Boy and Dog in Icelandic Landscape 1985

Curator: Louisa Matthiasdottir's 1985 oil painting, "Boy and Dog in Icelandic Landscape," presents a striking scene. What captures your eye immediately? Editor: The overwhelming flatness of the composition is immediately apparent; it feels like a consciously constructed stage set. I'm also intrigued by the odd stiffness and doll-like presence of the figure. Is that a gesture of protection towards the sunlight? Curator: Matthiasdottir cultivated a naive style, flattening forms and employing bold blocks of color, possibly reflecting her awareness and involvement in folk-art traditions. Let's consider her application of the oil paint; thickly applied in certain sections and more translucent elsewhere. How does this influence the reading of space, specifically concerning the boy? Editor: Well, the gesture made by the boy feels somewhat protective. Coupled with his forward-facing stance and stiff posture, I see echoes of classical protective figures, the 'Kouros', almost like he's guarding a sacred, natural space, with the dog as a familiar guardian spirit. This is magnified when looking at the landscape. Curator: Landscape was obviously significant to her, and this one resonates with a sense of lived experience. Looking closely, it’s the visible traces of brushstrokes in the green expanse which makes you think about materiality and the way paint has been applied onto it. What does this tell you? Editor: The mountains on the horizon, rendered in somewhat subdued purples and blues, seem to promise both the familiarity of home and an inscrutable distance; Matthiasdottir emphasizes that human figures occupy this symbolic space. It's a reminder of our inherent connection with nature's iconography, both culturally inherited and individually experienced. Curator: Precisely. The deliberate, simplified shapes invite contemplation of what it means to fashion or indeed to make this imagined Iceland, and therefore how folk making and production intertwine with grand artistic tradition. This connects us back to the surface, to what it means to handle paint, and apply it to a two dimensional object. Editor: The work offers an intriguing synthesis. Folk traditions mixed with childhood experience create this unique Icelandic vision; I am taken by the symbolic simplicity of both figure and ground. Curator: Absolutely. It’s as if we’re invited to consider not only the painted landscape but also how it resonates with universal emotions. Thank you.