In his offhand virtuosity — opera, theater, music, and, most recently, painting — Kjartansson has followed Icelandic custom. "Icelanders are very good at being amateurs," he explains. "It’s this carpe diem thing. You’re not afraid of stepping into any field, because it’s not serious. It’s like the bonus of Iceland and also the reason for the Icelandic fall, this lack of seriousness. It’s a very good quality to have as an artist, but it’s a horrible quality to have as a banker."

Iceland has indulged its Viking son, awarding him one of the government’s coveted artist salaries, a two-year grant that has funded his wayward creative ventures. "I just love the idea of being an artist," says Kjartansson, who, when not in residence at his rustic cottage, lives mainly in Reykjavík with his wife, the artist Ásdís Sif Gunnarsdóttir, "because people are coming to your studio and having a cigarette and a chat. That’s like my favorite part."

As he has probed more deeply into Iceland’s artistic traditions, his work has gained in complexity. The marvelous one-liners remain, but are now layered with considerations of artistic practice and place. This expanded performative spirit will be on display at next month’s Venice Biennale, where the Icelandic Pavilion hosts what promises to be his most monumental work yet: a residency wherein he’ll continuously paint a Speedo-clad male model while both of them quaff beer, smoke cigarettes, and soak up the Venetian light. "It’s just me looking at him and painting him, and then the beer and the paintings and the cigarettes are going to pile up. It’s a process piece with this one moment, this everlasting moment for six months." The work is still cheerfully absurdist, but as an Icelander in Venice, he’s thought about how the Grand Canal’s lapping waters will echo the fjord where he has painted from his cottage window. As he gazes at his comrade under the Italian sun, he’ll once more make the most of every moment.

"Ragnar Kjartansson" originally appeared in the May 2009 issue of Modern Painters. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Modern Painters' May 2009 Table of Contents.