Food, fjords, and fine art

Multidisciplinary artist Olafur Eliasson is returning to his Icelandic roots with a three-month pop-up restaurant in Reykjavik. The project, SOE Kitchen 101, is a collaboration between Eliasson and his sister, chef Victoria Eliasdóttir, and intended as a place for “food experimentation and impromptu encounters.” The pair were inspired by the family-style kitchen at Studio Olafur Eliasson in Berlin, where the artist’s one hundred-person studio team gather for daily lunches.

Olafur Eliasson, Leifur Kolbeinsson and Victoria Eliasdóttir at Marshall Restaurant and Bar, 2018. Ari Magg photo.

During their stay on the island, Eliasson and Eliasdóttir are taking up residence at Marshall House, a former fish meal factory that is now a cultural space with both studio and eatery as well as home to local art venues Kling & Bang gallery and the Living Art Museum. On the ground floor, Eliasdóttir will serve a set meal-of-the-day for the daily lunch and dinner menu at the Marshall Restaurant and Bar. Upstairs, Eliasson will be hard at work in his satellite studio. Many of Eliasson’s works, new and old, will be displayed in the pop-up eatery, adding to its unique atmosphere.

Installation view of Studio Olafur Eliasson at Marshall House, 2018. © Olafur Eliasson, Vigfus Birgisson photo.

Eliasson intends for all work created in this space to be completely sourced from local Icelandic materials. From the window of the studio, guests can look out on the Harpa Concert Hall and Conference center, an iconic structure on Reykjavik’s harbor with a glass façade conceived by Eliasson in collaboration with Henning Larsen Architects. Connecting past work with the present, he designed light fixtures using the same reflective glass from the Harpa which are installed in his studio and SOE Kitchen 101.

Olafur Eliasson at his new studio in Reykjavik, 2018. Ari Magg photo.

“I’ve always felt emotionally connected to Iceland; its landscape and unique light conditions have been a strong source of inspiration, and an environment in which to test artistic ideas,” says Eliasson.

The studio is open to the public to view ongoing projects, an arrangement which Eliasson hopes will foster dialogue between artist and visitor. The pop-up will only be open until October 28^th— make your reservations now.