i8 Gallery congratulates Ragnar Kjartansson on the upcoming presentation of World Light (2015) at the Reykjavík Art Museum. The exhibition will be on view from 7 February through 21 September 2025.

The work is a four-screen cinematic adaptation of the epic novel World Light (1937–1940) by the Nobel Prize-winning Icelandic writer Halldór Laxness. Based on the structure of the novel’s four volumes, Kjartansson mirrors that in a four-channel video installation. The year 2025 marks the 10-year anniversary of Kjartansson’s work and the 70th anniversary of Halldór Laxness’ Nobel Prize.

To make the work, Kjartansson directed a group of friends and family from the Reykjavík art scene during a one-month performance at Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary (TBA21) in Vienna. Titled The Palace of the Summerland, the performance was open to the public, who could simultaneously watch a show, its production, and backstage activity. The artwork delivers the same oscillation between spheres, as not only do we see the actual shot, but also the moments before and after it. Every single recording of the eighty-odd scenes of the film is screened unedited, regardless of how they turned out or how many times they needed to be repeated. The result is a cubistic film of sorts, a relentless and fragmented whole touching on the epic range of human emotion and destiny.

For information about Ragnar Kjartansson’s works, please contact Geneva Viralam at [email protected].