The Art of Viðey Island
Originally published in AMA Art Magazine, 2026
Mainland Iceland is surrounded by thousands of smaller islands. Most are uninhabited rocky crags that are mainly home to birds, like the Atlantic Puffin. Some, like Flatey, Grímsey, Hrísey and Heimaey, are considered inhabited, meaning someone lives there year long. One, Viðey Island, though not inhabited year round, attracts more visitors than any of the others thanks to two permanent contemporary public artworks installed in recent decades, one by Richard Serra and one by Yoko Ono.
Richard Serra created Áfangar (Milestones) on the occasion of the 1990 Reykjavik Arts Festival. He was at the height of his fame at the time and could command millions of dollars for his public works, but he famously donated Áfangar to the Icelandic people. The work consists of nine pairs of basalt columns located around the island. Each pair consists of a three-metre tall column and a four-meter tall column. The taller column is installed closer to sea level so each pair appears to be level. The spacing of the columns depends on the topography. Each pair frames a notable landmark.
Yoko Ono’s Imagine peace tower was installed in 2007. From the mainland it appears to be a single spotlight shining directly up into the sky. It is actually 15 searchlights contained within a 10-metre wide wishing well. The lights are aimed at mirrors that reflect the beams upwards. The phrase “Imagine peace” is inscribed on the well in 24 different languages. Since 1981, Ono has been collecting wishes from people around the world as part of her Wish tree project. More than half a million of these wishes are buried in capsules surrounding the Imagine peace tower. The spotlights are powered by Iceland’s renewable geothermal power grid.
In addition to these two contemporary works, there are two other artworks on Viðey Island. One is a statue of the Virgin Mary, installed in 2000 to mark 1,000 years since Christianity was brought to Iceland. The other is a series of three centuries-old inscribed stones of undocumented origin.
