einar örn [ef væri ég]
Einar Örn Benediktsson
Born in 1962 in Reykjavík, Iceland, Einar Örn Benediktsson has been a defining force within Icelandic art and culture since the late 1970s. Working fluidly across visual arts, sound, performance, music, text, and multimedia, his practice is driven by a restless curiosity that is at once playful, absurd, and deeply human.
Executed with a spontaneous and unmistakable visual language, Einar Örn’s works balance humour with tension, often hovering somewhere between the poetic, the dada-esque, and the dreamlike. His imagery invites viewers into worlds that feel both intimate and strangely familiar, where logic bends and stories unfold through instinct rather than explanation.
While studying media at the University of Westminster, Einar Örn became immersed in the anarcho-punk scene in the UK, laying the foundation for a groundbreaking music career. He first emerged to the scene with his band Purrkur Pullnikk and later gained international recognition with the experimental post-punk group KUKL before achieving worldwide recognition as a founding member of The Sugarcubes. Throughout the decades, music and visual art have remained inseparable threads within his practice.
In recent years, Einar Örn has focused primarily on works on paper, large-scale murals, and textile-based works, continuing to develop a visual universe rooted in rhythm, improvisation, and narrative experimentation. In this exhibition, however, Einar takes his drawings to glass and exhibits works on windows found in the attic of his new home.
Einar’s work has been exhibited internationally and throughout Iceland, and he has collaborated extensively across disciplines. Recent exhibitions include A Journey of Iceland in Dublin and Reykjavík, örn&orn with Davíð Örn Halldórsson, and solo exhibitions at venues including Gerðarsafn, Gallery Gamma, and Havarí Gallery.
List of works
[ef væri ég]
1 í kyrrðinni heyrði ég ekkert
2 hann sagði þú nærð mér ekki
3 við náðum saman á endanum
4 ég settist aftur og starði
5 ég reyndi að finna botninn
6 ég er allt annað en langur
7 það halda mér engin bönd
8 opnaðu gluggann svo sálin geti flogið frjáls
9 ég forðast eldinn
10 það sást ekki til tunglsins
11 það draup af hverju strái
12 fallið var alls ekkert ●
13 við vorum í engum vandræðum
14 …sofandi
15 …flækja
16 …ringulreið
17 …gormur
18 …mjúkur
19 …þríhyrningur
20 …kafbátur
21 …hringtorg
22 …rigning
23 …orð
24 …ljós
25 …þoka
26 …kaldur
27 …nagli
28 …hugmynd
29 …bjálki
30 …hávaði
For pricing and acquisition inquiries, please speak with the gallerist.