Fridfinnsson’s practice encompasses various media, such as photography, sculpture, texts, installation and, most recently, video. Relying on literature, music, dreams and the passage of time, his work is often structured around dualities and reversals (e.g. left and right, past and present, interior and exterior, light and shadow, seen and unseen, etc.). Also his frequent employment of mirrors can be seen in this light: they not only reflect (and thereby double), but also reverse the reflected. In this way Fridfinnsson has created a fragile and conceptual style, visualised through modest materials (paint stirrers, clear glass, or plain cardboard), yet powerful in its effects.

When working with objects, Fridfinnsson often explores their material qualities and textures as well as their perception. These sculptures, in which Fridfinnsson’s manipulation is limited to a precise minimum, tend away from allegory and metaphor, but rather foreground the impact of their immediate, physical presence. Above all, this highly personal style is attuned to the hidden poetry and mysterious epiphanies latent within our experience of the world.

Hreinn Fridfinnsson has had numerous solo exhibitions, including Serpentine Gallery, London; Kunstmuseum, Bergen; Malmö Konsthall; Reykjavik Art Museum; Le Magasin, Grenoble; Grazer Kunstverein, Graz; and Kyoto Art Center. He also represented Iceland at the 45th Venice Biennale.
His work has also been featured in several group shows including Ends of Nature at MOCA, Los Angeles, which travelled to Haus der Kunst, Munich; Eblouissement at Jeau de Paume, Paris; Norden at Kunsthalle Wien; Sleeping Beauty–Art Now, Scandinavia Today at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Exhibition, Exhibition at Castello di Rivoli, Turin; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; and MUDAM, Luxembourg. Fridfinnsson also participated at the 30ª Bienal de Sao Paulo in 2012. In 2000, Hreinn Fridfinnsson was the recipient of the prestigious Ars Fennica Prize.

His work is also represented in many important public collections, such as FRAC, Bourgogne, Dijon; Liechtensteinische Staatliche Kunstsammlung, Vaduz; Reykjavik Art Museum; Malmö Konstmuseum, Malmö; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; and Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.

Hreinn Fridfinnsson is represented by the following galleries;
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Meessen De Clercq, Brussels

Galerie van Gelder, Amsterdam

i8 Gallery, Reykjavik

Galerie Nordenhake, Stockholm / Berlin

Galeria Elba Benitez, Madrid