REYKJAVÍK.- i8 Gallery announces … just a shell., a year-long exhibition by Ingólfur Arnarsson at i8 Grandi. The presentation opened on 22 January and will be on view until 22 December 2026. Arnarsson’s first exhibition with i8 Gallery, an untitled presentation of paintings, opened thirty years ago in January 1996.

Throughout the year at i8 Grandi, the artist will make architectural modifications to the exhibition space through additions and alterations, while the inclusion of a set of drawings serves as a constant in each transformation. Arnarsson’s drawings are built up through layered crosshatching of hard-leaded pencil lines, creating a field of subtle irregularities. Continuously evolving with the addition of new works and interventions, each iteration will be accompanied by a new text by Lani Yamamoto.

Arnarsson’s exhibition is the fifth year-long presentation at i8 Grandi, following Ragnar Kjartansson (2025), Andreas Eriksson (2024), B. Ingrid Olson (2023), and Alicja Kwade (2022). Spanning far longer than traditional museum or gallery shows, i8 Grandi’s programming focuses on concepts of space and time. The sustained duration of the annual format allows artists to consider how time affects their work, and the fluidity encourages audiences to revisit the changing installations.

Ingólfur Arnarsson's works are characterised by their simplicity, clarity, precision, and reductive form. He studied at the Icelandic College of Art and Crafts in Reykjavik, as well as at the Jan van Eyck Academie in Maastricht, The Netherlands. Alongside his artmaking, Arnarsson has worked as a curator and Fine Arts teacher at the University of Fine Arts in Reykjavík. In 1992, Donald Judd invited him to a residency to work on a permanent installation at the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas, USA.

Ingólfur Arnarsson (b. 1956, Iceland) lives and works in Reykjavik. The following institutions have held solo exhibitions of his work: The Reykjavik Art Museum, Iceland (2018); ASÍ Art Gallery, Reykjavik (2014); and Hafnarborg, Hafnarfjörður, Iceland (2013). His work has also been showcased in group exhibitions at the LÁ Art Museum, Hveragerði, Iceland (2022); Tbilisi History Museum and Contemporary Art, Georgia (2019); National Gallery of Iceland (2016); Living Art Museum, Reykjavik (2008); and the Drawing Center, New York, USA (2007). A new publication, with text by art writer and curator Gavin Morrison, tracing four significant exhibitions of Arnarsson's career was released in February 2024.