Magnús Sigurðarson

Icelandic artist Magnús Sigurðarson’s sculptures read as tongue-in-cheek memorials to the cod fish.

Magnús Sigurðarson (Iceland, born 1966), *IN COD-liver WE TRUST inc. I, II, and III*, (detail), 2022, altered readymade rain lamps, dimensions variable. Collection of the artist. © Magnús Sigurðarson

Catastrophic global warming and overfishing have decreased the quantity of cod in the North Atlantic Ocean. The sea, fishing, and cod are interwoven in the environmental awareness in the High North. Cod, an everyday utilitarian species, is placed on a pedestal within a mass-produced lamp. Sigurðarson’s sculptures read as kitsch statues to the species that is currently considered vulnerable to extinction. The cod is a unification symbol of sorts. Its story is closely connected to the history and living inhabitants all around the North Atlantic.

In his bestseller Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World, Mark Kurlansky writes:

“Cod, it turns out, is the reason Europeans set sail across the Atlantic, and it is the only reason they could. What did the Vikings eat in icy Greenland and on the five expeditions to America recorded in the Icelandic sagas? Cod, frozen and dried in the frosty air, then broken into pieces and eaten like hardtack. What was the staple of the medieval diet? Cod again, sold salted by the Basques, an enigmatic people with a mysterious, unlimited supply of cod.”

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Guest UserFebruary 11, 20222022 nat artist

Magnús Sigurðarson

Icelandic artist Magnús Sigurðarson’s sculptures read as tongue-in-cheek memorials to the cod fish.

Explore more artworks from North Atlantic Triennial

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Magnús Sigurðarson

Icelandic artist Magnús Sigurðarson’s sculptures read as tongue-in-cheek memorials to the cod fish.

Explore more artworks from North Atlantic Triennial

VISITEXHIBITIONSPROGRAMS & EVENTSPMA FILMSJOIN & GIVELearnWINSLOW HOMER STUDIO

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Facility RentalBOARD OF TRUSTEEScareersDIRECTORYIMAGE SERVICESTerms of UseContact US

LOG IN: Staff | Docents | Trustees

VISIT
EXHIBITIONS
PROGRAMS & EVENTS
PMA FILMS
JOIN & GIVE
Learn
WINSLOW HOMER STUDIO

Art For All
Sustainability
ABOUT THE PMA
Donate Online
PRESS ROOM
ANNUAL REPORTS
PMA Recommends

Facility Rental
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
careers
DIRECTORY
IMAGE SERVICES
Terms of Use
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