Ólafur Gíslason - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
I am a retired art historian, art-curator, critic, journalist, teacher and writer with interests in philosophy, phenomenology, semiotics, ermeneutics and psychology and special interests in Italian art history and philosophy.
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Papers by Ólafur Gíslason
An essay on artistic creation written in occasion of the exhibition "Perspectives - At the Conve... more An essay on artistic creation written in occasion of the exhibition "Perspectives - At the Convergence of Art and Philosophy", held in Reykjavik Art Museum in 2011. The author took part in the curatorial work of seven curators and the essay is an attempt to clarify his selection of works in the show.
L'invito di fare una mostra nel Museo dei Mercati di Traiano ai Fori Imperiali a Roma non è solta... more L'invito di fare una mostra nel Museo dei Mercati di Traiano ai Fori Imperiali a Roma non è soltanto un grande onore e una sfida per l'artista islandese Rósa Gísladóttir. Tutto l'ambiente dei Fori ci fa vedere le sue opere sotto un nuovo aspetto, e le opere stesse ci fanno anche pensare a quest'ambiente sacrosanto per tutta la cultura Occidentale in un modo nuovo. Dopo aver visto le opere dentro i Mercati di Traiano non possiamo più vederle come un esempio di formalismo minimalista della tarda modernità. Il dialogo con le rovine su i Fori imperiali da un nuovo significato alle opere, un significato che ci invita anche a pensare l'ambiente storico sotto una nuova prospettiva.
Trail is the name that Ragnheiður Jónsdóttir has given her latest series of charcoal drawings, ab... more Trail is the name that Ragnheiður Jónsdóttir has given her latest series of charcoal drawings, abstract drawings that indeed show a trail: something has marked the pictorial surface in the course of passing on. These are drawings that echo some kind of handwriting or calligraphy in nature, repetitive patterns that might bear friendly attribution to the animal, vegetable, or mineral kingdoms. Yet this is not a case of direct portrayal; these are a kind of reference to the roots of the handwriting, testament to the artist's vital relationship with the natural kingdom, not through objective imitation of it but via the "trails" the handwriting traces through live contact between the hand and the pictorial surface, in a dialogue as transient as the passing moment. The questions these drawings are apt to raise may sound something like this: What has been and gone and left a trail on this ground, what is this ground, where did the path start, and where does it lead? These are not easy questions but it is precisely the magic of significant art to present us with conundrums.
Research in Phenomenology, Jan 1, 1999
Husserl Studies, Jan 1, 1986
Current Anthropology, Jan 1, 1996
An essay on artistic creation written in occasion of the exhibition "Perspectives - At the Conve... more An essay on artistic creation written in occasion of the exhibition "Perspectives - At the Convergence of Art and Philosophy", held in Reykjavik Art Museum in 2011. The author took part in the curatorial work of seven curators and the essay is an attempt to clarify his selection of works in the show.
L'invito di fare una mostra nel Museo dei Mercati di Traiano ai Fori Imperiali a Roma non è solta... more L'invito di fare una mostra nel Museo dei Mercati di Traiano ai Fori Imperiali a Roma non è soltanto un grande onore e una sfida per l'artista islandese Rósa Gísladóttir. Tutto l'ambiente dei Fori ci fa vedere le sue opere sotto un nuovo aspetto, e le opere stesse ci fanno anche pensare a quest'ambiente sacrosanto per tutta la cultura Occidentale in un modo nuovo. Dopo aver visto le opere dentro i Mercati di Traiano non possiamo più vederle come un esempio di formalismo minimalista della tarda modernità. Il dialogo con le rovine su i Fori imperiali da un nuovo significato alle opere, un significato che ci invita anche a pensare l'ambiente storico sotto una nuova prospettiva.
Trail is the name that Ragnheiður Jónsdóttir has given her latest series of charcoal drawings, ab... more Trail is the name that Ragnheiður Jónsdóttir has given her latest series of charcoal drawings, abstract drawings that indeed show a trail: something has marked the pictorial surface in the course of passing on. These are drawings that echo some kind of handwriting or calligraphy in nature, repetitive patterns that might bear friendly attribution to the animal, vegetable, or mineral kingdoms. Yet this is not a case of direct portrayal; these are a kind of reference to the roots of the handwriting, testament to the artist's vital relationship with the natural kingdom, not through objective imitation of it but via the "trails" the handwriting traces through live contact between the hand and the pictorial surface, in a dialogue as transient as the passing moment. The questions these drawings are apt to raise may sound something like this: What has been and gone and left a trail on this ground, what is this ground, where did the path start, and where does it lead? These are not easy questions but it is precisely the magic of significant art to present us with conundrums.
Research in Phenomenology, Jan 1, 1999
Husserl Studies, Jan 1, 1986
Current Anthropology, Jan 1, 1996