Ragnar Kjartansson: Epic Waste of Love and Understanding

Ragnar Kjartansson is widely considered to be one of the most significant performance artists of his generation. This retrospective at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebæk (9 June–22 October) presents a selection of his best-known works, with Kjartansson variously taking on the role of director, actor, comedian or musician. Among them is the nine-screen video installation The Visitors (2012): filmed at Rokeby Farm, a grand dilapidated house in upstate New York, The Visitors features the Icelandic artist and his friends, including members of the band Sigur Rós, singing and playing the same song in different rooms of the mansion for more than an hour. Kjartansson’s characteristic use of repetition is also seen in earlier works such as Mercy (2004), in which the artist stars as an Elvis-like crooner, singing a single line over and over again. Find out more on the Louisiana’s website – and you can read Digby Warde-Aldam’s interview with the artist here.

Preview below | View Apollo’s Art Diary

Still from Bliss (2020), Ragnar Kjartansson. Courtesy the artist, Luhring Augustine, New York, i8 Gallery, Reykjavik; © Ragnar Kjartansson

Still from Mercy (2004), Ragnar Kjartansson. Courtesy the artist, Luhring Augustine, New York and i8 Gallery, Reykjavik; © Ragnar Kjartansson

Still from No Tomorrow (2017), Ragnar Kjartansson. © Ragnar Kjartansson

The Visitors (2012), Ragnar Kjartansson. Photo: Elisabet Davids; courtesy the artist, Luhring Augustine, New York and i8 Gallery, Reykjavik; © Ragnar Kjartansson