A mural dedicated to David Bowie in the West Iceland town of Akranes has become quite a local attraction and will be the site of a Bowie memorabilia exhibition this weekend, RÚV reports. According to Björn Lúðvíksson, the artist who created the memorial, the sight of the unexpected mural at Kirkjubraut 8 often takes viewers completely by surprise and some, he’s been told, have even been moved to tears.
The mural has been in place for two years and is located on the town’s main street. Many people have been “dumbstruck,” Björn laughed on a morning radio program on Rás 1, by running into such a memorial “out in the boondocks in Iceland.” He explained that the idea for the mural stemmed from smaller memorial artworks that he started creating shortly after Bowie’s death in 2016. “It started off with me painting stones—Bowie stones,” Björn said. “…I started painting Bowie stones and placing them down by the Akranesviti lighthouse.” Prior to painting the mural, Björn created four different stones in honor of Bowie, each of which represented a different period in the artist’s career.
There are murals honoring David Bowie all over the world, most notably perhaps, in the London neighborhood of Brixton where he grew up. Björn decided that such a memorial should exist in Akranes as well. “The response has been really good and I’ve heard of people who’ve been moved to tears [by it].”
Björn will be exhibiting his collection of Bowie memorabilia at the mural, along with his friend and fellow Bowie enthusiast Halldór Randver Lárusson. “We have most, if not all, of the albums, and various other things,” Björn said. “Halldór is also a graphic designer and he has been making all kinds of Bowie prints and made picture tees.”
The exhibition will run from 1 – 5 pm on Saturday and Sunday in front of the Bowie mural at Kirkjubraut 8 in Akranes.
