SECOND/SECOND Opens Today at Pittsburgh's Wood Street Galleries

Pittsburgh, PA--The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust announces the opening of SECOND/SECOND by Icelandic artist Finnbogi Pétursson. The exhibition is on view today, September 26 to December 31, 2014, at the Trust's Wood Street Galleries. An opening reception takes place Friday, September 26, 2014, from 5:30 to 9 p.m., during the Trust's quarterly and 10th annual Gallery Crawl throughout the Cultural District.

The artist's first U.S. solo exhibition includes two light and sound installations, the recent works Teslatune (2014) and a U.S. premiere water installation.

"Wood Street Galleries welcomes the return of Iceland's Finnbogi Pétursson in SECOND/SECOND," says Murray Horne, Wood Street Galleries curator. "The Icelandic landscape can be described as mesmerizing, contemplative and hypnotic; these often intangible qualities are also embodied in Pétursson's sound-modulated water installations."

Teslatune (2014) is dedicated to the inventor Nikola Tesla. The installation emits sound that comes from an alternating current transformer, which is led through a programmer (time-adjusted frequency equaliser and switch box) to channel the sound through eight different outputs-pipes. These eight pipes of different lengths hang from the galley's ceiling, producing what seem to be different sounds, but the frequency is always the same, 60 Hz. The lengths of the pipes affect the pitch.

Pétursson has stated about his practice: "I am always trying to capture phenomena such as sound, water, fire, shadow and light, and channel them along new grooves, turn them into something other than what they are. These are phenomena that you feel and think about, but never see."

Finnbogi Pétursson, born in Reykjavík, Iceland, has been exhibiting since 1980 and is one of Iceland's most prominent light and sound artists. He is known for works that fuse sound, light, sculpture, architecture and drawings. Sound-a crucial element-is typically incorporated into spare sculptural installations. Pétursson represented Iceland at the Venice Biennial in 2001 with his monumental sound installation Diabolus. His artworks are held in numerous private collections as well as at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, Vienna, Austria, andthe National Gallery of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland. Permanent installations are at Landsvirkjun, Vatnsfellsvirkjun (an electric power plant) Reykjavík University, and the Reykjavík Energy Headquarters. Finnbogi lives and works in Reykjavík, Iceland.

About Wood Street Galleries - Wood Street Galleries is located at 601 Wood Street. Gallery hours: Wed. & Thur. 11 a.m.-6 p.m.; Fri. & Sat. 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sun. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. The gallery is free and open to the public. Wood Street Galleries is a project of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. Support for Wood Street Galleries has been provided by the Howard Heinz Endowment and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. Additional support provided by the Port Authority of Allegheny County. For more information about all gallery exhibitions featured in the Cultural District, visit www.TrustArts.org.

About the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust - The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has overseen one of Pittsburgh's most historic transformations: turning a seedy red-light district into a magnet destination for arts lovers, residents, visitors, and business owners. Founded in 1984, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is a non-profit arts organization whose mission is the cultural and economic revitalization of a 14-block arts and entertainment/residential neighborhood called the Cultural District. The District is one of the country's largest land masses "curated" by a single nonprofit arts organization. A major catalytic force in the city, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is a unique model of how public-private partnerships can reinvent a city with authenticity, innovation and creativity. Using the arts as an economic catalyst, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has holistically created a world-renowned Cultural District that is revitalizing the city, improving the regional economy and enhancing Pittsburgh's quality of life. Thanks to the support of foundations, corporations, government agencies and thousands of private citizens, the Cultural Trust stands as a national model of urban redevelopment through the arts. For more information, visit TrustArts.org. Follow us on Twitter @CulturalTrust, and like us on Facebook.