF — LAND, Egilstaðir
2020 Hafnarborg, Silent Spring — Hafnarfjörður, Iceland
2020 Gerðarsafn Art Museum, Imprint — Kópavogur, Iceland
2019 HiB, Skúrinn — Reykjavík
2019 Benaki Museum, Athens Photo Festival — Athens, Greece
2019 Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Exposures — Reykjavik
2019 Listasafn Reykjanesbæjar, Ljós og tími — Reykjanesbæ
2018 Forum Box, Dinner party with Cyclone — Helsinki, Finland
2018 The Museum of Photography, Nature as Playground — Seoul, South Korea
2018 Kunstlerhaus 1050, EIKON Award — Vienna, Austria
2018 FLUSS, Ultima Thule — Schloss Wolkersdorf, Austria
2018 Gerðarsafn Art Museum, Embody — Kópavogur, Iceland
2017 Martin Asbæk Gallery, Human;Nature — Copenhagen
2017 Martin Asbæk Gallery, Summer in the City — Copenhagen
2017 Mikligarður, FÍSL 2017, Höfn í Hornafirði, Iceland
2016 Titanik Gallery, Cyclone 3 — Turku, Finland
2016 Fotobook Festival, A Decade of Icelandic Photobooks — Youngstorget, Oslo
2016 National Gallery, Lightpaint — Reykjavík
2015 Musée de l’Elysée, Nuit des images, Rökkur — Lausanne, Sviss
2015 Hafnarborg, No Site — Hafnarfjörður
2015 The Factory, ÍSÓ 2015 — Ísafjörður
2015 University of Richmond Museum, Anti-Grand — Richmond, VA, USA
2014 Hillyer Art Space, Visible Iceland — Washington, DC, USA
2014 Reykjavík Museum of Photography, From a Different Angle — Reykjavík, Iceland
2014 LÁ Art Museum, Cyclone — Hveragerdi, Iceland
2014 Akureyri Art Museum, Icelandic Contemporary Portraits — Akureyri, Iceland
2013 Eskilstuna Konstmuseum, Nordic Art Station — Eskilstuna,Sweden
2013 ASÍ Museum, Auglitis til auglitis — Reykjavík, Iceland
2013 Hippolyte Gallery, Frontiers of Another Nature — Helsinki, Finland
2012 Hafnarborg, Skia-Shadow — Hafnarfjörður, Iceland
2012 Voies-Off Festival, Family Business/Photography From the North — Arles, France
2012 LÁ Art Museum, Nautn og notagildi — Hveragerði, Iceland
2012 La Sala, Art of Darkness — Brooklyn, NY, USA
2012 Reykjavík Photography Festival, Icelandic Contemporary Photography 1990-2011 — Iceland
2011 Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frontiers of Another Nature — Frankfurt, Germany
2011 Akureyri Art Museum, Awakening — Akureyri, Iceland
2010 Reykjanes Art Museum, Window Mirrors — Reykjanesbær, Iceland
2009 LÁ Art Museum, Flash at a Moment of Danger — Hveragerði, Iceland
2009 Ridgefield Guild of Artists, Camera Works 2009 — Ridgefield, CT, USA
2008 National Museum of Iceland, Reflection – Icelandic Contemporary Photography — Iceland
2008 Eagle Art Gallery, Magic Silver — Murray, KY, USA
2007 Stay Gold Gallery, Blowup — Brooklyn, NY, USA
2005 C.A.T. Nordlicht, Myth & Melancholy — Cologne, Germany
2005 Living Art Museum, Morar-nærvidd, with M. Hemstock — Reykjavík, Iceland
2004 La Maison Européenne de la Photographie, SYN — Paris, France
2004 Klink og Bank Gallery, Sound & Vision — Reykjavík, Iceland
2003 Society for Contemporary Photography, Current Works 2003 — Kansas City, MO, USA
2003 Gallery Korea, Haunted — New York, NY, USA
2003 LBI Foundation of the Arts and Sciences, Photography and Digital Images — Loveladies, NJ, USA
2003 Rathaus, Nordisher Klang 2003, Contemporary Reykjavík — Greifswald, Germany
2003 Reykjavík Art Museum – Kjarvalsstaðir, New Times in Icelandic Photography — Reykjavík, Iceland
2003 Korean Cultural Center, Cultural Narratives — Los Angeles, CA, USA
2003 Soho Photo Gallery, Krappy Kamera — New York, NY, USA
2003 Reykjavík Museum of Photography, Light-Speed — Reykjavík, Iceland
2002 Moscow House of Photography, Seasons of Icelandic Photography — Moscow, Russia
Monographs
2021 Songbirds. Self-published, Reykjavik, Iceland
2016 Double Happiness. Crymogea, Reykjavík, Iceland
2013 Vanished Summer. Crymogea, Reykjavík, Iceland
2012 Equivocal. Crymogea, Reykjavík, Iceland
2005 Mórar-nærvídd. 12 Tónar, Reykjavík, Iceland
Selected Bibliography
2020 Silent Spring. Hafnarborg, Hafnarfjörður, Iceland
2020 Fegurðin er ekki skraut. Íslensk samtímaljósmyndun, Fagurskinna, Reykjavík
2019 The Shed. Hið íslenska bókmenntafélag, Reykjavík, Iceland
2018 Nature as Playground. The Museum of Photography, Seoul, South Korea
2017 Shifiting Coordinates. 21c Museum Hotel Cincinnaty, OH, USA
2017 EIKON #100—Special Issue. Vienna, Austria
2015 Antigrand: Contemporary Perspectives on Landscape. Univ. of Richmond Museums, VA, USA
2014 Cyclone. Listasafn Árnesinga, Hveragerði, Iceland
2013 Nordic Now. Aalto, Helsinki, Finland
2011 Frontiers of Another Nature. Crymogea, Reykjavík, and Kehrer Verlag, Heidelberg/Berlin
2009 Afturgöngur og afskipti af sannleikanum. National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavík
2008 Reflection: Icelandic Contemporary Photography. National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavík
2007 Without a Trace. National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavík
Awards & Grants
2024 Ministry of Culture, 9-month artist stipend — Iceland
2023 Muggur, Travel Grant — Iceland
2023 Icelandic Art Center, travel grant — Iceland
2022 Icelandic Visual Arts Copyright Association, project grant — Iceland
2022 Ministry of Culture, 6-month artist stipend — Iceland
2021 Icelandic Art Center, travel grant — Iceland
2021 The Visual Arts Fund, Project Grant — Iceland
2021 Ministry of Culture, 6-month artist stipend — Iceland
2020 Ministry of Culture, 3-month artist stipend — Iceland
2019 Ministry of Culture, 6-month artist stipend — Iceland
2019 Icelandic Visual Arts Copyright Association, project grant — Iceland
2019 The Visual Arts Fund, Project Grant — Iceland
2018 The Icelandic Finnish Cultural Foundation — Finland
2017 EIKON Award (+ 45) — Austria
2017 Icelandic Art Center, travel grant — Iceland
2017 Ministry of Culture, 6-month artist stipend — Iceland
2016 Danish Arts Foundation, travel grant — Denmark
2016 Icelandic Art Center, project grant — Iceland
2016 Kulturkontakt Nord, mobility grant — Finland
2016 Muggur, residency grant — Iceland
2016 Icelandic Art Center, travel grant — Iceland
2015 The Northern Lights Confucius Institute, publishing grant — Iceland
2014 Ministry of Culture, 12 month artist stipend — Iceland
2013 The Visual Arts Fund, Project Grant — Iceland
2013 Icelandic Visual Arts Copyright Association, travel grant — Iceland
2013 Ministry of Culture, 3-month artist stipend — Iceland
2013 City of Reykjavík, project grant — Iceland
2012 Ministry of Culture, 6-month artist stipend — Iceland
2012 Icelandic Visual Arts Copyright Association, project grant — Iceland
2011 Ministry of Culture, 3-month artist stipend — Iceland
2010 City of Reykjavík, project grant — Iceland
2009 Künstlerhaus Lukas, 1-month scholarship — Germany
2009 Ministry of Culture, 6-month artist stipend — Iceland
2009 Ridgefield Guild of Artists, First Prize in Camera Works 2009 — USA
2008 Icelandic Visual Arts Copyright Association, project grant — Iceland
2008 Icelandic Art Center, project grant — Iceland
2007 Icelandic Visual Arts Copyright Association, Honorary Award nomination — Iceland
2007 Icelandic Visual Arts Copyright Association, travel grant — Iceland
2007 Muggur, Residency Grant — Iceland
2007 Stockholm Cultural Fund, travel grant — Sweden
2004 Bank of Iceland, Cultural Fund Grant — Iceland
2003 Ministry of Education, travel grant — Iceland
2003 Society for Contemporary Photography, Merit Award — USA
2003 Soho Photo Gallery, First Prize in Krappy Kamera — USA
2002 Icelandic Visual Arts Copyright Association, project grant — Iceland
2002 Ministry of Education, Arts & Culture Fund grant — Iceland
2002 South Shore Art Center, Third Prize in White, Black and Shades of Gray — US
Curatorial Work
2023 Reykjavik Museum of Photography, Graduation exhibition 2023 — Reykjavik, Iceland
2022 Reykjavik Museum of Photography, Graduation exhibition 2022 — Reykjavik, Iceland
2021 Reykjavik Museum of Photography, Graduation exhibition 2021 — Reykjavik, Iceland
2020 Reykjavik Museum of Photography, Graduation exhibition 2020 — Reykjavik, Iceland
2019 Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Afjúpanir/Exposures — Reykjavik, Iceland
2018 Pingyao Photography Festival, This Island Earth — Pingyao, China
2018 Photographic Center North, This Island Earth — Oulu, Finland
2018 Reykjavík Museum of Photography, Þessi eyja jörðin — Reykjavik, Iceland
2017 Galleri Image, This Island Earth — Aarhus, Denmark
2017 Photobook Week Aarhus, A decade of Icelandic Photobooks — Aarhus, Denmark
2016 Fotobook Festival, A decade of Icelandic Photobooks — Youngstorget, Oslo
2016 National Museum of Iceland, Andvari / Breeze — Reykjavík, Iceland
2015 Musée de L’Elysée, Rökkur — La Nuit Des Images, Lausanne, Switzerland
2014 National Museum of Iceland, From a Different Angle — Reykjavík, Iceland
2014 Reykjavík Museum of Photography, From a Different Angle — Reykjavík, Iceland
2014 Norwegian House, Landform — Stykkisholmur, Iceland
2010 Nordic House, Núna–The Present is Now — Reykjavik, Iceland
Boards & Committees
2022-2025 Icelandic Art Council board member, Ministry of culture and business affairs, Iceland
2021-2024 Art Council member, Gerðarsafn Art Museum, Kópavogur, Iceland
2015-2025 Co-Director, Co-Founder, The Icelandic Photography Festival, Iceland
2019-2024 Chairman of The Professional Committee, The Photography School, Iceland
2012-2015 Co-Founder, Board member, Photography Days Festival, Iceland
2011-2015 Board Member, Icelandic Art Center, Reykjavik, Iceland
2012-2015 Professional Committee, Icelandic Art Center, Iceland
2009-2012 Board Member, SÍM – Visual Artist Association, Iceland
2007-2013 Co-Founder, Board Member, The Icelandic Contemporary Photographers’ Association
Lectures & Teaching
2016-2024 The School of Photography, Reykjavik, Iceland — part-time teacher
2020 Iceland University of the Arts, Reykjavik, Iceland — workshop manager
2018 Iceland University of the Arts, Reykjavik, Iceland — photography workshop teacher
2016 The School of Photography, Reykjavik, Iceland — Annual Review Committee Member
2016-2018 The School of Photography, Reykjavik, Iceland — workshop teacher
2016 Iceland Academy of the Arts, Reykjavik, Iceland — guest lecturer
2015-2018 The Reykjavik School of Visual Arts, Reykjavik, Iceland — part-time teacher
2015 Iceland Academy of the Arts, M.A. studies program, Reykjavik, Iceland — guest lecturer
2013 Iceland Academy of the Arts, M.A. studies program, Reykjavik, Iceland — guest lecturer
2006-2009 Iceland Academy of the Arts, Photography As an Artistic Medium, Reykjavik, Iceland — course organizer and teacher
2005 Iceland Academy of the Arts, Reykjavik, Iceland — guest lecturer