Hidden Jewel donated to National Museum Of Iceland


















„Believe what you see – no, believe half of what you see!“ (quote from “The Crimson Pirate“ 1952)


HB: “In my most of my work I always tried to show that our imagination reacts unconsciously or fully aware on what we see in popular productions of mass media (print, film, TV, social media)“. 


This is also how we communicate within our culture: If we see something new, it may remind us of something we have learned before or we compare it with imprinted knowledge. Thus, a fabric of own thinking and preconceived evaluation is created, we see ourselves as part of society. 

The interesting story of the making of the novel “Treasure Island“ by the Scottish Author Robert Louis Stevenson (first published in 1881/82) connects the production of text with a painting of a fictional island which inspired the author create his adventurous tale.  

The series of Hollywood movies “Pirates of the Caribbean“, starting in 2003, did not only show that this type of storytelling can adapt to present fashion, but also that in the mean time a wide range of references and “homages“  is available (Buster Keaton´s film “The Navigator“ from 1924, Robert Siodmak`s “The Crimson Pirate“ from 1952).  

Constant in those novel- based productions are „sea and island“ (= isolation and hiding place), the “treasure“ (= wealth which is detached from its origin) and the pirate (= rebel against society) - ideals which also concern the myths around “art“ (= treasure) and “the artist“ (= the atelier, the rebel). 


“Hidden Jewel“, a pencil drawing on 3 color screen print on Indian paper by Holger Bunk, 2019, 42 x 30 cm was shown in the 40th anniversary show of Helgi Thorgils Fridjonsson`s Corridor Gallery in Reykjavik and is now given to the National Museum Of Iceland. In its title it refers to fictional story telling with exotic elements as well as to the term used in the world of bankers and stock markets: Art works may be or contain something that is worth more than one may know.




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