• 4 September – 9 October 2021 Galerie Marguo is pleased to present Soft Approach, a selection of new paintings by... 4 September – 9 October 2021 Galerie Marguo is pleased to present Soft Approach, a selection of new paintings by... 4 September – 9 October 2021 Galerie Marguo is pleased to present Soft Approach, a selection of new paintings by... 4 September – 9 October 2021 Galerie Marguo is pleased to present Soft Approach, a selection of new paintings by... 4 September – 9 October 2021 Galerie Marguo is pleased to present Soft Approach, a selection of new paintings by... 4 September – 9 October 2021 Galerie Marguo is pleased to present Soft Approach, a selection of new paintings by...

    4 September – 9 October 2021

     

    Galerie Marguo is pleased to present Soft Approach, a selection of new paintings by Icelandic artist Steingrímur Gauti. On view from 4 September to 9 October 2021, this is the artist’s first solo exhibition outside Iceland and also his first show at the gallery since the announcement of the artist's worldwide representation this past March.

     

    Steingrímur Gauti’s (b.1986, Iceland) dynamic acrylic and mixed-media abstractions are passing blips on an enduring accumulation of present moments that constitute the artist’s daily studio practice.  Inspired in turn by twentieth century art history and more ancient philosophies of Zen Buddhism, Gauti’s process reflects an ongoing meditation in motion in which he works continuously with whatever pigments are available at hand, striving toward a state of uninhibited painterly expression that is palpably lyrical yet devoid of formal preconceptions. Gauti’s canvases, while inevitably imbued with the layers of time, are contemplative exercises in surrendering to its inevitable passage.

     

    Dates: 4 September – 9 October 2021

    Artist: Steingrímur Gauti

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  • Steingrímur Gauti, Untitled, 2021 (detail)
  • Steingrímur Gauti, Untitled, 2021

    Steingrímur Gauti

    Untitled, 2021

    An inclination toward imprecision, repetition, and slow evolutions; the contemplative resignation to the inexorable march of time; and the disciplined rejection of the ego’s drive for control, meaning-making, and pre-conceptualization are all attitudes encapsulated within Steingrímur Gauti’s ‘soft approach’ to creative practice.

  • Steingrímur Gauti, Untitled, 2021 (detail)
  •  

    "The act of painting for me is a way of thinking.  I don’t really think and paint.  The mind follows the hand, and the act becomes a conversation with the work in progress, an almost automatic process.  The outcome is ideally not what you would call intellectual, rather something more dynamic and physical."

     

    — Steingrímur Gauti

    • Steingrímur Gauti Untitled, 2021 Oil, acrylics, chalk, oil pastel, gloss medium on linen 200 x 160 cm
      Steingrímur Gauti
      Untitled, 2021
      Oil, acrylics, chalk, oil pastel, gloss medium on linen
      200 x 160 cm
    • Steingrímur Gauti Untitled (25), 2021 Acrylic and oil on canvas 200 x 240 cm
      Steingrímur Gauti
      Untitled (25), 2021
      Acrylic and oil on canvas
      200 x 240 cm
  • Steingrímur Gauti, Untitled, 2021 (detail)
  •  

    "I aim to express and examine some basic forms of human emotions. In a sense you could say that most of my paintings are just series of mistakes until they add up to something that works out aesthetically and emotionally. In a sense, a lot like life itself."

     

    — Steingrímur Gauti

    • Steingrímur Gauti Untitled, 2021 Acrylics, oil pastel on linen 200 x 160 cm
      Steingrímur Gauti
      Untitled, 2021
      Acrylics, oil pastel on linen
      200 x 160 cm
    • Steingrímur Gauti Untitled, 2021 Acrylics, chalk, oil pastel and varnish on canvas 180 x 150 cm
      Steingrímur Gauti
      Untitled, 2021
      Acrylics, chalk, oil pastel and varnish on canvas
      180 x 150 cm
  • Steingrímur Gauti, Untitled, 2021 (detail)
    • Steingrímur Gauti Untitled, 2021 Acrylic, chalk, graphite and varnish on linen 60 x 50 cm
      Steingrímur Gauti
      Untitled, 2021
      Acrylic, chalk, graphite and varnish on linen
      60 x 50 cm
    • Steingrímur Gauti Untitled, 2021 Acrylic, chalk, graphite and varnish on linen 60 x 50 cm
      Steingrímur Gauti
      Untitled, 2021
      Acrylic, chalk, graphite and varnish on linen
      60 x 50 cm
    • Steingrímur Gauti Untitled, 2021 Acrylic, chalk, graphite and varnish on linen 60 x 50 cm
      Steingrímur Gauti
      Untitled, 2021
      Acrylic, chalk, graphite and varnish on linen
      60 x 50 cm
  • Gauti's act of painting is a way of thinking and meditating with the focus on simplicity and lightness. The physical...

    Gauti's act of painting is a way of thinking and meditating with the focus on simplicity and lightness. The physical touches and brushes in these paintings evoke a feeling of water flowing across canvases, as if seeing time passing through then disappearing into the works.

     

    Untitled, 2020

    Oil on canvas

    200 x 160 cm

  • Installation View
    • Steingrímur Gauti Untitled, 2021 Oil, acrylics, chalk, oil pastel, graphite, varnish on linen 160 x 130 cm
      Steingrímur Gauti
      Untitled, 2021
      Oil, acrylics, chalk, oil pastel, graphite, varnish on linen
      160 x 130 cm
    • Steingrímur Gauti Untitled, 2021 Acrylic, chalk, oil pastel and gloss medium on linen 160 x 130 cm
      Steingrímur Gauti
      Untitled, 2021
      Acrylic, chalk, oil pastel and gloss medium on linen
      160 x 130 cm
    • Steingrímur Gauti Untitled (13), 2021 Acrylic, chalk, oil pastel, graphite on canvas 160 x 130 cm
      Steingrímur Gauti
      Untitled (13), 2021
      Acrylic, chalk, oil pastel, graphite on canvas
      160 x 130 cm
  • Installation View
    • Steingrímur Gauti Untitled, 2021 Acrylic, chalk, graphite and varnish on linen 50 x 40 cm
      Steingrímur Gauti
      Untitled, 2021
      Acrylic, chalk, graphite and varnish on linen
      50 x 40 cm
    • Steingrímur Gauti Untitled, 2021 Acrylic, chalk, graphite and varnish on linen 50 x 40 cm
      Steingrímur Gauti
      Untitled, 2021
      Acrylic, chalk, graphite and varnish on linen
      50 x 40 cm
    • Steingrímur Gauti Untitled, 2021 Acrylic, chalk, graphite and varnish on linen 50 x 40 cm
      Steingrímur Gauti
      Untitled, 2021
      Acrylic, chalk, graphite and varnish on linen
      50 x 40 cm
    • Steingrímur Gauti Untitled, 2021 Acrylic, chalk, graphite and varnish on linen 50 x 40 cm
      Steingrímur Gauti
      Untitled, 2021
      Acrylic, chalk, graphite and varnish on linen
      50 x 40 cm
    • Steingrímur Gauti Untitled, 2021 Acrylic, chalk, graphite and varnish on linen 50 x 40 cm
      Steingrímur Gauti
      Untitled, 2021
      Acrylic, chalk, graphite and varnish on linen
      50 x 40 cm
    • Steingrímur Gauti Untitled, 2021 Acrylic, chalk, graphite and varnish on linen 50 x 40 cm
      Steingrímur Gauti
      Untitled, 2021
      Acrylic, chalk, graphite and varnish on linen
      50 x 40 cm
    • Steingrímur Gauti Untitled, 2021 Acrylic, chalk, graphite and varnish on linen 50 x 40 cm
      Steingrímur Gauti
      Untitled, 2021
      Acrylic, chalk, graphite and varnish on linen
      50 x 40 cm
    • Steingrímur Gauti Untitled, 2021 Acrylic, chalk, graphite and varnish on linen 50 x 40 cm
      Steingrímur Gauti
      Untitled, 2021
      Acrylic, chalk, graphite and varnish on linen
      50 x 40 cm
  • Excerpted from the continuous stream of painting whose source is the artist’s studio, these abstract works harness the sense of an eternal becoming. Visually dynamic and nuanced, they are offered up to the viewer as retinal, visceral experiences, to be engaged with however and for however long one pleases.

     

    Untitled, 2021

    Oil on canvas

    160 x 200 cm

    Excerpted from the continuous stream of painting whose source is the artist’s studio, these abstract works harness the sense of...
  • Learn more about Steingrímur Gauti