Haukur Halldorsson
Encyclopedia
Haukur Halldórsson
Haukur Halldórsson (The Hawk) was born 1937 in Reykjavík is an IcelandIceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
ic artist and member of the Íslenska Ásatrúarfélagið
Íslenska Ásatrúarfélagið
The Ásatrúarfélagið is an Icelandic Germanic Neopagan, Ásatrú, religious organization with the purpose of promoting and continuing a revived form of Norse paganism...
.
His first exhibition was in Gallery Djupið in Reykjavík
Reykjavík
Reykjavík is the capital and largest city in Iceland.Its latitude at 64°08' N makes it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói Bay...
in 1978 with Einar Þorsteinn Ásgeirsson, His first solo exhibition was in Reykjavík
Reykjavík
Reykjavík is the capital and largest city in Iceland.Its latitude at 64°08' N makes it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói Bay...
in 1980 in Gallery Torg run by the composer Jóhann G. Jóhannson. Since then he has made numerous exhipbitons in Europe, China and in the USA. He works in various media, painting, sculpture, jewel making and explores most any media.
Themes
Halldorsson explored for a long time the theme of folklore of his home country Iceland, the Brothers GrimmBrothers Grimm
The Brothers Grimm , Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm , were German academics, linguists, cultural researchers, and authors who collected folklore and published several collections of it as Grimm's Fairy Tales, which became very popular...
, Celtic mythology
Celtic mythology
Celtic mythology is the mythology of Celtic polytheism, apparently the religion of the Iron Age Celts. Like other Iron Age Europeans, the early Celts maintained a polytheistic mythology and religious structure...
and Nordic mythology in his art practice. He has made numerous drawings an illustrations on the subjects. Halldórsson has traveled widely to examine art, to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, various countries in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. In New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
he encountered the Navajo Indians
Navajo people
The Navajo of the Southwestern United States are the largest single federally recognized tribe of the United States of America. The Navajo Nation has 300,048 enrolled tribal members. The Navajo Nation constitutes an independent governmental body which manages the Navajo Indian reservation in the...
, and observed the art of sand-casting which he later applied in his own art practice.
His current practice evolves around the North-European mythology and Nordic mythology.
His website presents his version of the Viking myth of Asgard
Asgard
In Norse religion, Asgard is one of the Nine Worlds and is the country or capital city of the Norse Gods surrounded by an incomplete wall attributed to a Hrimthurs riding the stallion Svadilfari, according to Gylfaginning. Valhalla is located within Asgard...
, Yggdrasil, The Tree of Live
Yggdrasil
In Norse mythology, Yggdrasil is an immense tree that is central in Norse cosmology. It was said to be the world tree around which the nine worlds existed...
and the bewitching underworld.
His selection of works from 1989 until 2001 combines disparate elements from the worlds of fantasy, myth and everyday experience.
His paintings often contain mysterious magical characters, fire-spewing primeval titans, sections of peculiar structures, living skulls, Viking ships in strange surroundings ect.