Karolina Larusdottir - Primadonna

Karolina Larusdottir - Rainbow

Karolina Larusdottir - Serving Lunch

STATEMENT

Born in Reykjavik, Iceland in 1944, Karolina Larusdottir studied art at the Ruskin School of Art in Oxford (1965-1967).

An elected member of the New English Art Club.

A fully elected member of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers in 1986, and the Royal Watercolour Society in 1996, she has won many prizes. The Dicks and Greenbury in 1989, and the 4^th Triennale Mondiale D’Estampes Petit Format , France.  In 1990 Karolina  received a special award at the Premio Biella Internazionale per L’Incisione in Italy.

The Graphic artist of the Year 2005, Islensk Grafik.

Karolina has lived and worked in Britain since leaving Iceland in the mid sixties and now has a studio in Cambridge. Her unique vision of both her homeland and England have won her a deservedly high reputation in the fields of painting in oils and watercolours and also as a highly skilled printmaker. As a printmaker she works in the medium of etching and aquatint. Her successes include many one person shows, and participation in some of the most prestigious exhibitions in Britain. This includes the Royal Academy Summer Show, where in 1993 and 1997 her paintings were used to advertise the exhibition. Her biography was published in Iceland in 1993.

Karolina’s subject matter is rooted in her upbringing in Iceland. Her grandfather was the owner of the first grand hotel in Reykjavik. Many of the images are derived from glimpses of this busy environment, scenes of chambermaids, chefs and waitresses in the kitchens. The observations of  guests, and other candid sights. In some works she creates a world of her own, with imaginary people in strange situations. Some are floating, carrying rainbows, or being visited by angels. Her work contains a wry humour that enhances the surreal and timeless qualities she creates when dealing with her favourite topic of people.

COLLECTIONS

Vatican Collection, Rome

Nelson Atkin Museum, Kansas, USA

EEC Buildings, Brussels

Collection of HRH Queen Elizabeth II

Listasafn ASI, Reykjavik

Thjodarbokhladan, Reykjavik

Nordisk Aquarell, Sweden

PUBLICATIONS

Karolina-Lif og List  Jonina Michaelsdottir, Forlagid, Reykjavik, 1993

Painting People, Second Shift, Issue 3, 1994

Master Class with Sister Wendy Beckett, Art Review, July 1994

Sister Wendy Beckett-Meditations on Love, pub. By Dorling Kindersly Press, 1995

Article in Art Newspaper, October 2002

Article in Akvarellmaleri  Historia Och Teknik, by Tulla Grunberger

Och  Anders Wallin    Pub. ICA Bokforlag   Sweden, 2002

The Watercolour Expert. Pub. Royal Watercolour Society 2004

SELECTED MIXED SHOWS

Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, 1978, 1986, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003,2004

Bankside Gallery, London. Biannual Exhibitions of RWS and RE since 1980

Mall Galleries, London. NEAC since 1992

Grafica  Atlantica, Kjarvalsstadir, Reykjavik, 1987

Islensk Grafik, Aarhus, Denmark, 1989

Premio Internazionale Biella per L’Incisione, Italy, 1990, 1995

Islensk myndlist a leid um Nordurlond, Listasafn ASI, Reykjavik, 1990

Nordisk Aquarell. Goeteborg Konstmuseum, Sweden, 1992

Cambridge Contemporary Art,  from 1993 - 2004

Lubljana Biennale, Lubljana, Slovenia, 1993

South African Association of Arts, Nieuw Muckleneuk, Pretoria, 1996

4^th Biennale of Graphic Art, Belgrade, Yugoslavia, 1996

4^th Triennale Mondiale D’Estampes Petit Format, Chamaliers, France, 1997

Association for Visual Arts, Metropolitan Life Art Gallery, Cape Town, 1997

Pretoria University, Arts Department, 1998

Brandler Galleries, Brentwood, from 1995 – 2004

Pringle Gallery, Philadelphia, USA, 1999 –2004     

Gallery Fold, Reykjavik, 1997 – 2004 

Exhibition of Prrints, Kettles  Yard, Cambridge, 2005

Gorstella Gallery,Chester,2006

Craft Centre and Design Gallery, Leeds, 2008    

ING Discerning Eye exhibition, 2008

SOLO SHOWS

Kjarvalsstadir, Reykjavik, Iceland, 1982, 1986

Chenile Gallery, London, 1983

Drian Gallery, 1984

Gallery 10, London, 1984, 1987, 1992

The Gallery Gammel Strand, Copenhagen, Denmark, 1986

Church Street Gallery, Saffron Walden, 1987

The Phoenix Gallery, Lavenham, 1989

The Gallery Nyhofn, Reykjavik, Iceland, 1990

Cambridge Contemporary Art, 1994

CCA Galleries, Oxford and Farnham, 1995

Café Palette, Pretoria Art Museum, 1996

Slunkariki, Isafjordur, Iceland, 1996

The Gallery Borg, Reykjavik, 1991, 1996

Swakopmund Art Association, Nammibia, 1997

Triennale Mondiale D’Estampes Petit Format, Issoire, France, 2000

Reykjavik Cathedral, to celebrate the World City of Culture, 2002

Billedeverkstedet, Brovst, Denmark, 1997, 2002

Gerdarsafarn, Listasafn Kopavogs, Iceland, 2002

Cambridge Contemporary Art, 2002 

Sala Mengolero, Rojales(Alicante), Spain, 2003    

Sarah Wiseman Gallery, Oxford, 2004

Cambridge Contemporary Art, 2005

Galleria Sant’Angelo, Biella, Italy, 2006

Gallery Turpentine, Reykjavik, Iceland, 2008

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