Review by Bragi Ásgeirsson published in 1998 in Morgunbladid,
the largest newspaper in Iceland.

Deep in the artwork is a symbolic name of this exhibition by Margrét Sveinsdóttir, because her paintings are nothing but pure and simple paintings. She has, with her heavy and massive canvases, made herself quite unique among painters from her generation. The artworks are sometimes monotonic even if the color is full of variety and hues if you look closer. Sometimes she opens the surface to allow the viewer to feel that behind the coating and layers there is a surge of primordial energy. But this is only done to create life on the picture plane and sometimes it is clearly a pure and simple structural painting, or an order in the chaos. There are very few painters whose work is as straight forward as the work of Margrét. The whole working process is often called peinture pura, the total and pure painting that has freed itself from all external characteristics, so even the geometry and informal art become a material reality beside them.

There is nothing new in paintings, in art. However, it will always be new if the creator has something to say from his or her own heart, like a good painting is always new if it carries the freshness of experience, no matter how and what is painted, or if the art “is” in the now.