Inga Svala Thorsdottir

Inga Svala Thorsdottir is a critically acclaimed Icelandic conceptualist.

Biography of Inga Svala Thorsdottir

Inga Svala Thorsdottir, born in 1966, graduated in 1991 from the Painting Department of the Icelandic School of Arts and Crafts and in 1995 from the Hochschule für bildende Künste in Hamburg. She founded Thor's Daughter's Pulverization Service in 1993 and BORG in 1999. 

In 1991, she began working with renowned Chinese conceptual artist Wu Shanzhuan, and they have been collaborating and exhibiting together since then.

By combining their language-based, historically informed practices, they have created works such as "To Buy is To Create" (1992-2005), a lightbox featuring the titular slogan and a barcode. This piece highlights the connection between art and consumption, while also drawing on the long tradition of artists transforming everyday objects into art.

Their exhibitions include "Quote! Quote! Quote!" at Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong Kong (2018); "The Printer, The Paper, The Layer, The Thing’s Right(s), The Little Fat Flesh" at Singapore Tyler Print Institute, Singapore (2014); "Arctic Fox Arc – Temperature War – Large Collage" at Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong Kong (2013); "What A Form - : A Reportage" at OCT Contemporary Art Terminal, Shenzhen (2013); and "kuo xuan" at Long March Space, Beijing (2011). Their recent group exhibitions include "Tales from The Taiping Era" at Red Brick Art Museum, Beijing (2014); "Surplus Authors" at Witte de With, Rotterdam (2012); and "Place · Time · Play: Contemporary Art from the West Heavens to the Middle Kingdom" in Shanghai (2010).