Alexandra Landré

independent curator   www.alexandralandre.com

[alexandralandre]

‘A sense of disorientation’ has been published as a result of my ‘network.sculpture’ research. Shout out to my collegues Jan Robert Leegte, Lena Shafir, Anja Hertenberger, Janneke Wesseling en Lotte Benting for their patient guidance, generosity and inspiring feedback! Also a thank you for De Appel, Stedelijk Museum and of course Saskia Noor van Imhoff for the visual material and works. Last but not least Tomáš Celizna for the design!Presentation&talk on December 10th will take place at the Royal Acamy of Art in The Hague.

#research #contemporaryart #spatialpractice #installation #curating #systemtheory #complexity

[alexandralandre]

Gerbrand Burger - Unhide All

Solo exhibition

21 september 2019 - 5 January 2020, Kunstvereniging Diepenheim

Opening: 21 september 3pm

Kunstvereniging Diepenheim proudly presents the first solo exhibition of the Dutch artist Gerbrand Burger: Unhide All.

The title is derived from digital sketching programmes in which the command “unhide all” suddenly makes the structures and constructions behind digital simulations visible. Digital programmes, the manipulability of the surface and the artificiality of objects are among the artist's many sources of inspiration. The interaction between appearance and being, between optical illusion and tangible reality is also evident in his spatial assemblages. On the occasion of the exhibition, the characteristic architecture of the Kunstvereniging is also a wellspring of inspiration. With two monumental interventions, Burger takes complete control of the building and offers visitors unexpected vantage points. Integrated into this total installation is a number of sculptures and prints created especially for this exhibition.

Unhide All invites visitors to immerse themselves in Burger's work and to discover the richness of his playful and seductive artwork.

For information on the opening program and how to get there, check: www.kunstvereniging.nl

image: Gerbrand Burger, studio view, 2019

Pictures: Rick Klein Grotink

[alexandralandre]

FLASHFORWARD

Bastienne Kramer - solo exhibition

25 may - 1 september 2019, Kunstvereniging Diepenheim

Opening: 25th of May 2019 at 3 pm

A subversive attitude - that is how the artistic practice of visual artist Bastienne Kramer can be summarized. In her work she investigates the power relations that lie behind everyday objects, materials and images that seem to surround us unnoticed. Objects like lighters or salt and pepper sets in the shape of female bodies, interior items such as wood-burning stoves or even company logos - how do these things get their shape and meaning? 

These are leading questions in Kramer's artistic exploration. An exploration that also takes place in and through material, preferably ceramics, with which Kramer acquires the subject. Throughout her investigations the artist utilises a vast array of techniques such as casting, 3D printing or the use of heat elements, just to name a few examples. 

During the course of three decades her extensive technical expertise combined with her extraordinary view has led to a impressively varied oeuvre of sculptures, installations and spatial interventions.

Kunstvereniging Diepenheim is honoured to present the first solo exhibition of Bastienne Kramer: FLASHFORWARD. Immersive installations, sculptures and site-specific architectural interventions at the Kunstvereniging ensure a presentation that is both compelling and disruptive.

image: Bastienne Kramer, Venus of Valkenstein XL, 2019

FLASHFORWARD is kindly supported by Fonds Kwadraat and sundaymorning@EKWC.

images: Rick Klein Grotink, Luuk Kramer, Henriette van Klinken

[alexandralandre]

(Dis)connection

Artists - Adéla Babanová, Sybren de Boer, Lotte Geeven & Yeb Wiersma, Anna Hulačová, Valentýna Janů, Hannah Joka, Martin Kohout, Frank Mandersloot, Anetta Mona Chisa & Lucia Tkáčová, Maria Pask & Frederique Bergholtz

Opening: 2 februari, 15.00 h @ Kunstvereniging Diepenheim, in collaboration with Jindřich Chalupecký Society 

On view from 2 februari until  5 may 2019

Kunstvereniging Diepenheim and the Jindřich Chalupecký Society (Czech Republic) proudly present the group exhibition (Dis)connection, with installations, sculptures and video works by thirteen international artists. The exhibition brings together various artistic positions that are connected by shared concern: how can we live together? The question echoes a larger field of social, political and economic issues. It suggests possibilities for rethinking of the ways in which we organize ourselves - both personally and collectively. In the midst of a global environmental, humanitarian and political crisis, we have to ask ourselves what we can do to avert catastrophic scenarios? What knowledge can we resort to and which assumptions and values ​​should we let go of? By disconnecting from modern concepts, such as the idea of ​​progress, the participating artists offer space for new imaginative narratives and visions of possible futures. (Dis)connection is a beginning of a long-term collaborative research, exhibition and discursive project entitled Islands, initiated by the Jindřich Chalupecký Society in collaboration with diverse international partner organizations. This project intends to investigate the disparities and joint agendas of past, present and imagined communities, communal practices and forms of “togetherness”. Revisiting an learning from these social structures offers potential new action plans and alternative forms of sustainable collaboration and coexistence. Curated by Karina Kottová en Alexandra Landré

The exhibition is kindly supported by the Ministry of Culture, Czech Republic, State Fund for Culture and Czech Centres.

image: Anetta Mona Chisa, “yYYyYyyYYYYyYy” (2017), detail

images: Rick Klein Grotink

[alexandralandre]

Between Grace and Fury

Matea Bakula - solo exhibition

Saturday 6 October  – Sunday 23 December 2018 , Kunstvereniging Diepenheim, Opening Saturday 6th, 15.00 h, with a special openings-performance by Inez Almeida.

Kunstvereniging Diepenheim proudly presents 'Between Grace and Fury', the first retrospective exhibition by artist Matea Bakula.

Bakula is fascinated by materials that are used primarily for their functional qualities, such as packaging, insulation foam, concrete or wax. Like an alchemist, she experiments with them, forcing unusual combinations that she subjects to traditional sculpting processes. With this, she gives a new form to otherwise valueless material. Minimalist images in the form of monumental columns, square reliefs or spheres create space for the painterly traces on their surfaces. They are references to earlier experiments and the fascinating act of metamorphosis.

This tension between the stillness of the form and the movement of the material is a recurring motif in the various sculptures and installations that brought together for the first time for the occasion of 'Between Grace and Fury'.

[alexandralandre]

Thanks 1646 for inviting me to write the reflection ‘Inseminating Space’ on Sam Koeghs’ inspiring solo exhibition ‘Orbital Debris’. Available for download on their website or follow this link. I promise your night sky will never be the same...

[alexandralandre]

Hiding in plain sight

Kristina Benjocki • Alexandra Duvekot • Giuseppe Licari • Ruchama Noorda • Semiconductor

Saturday 7 July – Sunday 16 september 2018, Kunstvereniging Diepenheim, Opening Saturday 7th, 16.00 h

image:  Giuseppe Licari • ‘Humus’ • 2015

Kunstvereniging Diepenheim stages its second group exhibition this year: ‘Hiding in plain sight’. Five artists present art works that centres around curiosity, exploration and speculative scenarios. The participating artists dive into everyday reality, posing new questions about the relationship between technology, being human and nature. The result is a series of installations that uncover unknown stories or new and surprising perspectives. Visitors encounter tree root systems at eye level, become involved in forensic research into the history of a cave, or witness at first hand the creation of new material.

‘Hiding in plain sight’ shows that the most radical and newest ideas may lie hidden beneath the banality of the everyday.

Documentation: Rick Klein Grotink

[alexandralandre]

Here they are - a fresh, hot new generation of artist looking forward to meet you during this year’s graduation festival @KABk in The Hague. Don’t miss it!

[alexandralandre]

Anatomy of the Digital

Daleen Bloemers - Joachim Coucke - Kok & Deiman - Thomas Hämén - Ian de Ruiter - Marleen Sleeuwits

Saturday 17 March – Sunday 17 June 2018,  Kunstvereniging Diepenheim, Opening Saturday 17th, 16.00 h

The group exhibition ‘Anatomy of the Digital’ focuses on the wayward relationship between digital media and everyday life. Digital media have become cornerstones of our day-to-day experience and our actions. Based on invisible software and algorithms, they appear to exist outside of our physical perception. Paradoxical as this may seem, despite their abstract or fleeting nature, digital media undoubtedly generate their own visual language and tangible products which, as it were, form a tactile residue: physical traces and fragments of another, abstract dimension. In a variety of artistic practices, such residues generate in new materials, which map the contradictions between our physical autonomy and digital existence.

‘Anatomy of the Digital’ explores several of these highly diverse artistic positions, which draw on elements from the digital, whilst also relating to the discipline of spatial work in all its facets.

Image top: Thomas Hämén • ‘Let Your Animation Run Wild’ 2017 • detail

Documentation: Rick Klein Grotink

[alexandralandre]

The fox and the grapes

Group exhibition with: Nina Boas (NL) • Ruta Butkute ​​(LT) • Laurent-David Garnier (FR) • Ode de Kort (B) • Raewyn Martyn (NZ) • Pendar Nabipour (IR) 

16 December 2017 - 25 February 2018, Kunstvereniging Diepenheim

opening: 16 december , 16.30 h

During the past two years, the Kunstvereniging has paid special attention in its programme to the mechanisms of change and the human behavior accompanies it. Escapism, isolation, artefacts of the future and experimental forms of organization are subjects that have been adressed. These are ways how 'change' influences the perception of our environment and how we respond to it. The group exhibition 'The fox and the grapes' is the last exhibition in this cycle and focuses on the phenomenon of dissonance between real experience and interpretation. The encounter with something 'new' or ‘the other’ question our existing conceptual frameworks. This sometimes happens in a subtle way, by evoking a question or by sowing doubts, by creating curiosity or by calling for disapproval. In whatever form, the still obscure offers space for new ideas.  The group exhibition 'The fox and the grapes' shows spatial installations that subtly use elements of dissonance. The individual works challenge the senses with fragile and unknown material, delicate spatial gestures or engaging stories.

curator: Alexandra Landre  

image: Ruta Butkute,’Swinging Sleeve’, video still, 2016 

[alexandralandre]

PENUMBRA

Solo exhibition LISA REITMEIER (DE)

16 september - 26 november 2017

Opening: September 16th, 4.30 pm, with a special contribution by artist and poet Maria Barnas

Kunstvereniging Diepenheim, The Netherlands

Kunstvereniging Diepenheim is proud to present PENUMBRA - the first solo exhibition by German artist Lisa Reitmeier.

The title of the exhibition is inspired by a natural phenomenon of shadows casts by the sun, creating a twilight zone where light and shadow are equally visible. It is a dimension that exemplifies the phenomenon of transition, a pivotal theme in Reitmeier’s artistic practice. The passage from living to dead material, fluctuations between light and darkness or an object that disintegrates into a multitude of singular fragments are subject to the artist’s inquiry. With an open mind, Rietmeier approaches these occurrences of ‘change’ and translates them to a genuine artistic vocabulary of materials. Latex skins, tiles, found objects en semitransparent substances all accumulate in Rietmeier’s poetic installations. By combining existing and newly site- specific works, PENUMBRA renders the Kunstvereniging into a theatrical and obscure landscape that absorbs objects and viewers alike.

For additional information, go to www.kunstvereniging.nl

image: Lisa Reitmeier, Blackening the impact, detail, 2015​

[alexandralandre]

The Principle of least effort

Group exhibition with Feiko Beckers, Chen Yi-Fei, Charlott Markus, Milena Naef, Diana Scherer, Mickey Yang

24 June - 27 august 2017 , Kunstvereniging Diepenheim

opening: 24th of June, 16.30 h

Originally, the principle of least effort is theoretical concept implying that machines and living organism alike are conditioned to look for the way of least resistance. It is a logic that can be traced in a broad spectrum of activities, from human behavior to mechanical and design processes.

Departing from this phenomenon, the group show ’The Principle Of Least Effort’ features artist who investigate this mechanism within their practice. This is echoed in the selection of works; for example sculptures that mimic human behavior by employing seemingly mechanical efficiency or new materials and forms of behavior as a result of new production techniques. What might appear as a way to minimize friction develops into artistic strategies that utilize resistance, develop recalcitrant processes or focus on the absurdity of results. The participating artists of ‘The Principle Of Least Effort’ challenge the supposed logic and question our concepts of ‘solution’ and ‘functionality’

Image: Milena Naef, Fleeting Parts.Art Stock 2, photo: Bibi Altink

[alexandralandre]

AIR-presentation

With  Kim Habers, Sanja Medic, Wouter Sibum en Alex Winters

24 June- 27 august 2017, Kunstvereniging Diepenheim

Image: Sanja Medic in her studio

The kunstvereniging Diepenheim facilitates a series of artist in residencies in Diepenheim itself. In 2016-2017, four artist participated in our residency program and worked for the duration of two months on their projects, research and experimentations. A selection of materials and works that emerged in this period will be presented during our first collective AIR presentation in the kunstvereniging.

The residency program is a collaboration with the werkplaats Diepenheim and facilitated by the Mondriaan Foundation ( tijdelijke binnenlands ateliers).

Curated by Alexandra Landre & Nanette Kraaijkamp 

[alexandralandre]

Network.Sculpture Research Presentation

During the past year, I have been a research fellow at the lectorate Art Theory & Practice at the Royal academy of the arts, The Hague. ‘Network.Sculpture’ is the title of my investigation, that serves as a basis for an interdisciplinary reflection on sculpture. Together with my colleague-fellows, we have discussed their respective projects, approaches, methods, dilemmas and possible outcomes in monthly meetings chaired by Janneke Wesseling.

On Friday 2 June from 13.00-17.00h we shared the various outcomes of their projects during a public programme which comprises short lectures, presentations, screenings and performances. There will be ample opportunity for group discussion and the afternoon will be concluded with informal drinks.

Presentations were also given by Lena Shafir, Anja Hertenberger, Jan Robert Leegte en Jasper Coppens. 

For more information, please visit www.lectoraatktp.nl

image: Jasper Coppens, Flow Country, 2016, film still

[alexandralandre]

Killing Two Birds With One Stone

Solo exhibition by Jonathan van Doornum

18th of March - 5th of June 2017

Kunstvereniging Diepenheim, The Netherlands

image: Jonathan van Doornum, Forgiveness, Epoxy clay, ink, paint, steel, styrofoam, text board - 230x150x60cm - 2016 (Photo by Gert Jan van Rooij)

Kunstvereniging Diepenheim proudly presents the first solo exhibition by Jonathan van Doornum (1987, Mariënberg). Killing two birds with one stone shows a broad spectrum of spatial work – from a series of smaller, autonomous objects to large-scale sculptures that respond to the exhibition space itself.

Van Doornum's work explores differing concepts of time – whether historical periods, the idea of 'history', the ways in which belief in progress is depicted or the ephemeral nature of things. Every concept of time has its own symbolism, and it is this that provides the inspiration for Van Doornum's work. He creates spatial collages by combining stylistic devices, works like a classical sculptor on industrial materials and gives new forms to everyday objects. All of these processes allow Van Doornum not only to present an idea of time, but also its feel. His sculptures refer to familiar forms while at the same time seeming to have lives of their own – they escape, sigh and take on new shapes. Van Doornum makes an appeal to his viewers' empathy through his combination of materials, the spatial gesture of the sculptures themselves and their abstract visual language.

Curator: Alexandra Landré

On april the 9th the kunstvereniging will host an artist talk with Jonathan van Doornum and curator Alexandra Landré during the national museumweek. For additional information please visit www.kunstvereniging.nl

Killing two birds with one stone is generously supported by Stichting Stokroos.

[alexandralandre]

A lighter with breast or a sexist salt&pepper shaker - who do these objects communicate with? And if they become archeological discoveries in a thousand years from now- will they be considered fertility symbols? these and many more questions have bene raised during a recent interview with Bastienne Kramer @ Atelier Holsboer in Paris. The online version ( Dutch) can be found on Mister Motley Magazine.

Bastienne Kramer, IDOLS XS PARIS , an expending seres of +100 sculptures, porcelain, metal, object size 3 - 15 cm, size installation variable, 2016-17, installation view

[alexandralandre]

MODUS OPERANDI

Exhibition featuring works by Bonno van Doorn, Wineke Gartz, Martijn Hendriks, Sachi Miyachi en Dieke Venema

17 december 2016 - 26 february 2017

Kunstvereniging Diepenheim, The Netherlands

image: Bonno Van Doorn, Order & Chaos, 2014 Courtesy Garage Rotterdam.

Modus Operandi is a group exhibition that features five different artistic positions. The dynamics of the artistic practice serve as a departure point to investigate the development of autonomous works and highly individual and specific visual languages. 

A combination of the use of material, language of forms as well as the adaptation of space, are all leading to highly contrasting works. A common factor between these practices however is exploration of the dynamics between emotional and rational perspectives, between intuition and cognition within the artistic practice. Here the conceptual approaches and intuitive, spontaneous use of material seem to be contradicting each other. It creates a force field of questions, considerations and choices during the creative process, illustrating a fundamental human feature. Modus Operandi exhibits the individual works as a position within a continuous artistic process and raises questions on how choices are made.