Thordis Adalsteinsdottir: Living in the End Times

JUNE 18th - JULY 30th, 2022

Shoshana Wayne Gallery is pleased to present Living in the End Times by Thordis Adalsteinsdottir. This is the Icelandic artist’s second solo show with the gallery. Living in the End Times will be on view from June 18th through July 30th, 2022, with an opening reception on June 18th from 2-5 pm.

Taking inspiration from her personal surroundings and current events, Adalsteinsdottir’s surrealist paintings let go of any notion of sense or reason. Living in the End Times, whose title is inspired by its biblical theme and a Slavoj Žižek book of the same name, is comprised of paintings created between 2020 and 2022.

Works included in Living in the End Times display scenes from everyday life: a man uses his phone in bed, a boy smokes a pipe, two figures play badminton; but Adalsteinsdottir makes sure these events are anything but ordinary. Animals often cohabitate with humans, vacuuming our floors and wearing our clothes, often appearing so large that seem like our equals. Figures are set against vivid colors and beautiful patterns, making these routine events into dreamlike compositions.

A lack of separation between an inner world and our environment, and portraying the inappropriate desire to define reality, is at the heart of Adalsteinsdottir’s paintings, and much of the work deals with spectatorship. Humans and animals peak into the windows of these interior scenes, becoming part of the composition as they watch from the background. The inclusion of security cameras and cellphones reinforces this ill-defined boundary between public and private life, hinting that these moments are much less intimate than they appear.

To summarize the experiences and feelings that inspired the works in Living in the End Times, the artist has prepared a statement for the show’s press release:

I am with everyone at once and never with anyone. Kissy-wink-face, heart emoji, thumb up my butt. I live in someone’s diary, it’s written in 1898. The world will never be the same. A large window is open and someone plays an instrument on the cobblestoned street. I check my phone, longing for nighttime and longing for sleep. Luckily the days rush past at lightning speed.

Someone goes out running, his woolen socks make a thump thumping sound on the cobblestones. He is building up strength and stamina, it is important so that he can run with other people who have built up strength and stamina. This seems to be a great year, a good diary; the smog is thick, the injustice is endless. I keep planting strawberries and the cats keep pooping on them. Thump- thump-thump- thump-

This man is very good at running and knowing what is important.

Finally, an angry pigeon closes the window from the outside, and I cannot hear the musical instrument anymore. I turn up the news and realize that the world will never be the same. Someone looked up and everyone was dead.

In a square meant for young people drinking and old people kissing, I kiss a running man on the lips and realize that the world will never be the same.

Thordis Adalsteinsdottir was born in Reykjavik, Iceland and splits her time between Reykjavik and Rennes, France. She received an MFA from the School of Visual Arts, NY after graduating from the Icelandic Academy of Arts and the Universidad de Barcelona, in Spain. Adalsteinsdottir has exhibited in galleries and museums nationally and internationally with exhibitions at The Reykjavik Art Museum, Reykjavik Iceland, Shoshana Wayne Gallery, LA, Myokos Biennale, Greece, Laumeier Sculpture Park, Saint Luis, MO, Chiang Mai Art Center, Thailand, and Socrates Sculpture Park, New York.