Words by

John Pearson

@johnpearson@grapevine.is

Photo by

Anna Radacz

Here’s your Friday fix of fun stuff to do over the next few days. We’ve got an exhibition by new artist Anna Radacz, a rare appearance on the Reykjavík stage by freshly-minted new Icelander Damon Albarn, and drag artists old and new ushering in the Apocalypstick…

Fluctuation / Light & Dark

• Until March 31st
  
• Mama Reykjavík
• More information here

Tectonic by Anna Radacz

With only one prior exhibition under her belt, artist Anna Radacz has taken over this restaurant/community space to mount two of them simultaneously. ‘Fluctuation’ features work inspired by last year’s earthquakes and subsequent volcano on the Reykjanes peninsula, while ‘Light & Dark’ explores Iceland’s northern lights and the darkness that they need in order to exist.

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Damon Albarn

• Friday March 11th at 20:00
• Harpa
• More information here

Photo by Einar Snorri

English musician Damon Albarn—best known as the man behind Blur and Gorillaz— has conducted a long-running love affair with Iceland. Following the realisation that the black sand over which he flew in his recurring childhood dream was an Icelandic beach, the next quarter of a century saw him increasingly investing parts of his life in our North Atlantic rock.

Now Damon is the proud owner of an Icelandic passport, and a luxurious home overlooking Mount Esja. It was from this picturesque base that he wrote his recent solo album, ‘The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows’, an album inspired by the natural beauty of his new home. Damon and his ensemble will play the album in its entirety, in what will be his first Icelandic concert in 23 years.

• • Friday March 11th at 20:00
  • Gaukurinn
  • More information here

As the city’s nightlife pulls itself back towards some kind of “normal”—whatever that might mean, given the fact that the pandemic persists and there is now a European war to contend with—Gaukurinn ramps up its operation as the city’s proud home of nonconformism.

Apocalypstick returns to bring you the freshest Icelandic drag talent, promising “glamour, foolery and filth” all wrapped up in the wildest show in town. Carmen Dea Untamed, Mr.Mrs.Rammstücklein, Netya, Róberta Michelle Hall, Turner Strait and others will be (dis)gracing the stage, kept in check (or possibly not) by host Morningstarr. 

“Normal”? Frankly, it’s overrated. And we’re not even sure what it means, anyway. Get on down to Gaukurinn and make up your own definition.