Hallsteinn Sigurðsson (born 1945) is an

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

ic sculptor and visual artist. He is noted for his Nordic god sculptures, some of which are located at the Laxá Power Station in the north central part of the country and are arranged in the facility’s tunnels and vaults. Some twenty five of his sculptures are exhibited in the

Gufunes Gufunes () is a historical estate and park for sculptures and artwork in northeastern Reykjavík. Today it lies within the Grafarvogur part of the city, located to the southwest and south of the Eidsvik Cove and Geldinganes Headland. It contain ...

sculpture park in north-east

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

Biography

Hallsteinn Sigurðsson was born in 1945 and studied at the School of Arts and Crafts in Iceland from 1963 to 1966, then went to the United Kingdom, where he studied sculpture at the

Hornsey College of Art Hornsey College of Art (a.k.a. Hornsey School of Art) was a college in Crouch End in the London Borough of Haringey, England. The HCA was "an iconic British art institution, renowned for its experimental and progressive approach to art and design ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

(1966–1967), Hammersmith College of Art, London (1967–1969) and the St. Martin’s School of Art, London (1969–1972). In London he was influenced by the work of

Anthony Caro Sir Anthony Alfred Caro (8 March 192423 October 2013) was an English abstract sculptor whose work is characterised by assemblages of metal using ' found' industrial objects. His style was of the modernist school, having worked with Henry Moor ...

and other "New Generation" sculptors. After completing his studies in London, he made study trips to Italy, Greece and the United States. Hallsteinn held more than a dozen solo exhibitions in the years 1971 to 1997, and has been hired to create monuments for various organizations and municipalities in Iceland. Early in his career, Hallsteinn created sculpture cast from concrete and various plastics. In his more recent works, Hallsteinn most often uses

aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...

and

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

alloy An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which at least one is a metal. Unlike chemical compounds with metallic bases, an alloy will retain all the properties of a metal in the resulting material, such as electrical conductivity, ductility, ...

, generally in abstract and geometric forms. Over time his structures have become lighter in form. Dozens of his works are in public ownership, and his works are represented in the collections of museums including the Borgarness Museum,

Icelandic National Gallery The National Gallery of Iceland ( is, Listasafn Íslands ) is an art museum in Reykjavík which contains a collection of Icelandic art. The gallery features artwork of famous Icelandic artists and artwork that helps explain the traditional Iceland ...

and

Reykjavík Art Museum Reykjavik Art Museum ( is, Listasafn Reykjavíkur ; founded in 1973) is the largest visual art institution in Iceland. It occupies three locations in Reykjavík; Hafnarhús by the old harbour Kjarvalsstaðir by Klambratún and Ásmundarsafn i ...

, where he resides. Some twenty-five of his sculptures are exhibited in the

sculpture park in northeast Reykjavík. Hallsteinn is a member of the

Icelandic Sculptors Society The Icelandic Sculptors Society was established in the Icelandic capital of Reykjavík in 1972 by Hallsteinn Sigurðsson Hallsteinn Sigurðsson (born 1945) is an Icelandic sculptor and visual artist. He is noted for his Nordic god sculptures, som ...

, which he established in the Icelandic capital in 1972 along with

Jon Gunnar Árnason Jon is a shortened form of the common given name Jonathan, derived from "YHWH has given", and an alternate spelling of John, derived from "YHWH has pardoned".Ragnar Kjartansson,

Þorbjörg Pálsdóttir Þorbjörg Guðrún Pálsdóttir (February 10, 1919, Reykjavík – November 11, 2009, Reykjavík) was an Icelandic sculptor. She is perhaps best known for her four green alien-like public statues ''Dansleikur/Dance'' in Reykjavík, which she com ...

and others. He is also a member of the

Icelandic Association of Visual Artists Icelandic refers to anything of, from, or related to Iceland and may refer to: *Icelandic people *Icelandic language *Icelandic alphabet *Icelandic cuisine See also * Icelander (disambiguation) * Icelandic Airlines, a predecessor of Icelandair * ...

. In 2002 a set of his sculptures based on

Nordic mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern period. ...

was installed in the tunnels and vaults of the Laxárvirkjun hydroelectric power station in north-central Iceland, where the works can be seen by visitors each summer. In 2006 he exhibited at the

Sigurjón Ólafsson Museum Sigurjón may refer to: *Sigurjón Birgir Sigurðsson (born 1962), known as Sjón, Icelandic author and poet *Sigurjón Brink (1974–2011), also known as Sjonni or Sjonni brink, an Icelandic musician and singer * Sigurjón Þórðarson (born 1964) ...

with a collection named "Wheel-Plow-Wings".

Notable works

*Ál-eggið -1968 *Maður og kona I – 1968 *Ferningar I −1973 *Steinbarn II – 1974 *Hyrningar VIII −1975 *Veðrahöll IV – 1978 *Harpa −1987 *Svif XXIII – 1987 *Fönsun IX – 1988 *Far I – 1991 *Far II – 1991 *Keilur V – 1991 *Skeljar I −1994 *Skeljar III −1994 *Skeljar V −1994 *Skeljar VII −1994 *Fönsun XII – 1994 *Pýramídar II −1994 *Píramídar III −1996 *Skeljar XII −1996 *Veðrahöll IX – 2002 *Fönsun XVI – 2004 *Vængir I – 2005

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sigurdsson, Hallsteinn 1945 births Living people Icelandic sculptors