Erling lives and works in Reykjavik and is co-founder of Kling & Bang Gallery, Reykjavik, Iceland.
Studied at Nova Scotia College of Art & Design where he completed an MFA degree. He also studied at Hochschule für Bildende Kunst, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Fachhochschule fur Bildende Kunst, Kiel, Germany and the Icelandic College of Art & Crafts, Reykjavik, Iceland.
Selected solo exhibitions: ”I exhibit nothing but in a new context”, Kling & Bang gallery, Reykjavík, Iceland, 2005. ”Mass-production of individuality”, Reykjavik Artmuseum / Asmundarsafn, Reykjavík, Iceland, 2004. “Are you looking at me”, Artmuseum ASI, Reykjavik, Iceland, 2004.
Selected group exhibitions: ”Erling T.V. Klingenberg-artist”, Frieze Projects / Frieze Art Fair, London, UK, 2008. “Artists on the Verge of Something I & II”, The Living Art Museum and Kling & Bang gallery, Reykjavík, Iceland, 1998 and 2008. Pisland 1, Jurewicz-Arnardottir Art Foundation, Nikisialka, Poland, 2008. “Sundogs”, Truck gallery, Calgary, Canada, 2008. “Sense in Place – Site-ations”, Model & Nilland gallery, international project, Sligo, Ireland, 2005. ” New Icelandic Art, On reality, Man and Image”, National Gallery of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland, 2004.
Erling T.V. Klingenberg appears often in his work when he uses art history as a form of objective presentation and subjective images. His working methods fluctuate between the challenging and the sincere, while allowing obtrusive emotions to enter his work. Erling puts the concept of artist into an unexpected and humorous context, just like in his motto; “it´s hard to be an Artist in a Rockstar Body”. The metaphor that exists in the artist’s endless chase for fame and fortune is at the root of Klingenberg’s body of work. However, it is not in the final product but in the process that his interests lie. His obsession with defining the role of the artist in this “Rock Star” based society is what takes him to actually investigate not what the artist does but how he does it. At the end, does he actually want us to see him as a godlike creator rather than a Rock Star that has just left the building?