REYKJAV蚄.- i8 Gallery announced The Mountain Within, an exhibition of historical paintings by St閒an V. J髇sson, who is commonly known as St髍val. The exhibition is on view from 15 August until 5 October 2024. St髍val (1908-1994) is an important figure in Icelandic art who captured his native landscape in a signature frank style using colour-blocking. Particularly known for his paintings of Her饀brei�, a revered mountain in the highlands of Iceland, St髍val became a household name and his landscapes were widely collected around the country. St髍val's first gallery exhibition was at Reykjav韐's Gallery S贛 in 1972, an artist-run gallery founded by the S贛 group, which included Sigur饀r Gu餸undsson, Kristj醤 Gu餸undsson and Hreinn Fri餱innson, all of whom are part of i8's program.

Stories circulate about a farmer who was a legend in his own lifetime. He was a countryman who was agile in movement, who roamed Reykjavik on a bicycle with a painting on the bike rack. A farmer in the city who mowed roundabouts, dressed in his best clothes with a pitchfork, rode a horse into a shop to ask for directions. A colourful personality, free from superficiality, reciting strange tales of animals and people in the M鲳rudals鰎鎓i.

謗鎓i was the promised land. The vastness, a trusted companion to be listened to – mountains, valleys, scree, and rocks – vividly recollected. Stef醤 from M鲳rudal had come to the city, a spirit longing for the great mountains, which he could not return to. The stories of the mountains are now being forgotten one by one. But Stef醤’s paintings continually evoke sensitive stories of life in the remote valleys while simultaneously bringing to the fore an image of an artist made in the city.

Creative thinking had a place in Stef醤’s family. Inventiveness and rich storytelling heritage originated with his parents, and from them flowed the artistic talents that the farmer suddenly and unexpectedly felt as he arrived in the city and the urban landscape enveloped him. There, the artist emerged without an example; he exhibited his works under the open sky, on streets and squares, as artists did abroad, and played the accordion for passers-by. A farmer without livestock, a painter without a soulmate.

Stef醤 moved from the Eastfjords to Reykjavik in 1955 – then past middle age – leaving behind the countryside freedom and struggle. In the city, he worked various manual jobs while starting his artistic career in complete earnestness. Earnestness that was without hesitation or cessation. Painting became a way for him to express the emotions related to his life experiences in the mountains. His creative force was driven by his joy of storytelling. The joy and playfulness that marked his life in the city, where he was popular and active, constantly strolling around town.

Stef醤’s first exhibition indoors was at Gallery S贛 in 1972. By then, he had held numerous outdoor exhibitions on squares, intersections, and against building walls in downtown Reykjavik since 1959. At Gallery S贛, Stef醤 was in the company of artists who appreciated his sincerity and straightforward attitude towards art. The exhibition drew significant attention, discourse, and many visitors. The walls were covered with works from a prolonged period – Stef醤 had become St髍val.

He painted with conviction, sensitivity, and boisterousness. Visual narratives show waters, hills, farms, mountains, fjords, and bays. Then there were animals, mainly sheep and horses – alone or in herds, which Stef醤 dearly loved. The family also appeared – mother, love, and festivities. Speed was the primary measure of quality, and repetition showed his passion for the subject. The use of colour was direct, unrefined – the subject captured in a blink – and the materials were whatever was at hand.

Then there is Her饀brei�, beautiful in form and varied. Similar but never the same – the mountain Stef醤 could never get enough of. He couldn’t grasp it – but it was the foundation of his creative force and existence. The mountain within. Unclimbable except in the mind, and according to Stef醤 – hollow inside. His Mont Sainte-Victoire, Mount Fuji – his private magic mountain.

Unnar 謗n