Ragnar Kjartansson’s ‘Mercy’ brings acclaimed video art to Melbourne
From the nine-screen installation ‘The Visitors’ to the recurring piece ‘Me and My Mother’, Kjartansson’s show at the NGV blurs the line between performance and reality.
Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson has opened his first major solo exhibition in Australia, titled ‘Mercy’, at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne. Running from 26 June to 4 October 2026, the show presents eight video works that delve into themes of performance, ageing, and the human condition. The exhibition title reflects Kjartansson’s interest in the duality of grace and violence, a sentiment he links to the city’s cultural atmosphere and its association with Nick Cave.
Central to the display is ‘The Visitors’, a nine-screen installation filmed in a single take at a dilapidated New York mansion. The Guardian named the work the best artwork of the 21st century in 2019, and it has since developed a significant cult following, with bootleg recordings on YouTube amassing hundreds of thousands of views. The piece features musicians performing in separate rooms, creating a haunting, looping song that serves as a reflection on marriage, friendship, and the beauty of crumbling architecture.
The exhibition also features ‘Me and My Mother’, a recurring video piece documenting Kjartansson and his mother, Guðrún Ásmundsdóttir. Originally conceived as a brutal work in 2000, it has evolved into a meditation on ageing and family, with the latest instalment filmed in 2025 when Ásmundsdóttir turned 90. Kjartansson cites his father, theatre director Kjartan Ragnarsson, as the source of the exhibition’s thematic core, recalling a lesson imparted in his early twenties: “it’s beautiful and sad to be a human being.”
Other works on display include ‘No Tomorrow’, a performance piece involving eight dancers on an empty stage, and ‘Scenes from Western Culture’, which depicts the mundanity of globalised comfort. Kjartansson’s practice often blurs the lines between authenticity and performativity, using music and repetition to create ritualistic experiences for the viewer. The show closes with ‘No Tomorrow’, a pared-back work that Kjartansson describes as being about “nothingness and beauty”.
Kjartansson will speak at the gallery at 3.30pm on Saturday, 27 June, offering an opportunity for audiences to engage with the artist behind the works. The exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria runs until 4 October 2026, providing a comprehensive look at one of contemporary art’s most distinctive voices.