What kind of interplay takes place when a pianist and a painter come together? This will be investigated at Steingrímur Gauti’s studio on Saturday, October 12th at 2:00 PM, when Steingrímur Gauti, a painter, and Magnús Jóhann, a pianist, engage in a wordless conversation. Magnús will improvise on the piano for about an hour while Steingrímur creates his artwork in direct and indirect dialogue with Magnús. The goal of this improvisation is to enter a state of flow, the kind often seen in the most magical moments of artistic creation. As Jackson Pollock, the American master af abstract painting, once said, “Every good painter paints what he is.” This likely applies to most forms of artistic creation, especially improvisation, which some might call the purest form of creativity. An adaption of Pollock’s sentiment might translate to “All good artists create what they are.”

The event Steingrímur Gauti & Magnús Jóhann - Free Flow is the only event at the State of the Art festival that is exclusively accessible to festival pass holders. Steingrímur Gauti's studio is located on the third floor of Krókháls 6.

Steingrímur Gauti Ingólfsson (b. 1986) earned his BA in fine arts from the Iceland University of the Arts in 2015 and has been active in the art scene ever since. He has participated in group exhibitions both in Iceland and abroad and has held several solo exhibitions, including Chop Wood, Carry Water at the Marguo Gallery in Paris. Gauti’s works are featured in public and private collections across Europe, the United States, and Asia. Based in Reykjavík, Steingrímur Gauti approaches painting with care and lightness, separating the self and preconceived ideas from his daily creative process. His works engage with fundamental questions about art and aesthetics, while being both dynamic and humble. They focus primarily on themselves and their visual impact on the viewer. His process is characterized by inaccuracy, repetition, and a rejection of critical thinking, with the resulting pieces often balancing on the line between the poetic and the childlike.

Pianist Magnús Jóhann Ragnarsson (b. 1996) has been highly active as a performer, composer, and producer since 2015. Performing on hundreds of recordings and playing at numerous concerts annually. His collaborators include Moses Hightower, Bríet, Ingibjörg Turchi, Aron Can, and Bubbi Morthens, among others. Magnús has released four solo albums and two EP’s, as well as the duo albums Án tillits in 2021 with Skúli Sverrisson and Tíu íslensk sönglög in 2022 with GDRN. In 2023, Magnús was awarded Performer of the Year at the Icelandic Music Awards.