Lonely Hearts exhibition opens in Listahøllin, Tórshavn in the Faroe Islands

Nordic art to make heartfelt statement in 2018

Two Faroese artists have come together to exhibit their abstract-style works at an exciting new exhibition, Lonely Hearts, at Listahøllin, a unique communal artists’ venue at the shipyard in Tórshavn, the modestly-sized capital of the Faroe Islands, from 25 February – 1 April 2018.

Hansina Iversen and Jóhan Martin Christiansen are part of the emerging visual art scene in this quirky North Atlantic archipelago, which offers such unique culture and wild scenery that artists are continually inspired by the people and the landscape around them.

Hansina’s paintings and Jóhan Martin’s sculptures have been created in relation to the exhibition hall space at the shipyard, and, through their respective forms of expression, the pair will endeavour to create a dialogue between the works of art and the room.

To describe her work, Hansina said: “I will be creating a monumental painting, where the room itself will function as the painting’s frame, or – perhaps instead – the painting itself will function as the room. The spectator will walk into the painting.”

Jóhan Martin commented: “The sculptural work I’ve created will lie close to the mark between the organised and the chaotic, where iron rods, plaster, timber and other materials will point upwards and outwards in the room, like a graph or abstract painting. This will simultaneously function as the performance part of the creation process, where the work becomes part of a sculptural choreography.”

The theme Lonely Hearts is inspired by pop music, romantic films and kitsch culture. It also makes more tangible references to the body and, specifically, the heart, as a plural where two beings live apart, but are connected. This relates to the duo’s exhibition, where Jóhan Martin and Hansina, two very different artists, enter into a dialogue with each other through their work. The theme also conveys the lonely course of life as an artist.

Often deemed as one of the world’s best-kept secrets, the Faroe Islands has but a short history of visual art, which can only be dated back a couple of hundred years, but the growing art and cultural scene can currently be seen throughout the Faroese calendar. It ranges from the musical festival Summarfestivalur, to Culture Days in Fuglafjørður, where unique Faroese food, music and outdoor activities bring the local community together.

Photographs of the artwork and additional images will be included in a 50-page catalogue that will be produced as part of the Lonely Hearts exhibition, featuring comments and observations from Hansina and Jóhan Martin.

Visit www.visitfaroeislands.com for further information.

Daily flights to the Faroe Islands (London to Vágar Island, via Copenhagen) operate year-round and cost from £368 pp return. Seasonal twice-weekly direct flights to the Faroe Islands (Edinburgh to Vágar Island) operate from March to December and cost from £199 pp return. Visit www.atlantic.fo for further information.

About the exhibition:
Lonely Hearts

• Art exhibition by Hansina Iversen and Jóhan Martin Christiansen
• Where: Listahøllin, Tórshavn
• When: 25 February – 1 April 2018 (NOTE: Dates may be subject to slight changes)
• Private View: Saturday 24 February 2018, from 4pm to 7pm.
• Open Thursdays to Sundays from 2pm to 7pm.

About the artists:

Jóhan Martin Christiansen (b. 1987) is a visual artist working and living in Copenhagen, Denmark and Tórshavn, the Faroe Islands. He holds a Master of Fine Arts in Visual Arts from Malmö Art Academy, Sweden (2014). He works mainly with sculpture and video, examining the relations between subjects such as materiality, tactility, nature, body, history and poetry.

Hansina Iversen (b. 1966) is a visual artist living and working in Tórshavn, Faroe Islands. She was educated at The School of Visual Arts in Reykjavík, Iceland, from 1989-93 and The Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki, Finland, from 1993-97. She works mainly with oil painting and lithography, concerned with the abstract expression of colour, form and gesture.