LÁ Art Museum group exhibition Flash at a moment of danger Currated by Sigrún Sigurðardóttir.
Participating artistis:
Charlotta Hauksdóttir · Einar Falur Ingólfsson ·
Gréta S. Guðjónsdóttir · Haraldur Jónsson · Ingvar Högni Ragnarsson ·
Katrín Elvarsdóttir · Kristleifur Björnsson · Pétur Thomsen

Extract from the exhibition catalouge. Text by Sigrún Sigurðardóttir and translated by Anna Yates.
In the works of contemporary Icelandic photographers we may see fragments of reality which are likely to awaken those lived experiences which reside inside us, and which we are unable to put into words. The photographers whose work is shown in the exhibition A Flash at the Moment of Danger all work with their own memories and lived experiences, while at the same time seeking to bring out a certain truth about the reality in which we live.
The photographers seek to bring us reality in a personal yet complex way. They do not appeal to sense or intellect, but primarily to sensation and feeling. In this way they avoid becoming caught up in the web of language and discourse. They ask no questions about prevailing values; they do not seek the approval of the establishment. Instead they set out to explode history as it has been told, as a series of events arranged according to an orderly pattern ordained by those who wish to control our attitudes to reality. Thus the events appear as flash at the moment of danger. They enable us to recapture the past, which we would otherwise have missed. Different times are conflated, and that juxtaposition opens up a new interpretation of the past. Hence these are dialectical images.
In this sense, contemporary Icelandic photography has escaped the web woven of the delicate, often invisible threads of postmodernism. Postmodernism was characterised by the dissolution of truth and the primacy of perspective. It has much to offer, yet by its insistence that we are all captives to language, and thus to the discourse of the ruling classes, it lost sight of reality itself. Contemporary Icelandic photographers now appear to be recapturing reality, by allusion to the unspoken, to the lived experience, emotion and the unconscious, while also emphasising the personal perspective, in a quest to escape the discourse and authority of conventional values. This quest can, however, never be more than an attempt, as each perspective is shaped by the system within which it finds itself compelled to operate. Rather than submitting unquestioningly to the power of the system, the personal viewpoint may be used to throw light upon the system itself. Thus a photograph can be used in a manner comparable to the microhistorian’s use of words and language. By focussing on the personal and individual, it is possible to prod at, dissect or simply throw light upon the system which informs our approach. In this way microhistory and the concept of unexposed memories, which appear like flashes at the moment of danger, are intertwined in the work of contemporary Icelandic photographers.
Charlotta Hauksdóttir · Einar Falur Ingólfsson ·
Gréta S. Guðjónsdóttir · Haraldur Jónsson · Ingvar Högni Ragnarsson ·
Katrín Elvarsdóttir · Kristleifur Björnsson · Pétur Thomsen

Extract from the exhibition catalouge. Text by Sigrún Sigurðardóttir and translated by Anna Yates.
In the works of contemporary Icelandic photographers we may see fragments of reality which are likely to awaken those lived experiences which reside inside us, and which we are unable to put into words. The photographers whose work is shown in the exhibition A Flash at the Moment of Danger all work with their own memories and lived experiences, while at the same time seeking to bring out a certain truth about the reality in which we live.
The photographers seek to bring us reality in a personal yet complex way. They do not appeal to sense or intellect, but primarily to sensation and feeling. In this way they avoid becoming caught up in the web of language and discourse. They ask no questions about prevailing values; they do not seek the approval of the establishment. Instead they set out to explode history as it has been told, as a series of events arranged according to an orderly pattern ordained by those who wish to control our attitudes to reality. Thus the events appear as flash at the moment of danger. They enable us to recapture the past, which we would otherwise have missed. Different times are conflated, and that juxtaposition opens up a new interpretation of the past. Hence these are dialectical images.
In this sense, contemporary Icelandic photography has escaped the web woven of the delicate, often invisible threads of postmodernism. Postmodernism was characterised by the dissolution of truth and the primacy of perspective. It has much to offer, yet by its insistence that we are all captives to language, and thus to the discourse of the ruling classes, it lost sight of reality itself. Contemporary Icelandic photographers now appear to be recapturing reality, by allusion to the unspoken, to the lived experience, emotion and the unconscious, while also emphasising the personal perspective, in a quest to escape the discourse and authority of conventional values. This quest can, however, never be more than an attempt, as each perspective is shaped by the system within which it finds itself compelled to operate. Rather than submitting unquestioningly to the power of the system, the personal viewpoint may be used to throw light upon the system itself. Thus a photograph can be used in a manner comparable to the microhistorian’s use of words and language. By focussing on the personal and individual, it is possible to prod at, dissect or simply throw light upon the system which informs our approach. In this way microhistory and the concept of unexposed memories, which appear like flashes at the moment of danger, are intertwined in the work of contemporary Icelandic photographers.
