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Eiríkur Smith
14 January, 2023–19 February, 2023
Á sjötta áratug síðustu aldar voru miklir umbrotatímar í íslenskri myndlist. Geómetríska abstraktlistin var að nema land og hingað bárust sterkir straumar nýjunga. Eiríkur Smith, myndlistarmaður, var við nám í Kaupmannahöfn og París og var virkur þátttakandi í þeirri formbyltingu sem þá átti sér stað. Hann kom heim árið 1951 og í kjölfarið hélt hann einkasýningu í á óhlutbundnum verkum í Listamannaskálanum við Austurvöll, auk þess að taka þátt í tímamótasýningu í Listamannaskálanum árið 1953.
Málverk, blek- og gvassmyndir Eiríks frá þessum árum bera með sér rökhugsun og góð tök á þeirri einföldun myndmálsins sem strangflatahugsunin krafðist, án þess að fylgja fyrir fram gefnum reglum í blindni. Árið 1957 gerði Eiríkur svo endanlega upp hug sinn gagnvart strangflatalistinni og brenndi hluta þeirra verka sinna, ásamt eldri verkum, í malargryfju í Hafnarfirði. Verk eftir Eirík frá þessum tíma eru því vandfundin en þau sem til eru bera þess merki að Eiríkur hafði góð tök á myndgerð strangflatalistarinnar, þó að hann kysi sjálfur að fara aðra leið síðar. Á sýningunni Án titils mjá sjá mörg áður ósýnd gvassverk, auk verka úr safneign Hafnarborgar, frá þessu knappa en frjóa tímabili á ferli listamannsins.
Eiríkur Smith var fæddur í Hafnarfirði árið 1925 og lést í heimabænum árið 2016. Eiríkur stundaði nám við Málara- og teikniskóla Finns Jónssonar og Jóhanns Briem veturinn 1939-1940 og við Handíða- og myndlistarskólann árin 1946-1948. Því næst hélt hann til Kaupmannahafnar í nám og árið 1951 hélt hann til Parísar, þar sem hann nam myndlist við Académie de la Grande Chaumiére. Hann hélt fjölda einkasýninga, auk þess að taka þátt í samsýningum víða um heim á löngum ferli sínum. Verk eftir Eirík er að finna í söfnum víðs vegar, svo sem í safneign Listasafns Íslands, Gerðarsafns og Listasafns Reykjavíkur en auk þess varðveitir Hafnarborg um 400 verk eftir listamanninn.
The Icelandic art scene went through a transformative period in the 1950s, as new ideas and movements gained traction in the country. Geometric abstraction was spreading across the globe as a wave of change and Iceland was no exception. The artist Eiríkur Smith was studying in Copenhagen and Paris at the time and he was among those influenced by this artistic revolution. Soon after returning to Iceland in 1951, he had a solo exhibition of abstract paintings at Listamannaskálinn in Reykjavík, as well as taking part in a pivotal exhibition of abstract art by Icelandic artists, also at Listamannaskálinn, in 1953.
Eiríkur’s paintings, ink and gouache works from this period demonstrate the artist’s firm grasp of the technique and logic inherent in the direct visual language of geometric abstraction, without restricting himself to the rules and ideas of a single movement. In 1957, Eiríkur made up his mind towards this genre of abstraction, deciding to burn a part of these works, along with some of his older pieces, in a quarry in Hafnarfjörður. As a result, works from this period are hard to come by, but the ones that have been preserved clearly show Eiríkur’s knack for the style of geometric abstraction, even if he later went in a different direction. The exhibition Untitled will feature previously unseen works that the artist painted in gouache, alongside works from the Hafnarborg Collection, from this short but creative period of the artist’s career.
Eiríkur Smith was born in Hafnarfjörður in 1925 and passed away at his home in town in 2016. Eiríkur was a student at the Painting and Drawing School of Finnur Jónsson and Jóhann Briem during the winter of 1939-1940 and at the Icelandic College of Art and Crafts from 1946-1948. Thereafter, he went to Copenhagen to study drawing and he moved to Paris for further study of the arts at the Académie de la Grande Chaumiére, in 1951. He had numerous solo exhibition, as well as taking part in group exhibitions all over the world throughout his career. Eiríkur’s works can be found in many museums, such as the National Gallery of Iceland, Gerðarsafn and the Reykjavík Art Museum, in addition to Hafnarborg’s vast collection of the artist’s work, counting around 400 works.
