Gallery director candidate to speak about 'the convergence of art and everything else'

As one of three top candidates for the position of the Western Gallery Director, Hafthor Yngvason presents his views on the art world to the public in his talk "The Convergence of Art and Everything Else" at 4 p.m. Monday, April 6, in the Wilson Library Presentation Room (164F). All are welcome to listen and ask questions. The event is open to the public.

Yngvason has been the director of the Reykjavik Art Museum, Iceland's largest art institution, since 2005. The exhibition program includes works from the city's permanent collection, as well as exhibitions of contemporary Icelandic artists and art from abroad. The other candidates will also give free public presentations, to be announced at a later date.

Yngvason has served as speaker, panelist and art juror for various universities and public organizations in the United States and Europe. He has been published in several art journals including: Public Art Review, A Journal of Public Art and Design, The Getty Conservation Institute Newsletter, Art New England, and others. A few of his published books include: "The New Public Art: As Opposed to What?", "Perspectives, At the Convergence of Art and Philosophy" and "Conservation and Maintenance of Contemporary Public Art."

The Western Gallery and University Public Art Collection, open to everyone, provide diverse experiences in visual art. While the galleries expand the audience’s awareness through historical, contemporary and experimental art exhibitions, the internationally renowned University Public Art Collection reminds us that art in the environment is an active part of daily life.

The WWU collection features major international, national and regional artists who address such issues as the relationship of nature and culture, human scale, types of narration, personal perceptions and spatial dynamics. Whether temporary installations or permanent objects, figurative or abstract in appearance, these works represent sculpture from 1960 to the present. More recently, the University has begun to place sculpture inside major building lobbies, allowing for new kinds of sculpture media, such as video and digital technology (see http://westerngallery.wwu.edu/).