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Born Reykjavik, Iceland, 1963
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Icelandic designer Olafur Thordarson was born and raised up in Reykjavik and in part on an east-Iceland sheep farm. He is an architect, artist, and a teacher. His creative works have a wide scale range from urban design, architecture to objects to art. Hard to categorize, his works flow in many directions and spills onto many fields. Delirium Tremens bottle stand, various light- sound and time sculptures and toxic ice cube trays to name some. Thordarson has taught design studios at Rhode Island School of Design since 1999. He received a degree in Natural Sciences from MH college in Iceland in 1983, and then his BS in Architecture degree at The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1986 and his Master of Architecture degree at Columbia University in New York in 1990. He has been a guest critic in the design and/or architecture departments of a number of major Universities, including Syracuse University, Rhode Island School of Design, Parson's School of Design, Pratt University, Columbia University and more. His creations have appeared in eight solo exhibitions and over sixty group exhibitions. Venues for his works have included Akureyri Art Museum-Iceland, Altoids Living Spaces-Williamsburg Brooklyn, Arnesinga Art Museum-Iceland, The Art Director's Club-New York, Biennale Internationale Design Saint Etienne-France, Bio Nord Bremerhaven-Germany, Copenhagen City Hall, Designmuseum, Future Perfect-Williamsburg Brooklyn, Design Museum Gent-Belgium, Fundación Pedro Barrié de la Maza in Vigo, Spain Galleri Nordlys-Copenhagen, Gallery 91-New York, Hic Et Nunc art festical Friuli-Italy, Hólar-Hús Menntaskólans-Akureyri Iceland, Hunterdon Art Museum-New Jersey, I-House-New York, Iceland Embassy Berlin-Germany, Iceland National Museum-Reykjavík, Icelandic Printmaker's Gallery-Reykjavik, Indianapolis Museum of Art-Indianapolis IN, Jacob Javits Center-New York, The John Elder Gallery-New York, Kjarvalsstaðir Reykjavik-Iceland, Klisanin Ross Gallery-New York, Kunst og Industrimuseet Copenhagen-Denmark, Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin-Germany, Laugarvatn Art Festival, Lighthouse-Glasgow Scotland, Lys Over Lylland-Saksköbing Denmark, Marel HF-Garðabær Iceland, Material-Connexion-New York, Municipal Art Society/Design Days-New York, Museum of Decorative Arts and Design-Oslo, Museum of Decorative Art-Budapest Hungary, Museum of Decorative Art-Prague, Museum of Decorative Art Riga, Museum of Design and Applied Art (MUDESA)-Iceland, New Museum of Contemporary Art-New York, Nordic House-Iceland, Opna Galleríið Reykjavík-Iceland, Palazzo Triennale Milan-Italy, Reykjavik City Hall Reykjavik-Iceland, RISD Museum of Art/Woods Gehry Gallery-Rhode Island, The Röhss Museum of Decorative Arts and design-Gothenburg Sweden, Scandinavia House-New York, Scope Art Fair-New York, Soho20 Gallery-New York, Stjórnsýsluhús Ísafjörður-Iceland, Sundlaug Seltjarnarness-Iceland, The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Utsmykkningsfondet Oslo and V.I.A. Paris-France. His works have also appeared in numerous periodicals, some extensive articles, around the world; including in Graphis magazine, Interior Design magazine, Home magazine, Architectural Record magazine, Intramuros, The New York Times, Surface magazine, New York magazine, Icelandic design magazine Lífsstíll, Home|Style magazine, Atlantica magazine, Lithuanian Centras magazine, Japanese Elle Deco, and Italian Juliet Art Magazine. Icelandic newspapers such as Morgunblaðið, Lesbók Morgunblaðsins, Dagblaðið-Vísir, Fréttablaðið and Pressan. A book with his works "Olafur Thordarson" was published in 2001, with texts by George Beylerian, John Elder, Aðalsteinn Ingólfsson, Khipra Nichols, Skuli Sverrisson, Elena Carlini+Pietro Valle, Lynnette Widder and Laetitia Wolff. A more comprehensive 144 page chronological book was published to coincide with his Reykjavik City Hall exhibition in 2007. Other books include the International Design Yearbook, Scandinavian Design Beyond the Myth, Transforme, Hicetnunc, Azimuts, Hagvirkni-Húsbúnaður eftir Íslenska listamenn 1904-2004, design.is, Abstract. He has been interviewed on his design works on Icelandic state Television in Mósaík, Skjár 1 Innlit-Útlit, and on the state Radio Víðsjá. His works have appeared on the WNYC web site and Arch’it in Italy. A Video by Joe Chow was produced in 1999 on Thordarson´s works, featured in a number of exhibitions. Olafur Thordarson has been the editor of web publication Das Boot since 1998, featuring the works of many artists on an international basis. - His urban design proposal for Grafarholt in Reykjavik received an honorable mention by the City of Reykjavik and The Icelandic Architecture Association. He was also commissioned by the Icelandic State Power company for a major sculpture, a six ton work floating in an East Icelandic river. - Thordarson's creations have been selected in major exhibitions: Scandinavian Design Beyond the Myth-Fifty Years of Design, toured 14 of Europe's major design museums. European Design since 1985 opened in Indianapolis to move on to High Museum and other museums in the MidWest. - He has collaborated with experimental musician Skuli Sverrisson, who created the compositions Music For Furniture. Later to collaborate on welcome, part of a sound-sculpture installation in a New York Gallery and Museum of Design and Applied Art in Iceland. Performance artist Laurie Anderson selected his work to be included in the Scope Art Fair in New York. - He has given lectures at The University of Wisconsin Milwaukee and Rhode Island School of Design Architecture Schools and Municipal Art Society Design Days in New York. - For seven years Olafur Thordarson was a close design-collaborator with International design giant Gaetano Pesce in New York, a right hand and vice-president of Pesce Ltd.
Olafur Thordarson has been busy creating original art and design since
the age of ten. He has maintained a studio downtown
Manhattan since 1998, currently working out of his loft a few blocks
south of Canal street. He
lives with his partner Donna Fumoso along with their daughter and a few
furry animals. |
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