Open Call: Project and Curatorial Research Grants

Open Call: Project and Curatorial
Research Grants

Etant donnés: The French-American Fund for Contemporary Art

Application deadline: April 30th, 2012 

Etant donnés: The French-American Fund for Contemporary Art offers grants to American non-profit institutions organizing exhibitions, installations or other projects with living French artists or French non-profit institutions presenting similar projects involving American artists.

In 2012, the priority of the Etant donnés fund will be to foster enduring partnerships between French and American non-profit institutions through the development of collaborative projects and travelling exhibitions.

Since 2005, Etant Donnés also offers Curatorial Research Grants supporting the professional development of American curators by offering them extended stays in France for research projects in the field of contemporary art. The grants are reserved for curators and scholars, who must be U.S. citizens or legal residents of the United States for at least five years and who have a minimum of three years of research or professional experience in the field and are currently employed by or have a specific project in collaboration with a non-profit art space.

Grants are awarded through an open competition administered by the Etant donnés Fund. Qualifying projects may be in the fields of visual arts, architecture and design. Applications are reviewed by the Etant donnés Artistic Committee which is composed of prominent curators, art critics and arts administrators.

Completed applications must be received on or before April 30, 2012, for projects beginning after June 10, 2012. Incomplete or late applications cannot be accepted for consideration. 

In 2012, Etant donnés will be supported by Institut Francais, Florence Gould Foundation, Cultural Services of the French Embassy and FACE. 

Examples of projects funded in 2011:
-“Jean-Luc Moulène: Opus + One” at Dia Art Foundation
-“Campfires and Oceans” by Bruno Serralongue at the San Francisco Art Institute
or www.facecouncil.org/etantdonnes/contemporaryart.html for grantees of past years. 

Complete guidelines and application forms are available at:
www.facecouncil.org/etantdonnes/contemporaryart.html
Etant donnés: The French-American Fund for Contemporary Art
T 212 439-1418

——-Similar to Etants donnés, FLUXUS, a Franco-British fund for contemporary art initiated in June 2010 by the Institut Français and the British charity Paris Calling Ltd. was created in order to promote artistic exchanges between France and the United-Kingdom. Since its creation in 2010, it has contributed to a number of exhibition projects and to curatorial research in the two countries. Having gained momentum in 2012, Fluxus will organize a second call for projects in June. 

The fund is supported by the Institut Français as well as by private donors interested in contemporary art.

Further information about Fluxus and on how to apply can be found on www.fluxusfund.com

Into the Mix at The Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft

Into the Mix

4 February–14 April 2012

Opening:
Friday, 3 February, 5–10pm 

Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft
715 West Main Street
Louisville, KY 40202

www.kentuckyarts.org

Janine Antoni
Christopher Cozier
Blue Curry
Carlos Gámez de Francisco
Marlon Griffith
Sofia Maldonado
Wendy Nanan
Ebony G. Patterson
Sheena Rose
Heino Schmid
Text by Nicholas Laughlin

Curated by Aldy Milliken

Interactive Design object by Marlon Darbeau and Christopher Cozier

Discussion Saturday, February 4, 2012 4:00–6:00pm: Elaine Chao Auditorium in Ekstrom Library, University of Louisville, Contemporary Art from a Caribbean Perspective: Discussion with artists Blue Curry, Marlon Griffith and Sofia Maldonado; moderated by Nicholas Laughlin. Co-sponsored with LALS.

Discussion with Christopher Cozier, Ebony G. Patterson, and Courtney J. Martin, PhD Vanderbilt, TBA

 

What matters today is to translate the cultural values of cultural groups and to connect them to the world network. This “reloading process” of modernism according to the twenty-first-century issues could be called altermodernism, a movement connected to the creolization of cultures and the fight for autonomy, but also the possibility of producing singularities in a more and more standardized world.    
—Nicolas Bourriaud, French curator/critic 

The Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft is proud to present Into the Mix, a conversation about how materiality addresses the complexities of cultural stereotypes in an exhibition featuring 10 Caribbean artists.  Their artwork takes on new meanings in a context where cultural history is influenced by outside migrating populations, colonial governments, tourists and the popular culture machine. In many societies, craft and hand-worked items help establish a culture of self-worth in the minds of the local population. The creation of these objects is influenced by the economic opportunity presented through tourism, yet souvenirs represent the visitor’s interests and are taken out of context.

What is cultural authenticity and who decides what is truly a significant representation of a culture? It is up to contemporary artists and artisans to communicate their intentions and shape the framework in which their work is perceived. The Museum explores ideas from a variety of perspectives that describe the historical, conceptual, and aesthetic nature of the art works as singular vignettes not as sweeping generalizations.

Furthering the conversation of what is culturally authentic, this exhibition reveals how disparate artists from the Caribbean connect with each other in a virtual world that has no boundaries. Through E-Catalogues by Draconian Switch and Richard Rawlins the show will develop written texts with the artists, blog comments, and include pictures from reviews, interventions, happenings, and discussions that happen in Louisville and other regions of the world during the 10 weeks.

During the opening week from January 30th to February 4th, several artists in the exhibition will be in Louisville creating their works, interacting with students and museum visitors, doing artist talks, and making performances. In collaboration with this exhibition, Carlos Gámez de Francisco will be in the Steve Wilson Gallery as artist-in-residence, working on his newest series of paintings.  

Please check the Museum events page for times and further details.  www.kentuckyarts.org

This exhibition was generously supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, Brown-Forman, D.D. Williamson, Fund for the Arts, the Kentucky Arts Council, USA Print.com, and other donors who wish to remain anonymous.

Thank you to Magasin 3, Stockholm, Coulson and Voges Collection, Bahamas, Alice Yard, Trinidad, University of Louisville Latin American and Latino Studies Program, and University of Kentucky for making this exhibition possible.

Adelaide International 2012: Restless

Adelaide International 2012: Restless

2012 Adelaide Festival
1 March–5 April 2012 

Curator: Victoria Lynn

www.adelaidefestival.com.au

Anne & Gordon Samstag Museum of Art
Australian Experimental Art Foundation
Contemporary Art Centre of SA
Flinders University City Gallery

The Adelaide Festival’s Visual Arts program brings you the second Adelaide International: Restless, curated by Festival Visual Arts Curator Victoria Lynn. 

Featuring the work of 18 international artists, including five Adelaide premieres, the exhibition is located at four public galleries in Adelaide, Australia: Anne & Gordon Samstag Museum of Art, Australian Experimental Art Foundation, Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia and Flinders University City Gallery.

Exploring the restlessness of our times, the artists seek out threshold experiences and create works that convey an ongoing transition from one condition to another. By exploring physical force fields, or by negotiating complex cultural sites, the artists create the sensation of being catapulted into the spaces between the extremities of the living “heavens” and “hells” in our contemporary era, endeavouring to create works that defy easy categorisation and instead seek out imagery that pivots on an edge.

Taking as their starting points the aspirational and affective concepts of faith, emotion, mystery and the cosmos, the works in this exhibition explore thresholds and transitions, departures and deviations. The resonant spaces of architecture, the translation of works and cultures, the precipice between life and death, presence and absence, are the various scores at play. The restless journeys, splintered sense of time and open-ended explorations in these artistic practices give us a new vision of the experience of dynamic force fields and mobility.

Artists: Francis Alÿs (BEL/MEX), N.S. Harsha (IND), Chosil Kil (STH KOR/UK), Annika Larsson (SWE), Augustin Maurs (FRA), Teresa Margolles (MEX), Rabih Mroué (LEB), Saskia Olde Wolbers (NED/UK), Postcommodity (USA), Lisa Reihana (NZ), Anri Sala (ALB/GER), Socratis Socratous (CYP), Nancy Spero (USA), Danae Stratou (GRE), Jinoos Taghizadeh (IRAN).

Developed in collaboration with the participating galleries and supported by University of South Australia, the Adelaide International 2012: Restless will consolidate the Adelaide Festival’s long history of engagement with contemporary art from around the world. The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue.

The Festival also presents Artists’ Week: Into Cosmos, a four day symposium featuring international speakers Hou Hanru (China/USA), N.S. Harsha (India), Kelly Link (USA), Gerald McMaster (Canada), Cuauhtémoc Medina (Mexico), Jack Persekian (Palestine), Postcommodity (USA), Lisa Reihana (NZ), Danae Stratou (Greece) and Jan Verwoert (Netherlands), alongside several Australian artists and academics including Peter Beilharz, Jill Bennett, Paul Carter, Robert Cook, Barbara Creed, Shaun Gladwell, Julie Gough, Teri Hoskin, Anne Marsh, Jennifer A. McMahon, Tom Nicholson, Nikos Papastergiadis, Julie Rrap, Lisa Slade, Linda Marie Walker and Pamela Zeplin. 

The Adelaide Festival’s Visual Arts program is also proud to be in partnership with the Art Gallery of South Australia in their presentation of the Parallel Collisions: 2012 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art and Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute’s exhibition by eight leading Australian First Nation artists and collectives, Deadly: In-between Heaven and Hell.

For more information:
www.adelaidefestival.com.au
info@adelaidefestival.com.au
+61 (0)8 8216 4444

n.paradoxa Volume 29: ‘Trans-Asia’

n.paradoxa: international feminist art journal Volume 29 Trans-Asia (Jan 2012)

www.ktpress.co.uk

n.paradoxa’s fifteenth year of publication begins with Volume 29 of n.paradoxa, ‘Trans-Asia’.

n.paradoxa specialises in critical and scholarly articles and interviews on contemporary women artists and feminism from around the world.

Volume 29 takes a look at contemporary women artists working in different parts of Asia
as well as women who are part of a larger Asian diaspora in relation to ideas of feminism.
The volume, as a whole, focuses on India, Korea, China, Indonesia, Pakistan, Philippines and Taiwan.
Four artists’ projects, 3 in full colour, are also published which critically explore histories, memories and legacies of moments in contemporary Asian identities.

Contents:
Ann Huber-Sigwart ‘Between the Lines: Some thoughts on Sheela Gowda’s works’
Kim Hong-hee ‘Contemporary Korean Activist and Feminist Art’
Peggy Wang ‘Subversion, Culture Shock, and ‘Women’s Art’: An Interview with Lin Tianmiao’
Saisha Grayson ‘Breathing Between the Lines: Re-Deconstruction in Chitra Ganesh’s Tales of Amnesia’
Patricia Karetzky ‘Cui Xiuwen’s Recent Work: Spiritual Realms in the Material World ‘
Carla Bianpoen ‘Indonesian Women Artists make their Mark’
Flaudette May Datuin ‘Sow and Till: The Revolving Secret Garden (Reflections on a Class Project)’
Shibin Zhang ‘Xiaoyan Fan: Strength / Weakness’
Salima Hashmi ‘ “Sinful Women”: Women Artists from Pakistan’

Artists’ Pages from:
Nalini Malani ‘In Search of Vanished Blood…’
Hong-Kai Wang ‘Music While We Work’
Yong Soon Min ‘OVERSEAS / at Sea’
Judy Freya Sibayan ‘Scapular Gallery Nomad: The Wonderful World of a Small Art Gallery Resting on my Shoulders

This volume is financially supported by the Flo Art Foundation

Future volumes:
Volume 30 (July 2012) ‘Feminist aesthetics’
Volume 31 (Jan 2013) ‘Africa and its Diasporas’

Volumes 30–33 are financially supported by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, New York.

Visit our new and dynamically searchable website to find out more about n.paradoxa’s 15 years of publication and to use our extensive information pages on feminist art which list 1,000 books, exhibition catalogues, periodicals and links since 1970s.

n.paradoxa is available by mail order anywhere in the world and by electronic subscription for individuals and for libraries.

In the UK, n.paradoxa is available in London at Tate Modern, ICA, Serpentine Gallery bookshops; in Birmingham at Ikon Gallery bookshop; and in Bristol at the Arnolfini Gallery bookshop. 

n.paradoxa: international feminist art journal  (ISSN: 1461-0434) 96 pages: 16 in colour

Editor: Katy Deepwell
International Editorial Board: Renee Baert, Joanna Frueh, Hiroko Hagiwara, Janis Jefferies, Hilary Robinson, Bisi Silva.
Publisher: KT press, London
www.ktpress.co.uk
ktpress@ktpress.co.uk 

Ala Ebtekar at The Third Line, Dubai

Ala Ebtekar
Elsewhen

18 January–8 March 2012 

The Third Line
Al Quoz, Street 6,
PO Box 72036, Dubai, UAE

T +9714 3411 367

www.thethirdline.com
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Exhibited widely throughout the United States and internationally, Ebtekar’s impressive body of work over the past decade has drawn evocative parallels between events unfolding today and events and stories of the past. Challenged by an increasing desire to look towards the future and how to manifest this palpable impulse into a new series of work, he began researching the narratives and concepts of the literary genre of science fiction, where depictions of the future, space flight, and time travel set the stage for narratives of realistic speculation about possible future events. 

In an excerpt from an essay by Catherine Wagley on this series, she writes, “Sometimes regression can be retroactive, a move backward that actually catapults you forward. When French philosopher Gilles Deleuze published his dissertation in 1968, the year the Second French Revolution led students to occupy the Sorbonne and workers all over Paris to go on strike, he suggested returning to the past could actually push you into the future. ‘It is because nothing is equal, because everything bathes in its difference, . . . that everything returns,’ he wrote. You feel your way through memory and repeat history because you have changed, so shouldn’t the results be different this time around?

Ala Ebtekar moved back to make Coelestis (after Hafez), and the other intricate images he printed then painted into large, old manuscript pages. Patterned and concentric, the paintings have, at first glance, a traditional, ritualistic feeling. Perfectly spaced golden vines move in from all sides toward star-shaped openings, each arm of which resembles a Persian window cut into an Esfahani-style palace. Given the manuscript Ebtekar worked into, by Persian poet Hafez who wrote in the 14th Century, has achieved divine status, the ritualism of these paintings fits almost too well—except that Ebtekar’s particular approach to precision and repetition is informed more by the language of pixels and vectors than ink and parchment.

One of Ebtekar’s Ayandeh-nameh images, The dark midnight, fearful waves, and the tempestuous whirlpool, shows twisting yellow light against a night sky, like fireworks that erupt in animated action films when a spaceship takes off or a mystical submarine pulls up from the sea. Another shows a mostly-blue room with clouds for a floor and a ceiling that dissolves into stars; uninhabited, the room emanates a surreal breed of serenity. The effect of these two images together is painfully optimistic. They pull together already-familiar languages of romance, regality, pop and possibility and, in doing so, seem to want represent what could be real. Destiny doesn’t go in any one direction, they suggest, nor is it necessarily one thing over another. It could hover forever here, mixed-up, in-between but hopeful.”

In The Third Line’s Project space, Ebtekar’s accumulation of Persian poetry manuscripts is a preface to Ayandeh-nameh, an editioned artists’ book project with artist Binta Ayofemi.  The book is stage for intervals, sequences, and actions, both past and present. As an installation of latent materials, Sufic poetry interleaved with his photographs, the manuscripts point to a space of dreams.

About Ala Ebtekar
Ebtekar describes his work as “a visual glimpse of a crossroad where present day events meet history and mythology”. He received his BA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2002 and his MFA degree from Stanford University in 2006. His work has been exhibited internationally and throughout the United States, most recently in “The Global Contemporary: Art Worlds After 1989” at ZKM – Museum of Contemporary Art, Karlsruhe, Germany. He is a visiting lecturer at Stanford University, and lives and works in San Francisco.

About The Third Line                                                                                                                
The Third Line is an art gallery that represents contemporary Middle Eastern artists locally, regionally and internationally, with a gallery space in Dubai. In addition to on-going exhibitions, The Third Line hosts non-profit, alternative programs to increase interest and debate in the region. This includes film screenings; and an international multimedia forum for artists and designers called Pecha Kucha Night Dubai.

The Third Line also publishes books by associated artists from the region. Books published to date include Presence by Emirati photographer Lamya Gargash (2008), and In Absentia by Palestinian-Kuwaiti Tarek Al-Ghoussein (2009), and most recently Cosmic Geometry, an extensive monograph on Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, edited by Hans Ulrich Obrist and Karen Marta (2011).

Represented artists include: Abbas Akhavan, Ala Ebtekar, Amir H. Fallah, Babak Golkar, Ebtisam Abdulaziz, Farhad Moshiri, Fouad Elkoury, Golnaz Fathi, Hassan Hajjaj, Hayv Kahraman, Huda Lutfi, Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige, Lamya Gargash, Laleh Khorramian, Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, Pouran Jinchi, Rana Begum, Shirin Aliabadi, Slavs and Tatars, Susan Hefuna, Tarek Al- Ghoussein and Youssef Nabil. 

Art Paris Art Fair 2012

Art Paris Art Fair

29 March–1 April 2012
Grand Palais

www.artparis.fr

A new start for Art Paris Art Fair, the springtime fair for modern and contemporary art in Paris.

Held from 29th March to 1st April 2012, Art Paris Art Fair is the springtime event for modern and contemporary art in France that brings together 120 galleries from 15 countries under the majestic glass roof of the Grand Palais.

With a new leadership the fair has been renamed Art Paris Art Fair and has undergone a complete transformation. This year sees 56% of newcomers to the fair, with some 40% of participating galleries from abroad. Also new is a VIP programme of visits entitled “Springtime in Paris,” a series of talks a new section dedicated to cutting edge contemporary design called “Limited Edition.” Another novelty is “Large Format,” a project presenting close to a dozen monumental works at the centre of the fair.

The “Limited Edition” section aims to explore the relationship between art and contemporary design
Open to all forms of artistic expression, Art Paris Art Fair 2012 is launching a new section showcasing European design. Curated by expert Bénédicte Colpin, this “Limited Edition” section brings together a selection of cutting edge galleries such as Pierre Alain Challier, Galerie Matignon, Slott Galerie and White Moon Gallery who will show exclusive pieces made by top contemporary designers.

The “Limited Edition” section is supported by Série Limitée Les Echos

“Springtime in Paris:” a tour of the best of what’s on in town
Art Paris Art Fair has organised a programme of visits for its invited VIP guests entitled “Springtime in Paris” which will offer private access to the major events on the arts scene this spring. This includes exhibitions such as “Neon: who’s afraid of red, yellow and blue” at La Maison Rouge, “Joel-Peter Witkin: Enfer ou ciel” (Hell or Heaven) at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, “Ai Wei Wei: Entrelacs” at the Jeu de Paume, “Resisting the Present, Mexico 2000/2012″ at the Musée  d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. These come in addition to the specialized fairs taking place at the same time, in particular the Salon du Dessin 2012 and Drawing Now.

Practical information:
Art Paris Art Fair
29 March–1April 2012
Grand Palais, Avenue Winston Churchill, 75008 Paris
Preview (by invitation only) on Wednesday 28th March 2012 from 6pm to 10pm
Opening hours: Thursday 29th March and Saturday 31st March from 11:30 am to 8pm, Friday 30th March from 11:30 am to 10pm, and Saturday 1st April from 11:30 to 7pm.
Entrance fee: 20 EUR /10 EUR for students
Travel: for travel arrangements and accommodation, please take advantage of our partnership with www.TuronTravel.com  – E-mail: info@turontravel.com  

Press office: 2e BUREAU
18 rue Portefoin, 75003 Paris,  T: +33 (0) 1 42 33 93 18,  Email: artparis@2e-bureau.com

 

List of exhibitors
10 Chancery Lane Gallery (Hong-Kong) – 313 Art Project (Seoul)* – A&B Gallery (Seoul / Karlsruhe)* – A. Galerie (Paris) – A2Z Art Gallery (Ivry-sur-Seine) – Acte2 galerie (Paris) – AD Galerie (Béziers) – Galerie Albrecht (Berlin)* – Louise Alexander Gallery (Porto Cervo) – A.L.F.A. Galerie (Paris)* – Analix Forever (Geneva) – Arts d’Australie Stéphane Jacob (Paris)* – Galerie Albert Baumgarten (Fribourg) – Galerie Albert Benamou, Véronique Maxé & Albert Koski (Paris) – Galerie Berthet-Aittouarès (Paris) – Bourouina (Berlin)* – Galerie Jean Brolly (Paris) – Galerie Bernard Ceysson (Luxemburg / Paris/ Saint-Etienne) – Galerie Pierre Alain Challier (Paris) – Galerie Michèle Chomette (Paris)* – °Clair Galerie (Munich) – Galerie Claude Bernard (Paris) – Confluence (Nantes)* – De Primi Fine Art (Lugano) – Delaive Gallery (Amsterdam)* – Dovin (Budapest)* – Galerie Dukan Hourdequin (Paris)* – Eidos Immagini Contemporanea (Asti)* – Erdesz Gallery (Budapest)* – Erika Deak Gallery (Budapest)* – Espace Beaumont (Luxemburg)* – Fabbrica Eos (Milan)* – Faur Zsófi Gallery (Budapest)* – Les Filles Du Calvaire (Paris)* – Flatland (Utrecht)* – Galerie Forsblom (Helsinki)* – Gagliardi Art System (Turin)* – Galerie Claire Gastaud (Clermont-Ferrand) – Galerie Bertrand Gillig (Strasbourg)* – Gimpel Müller (Paris/London)* – Galerie Laurent Godin (Paris)* – Galerie Bertrand Grimont (Paris)* – Galerie Guillaume (Paris) – Gallery H.A.N. (Seoul)* – Galerie Kashya Hildebrand (Zürich) – Galerie Ernst Hilger (Vienna) – Galerie Catherine Houard (Paris) – Galerie Catherine et André Hug (Paris) – IFA Gallery (Shanghai) – Ilan Engel Gallery (Paris) – Galerie Imane Farès (Paris)* – Inception Gallery (Paris)* – Inda Gallery (Budapest) – Galerie Catherine Issert (Saint-Paul de Vence) – J. Bastien Art (Brussels) – Galerie Jacques Elbaz (Paris)* – Galerie Jean Fournier (Paris)* – JGM Galerie (Paris)* – Anna Klinkhammer Gallery (Dusseldorf)* – Konzett Gallery (Vienna)*- Galerie Koulinsky / Cellule 516 (Marseille)* – La Galerie Particulière (Paris)* – Galerie Lahumière (Paris) – Baudoin Lebon (Paris) – Galerie Lelong (Paris) – Galerie Levy (Berlin / Hamburg)* – Galerie Linz (Paris) – Magnum Gallery (Paris)* – Kalman Maklary Fine Arts (Budapest)* – Mario Mauroner Contemporary Art (Vienna)* – Galerie Martine et Thibault De La Châtre (Paris)* – Galerie Matignon (Paris)* – Mayoral Galeria D’art (Barcelona) – Galerie Alice Mogabgab (Beirut) – Galerie Lélia Mordoch (Paris) – Galerie Nathalie Obadia (Paris / Brussels) – Oniris (Rennes) – Galerie Orel Art (Paris) – Galerie Paris-Beijing (Paris / Beijing) – Galerie Priska Pasquer (Cologne)* – Pente 10 (Lisbon)* – Galerie Jérôme Poggi (Paris)* – Polka Galerie (Paris) – Catherine Putman (Paris)* – Rabouan Moussion (Paris) – Galerie Richard (Paris/New York)* – J. P. Ritsch-Fisch Galerie (Strasbourg) – Galerie Brigitte Schenk (Cologne)* – Sémiose (Paris) – Shuim Gallery (Seoul / Paris)* – Galerie Slott (Paris)* – Galerie Véronique Smagghe (Paris) – Galerie Stefan Roepke (Cologne)* – Galerie Rive Gauche Marcel Strouk (Paris) – Galerie Taïss (Paris) – Galerie Tamenaga (Paris) – Galerie Daniel Templon (Paris) – Galerie Toxic (Luxemburg) – Trait Noir-Aroya Galerie (Toulouse)* – Galerie Patrice Trigano (Paris)* – Galerie Vanessa Quang (Paris)* – Venice Projects (Venice) – Galerie Vieille Du Temple (Paris) – Galerie Vintage (Paris)* – VIPArt Galerie (Marseille) – Galerie VU’ (Paris) – Galerie Olivier Waltman (Paris) – White Moon Gallery (Paris)* – Galerie Esther Woerdehoff (Paris)* – Young Gallery (Brussels)* – Espace Meyer Zafra (Paris) – Galerie Zimmermann Kratochwill (Graz)* – Galerie Zürcher (Paris / New York)*

* new participant (list updated on January 30th, 2012)

Jos de Gruyter & Harald Thys at Galerie Micheline Szwajcer
, Antwerp

Jos de Gruyter & Harald Thys
Les énigmes de Saarlouis 

February 3–March 17, 2012 

Opening:
Thursday, February 2, 2012, 18–21 h

Galerie Micheline Szwajcer
Verlatstraat 14
2000 Antwerp, Belgium 

T  +32 3 237 11 27
F  +32 3 238 98 19
contact@gms.be 

www.gms.be

For their first solo exhibition at Galerie Micheline Szwajcer, Belgian artists Jos de Gruyter & Harald Thys, collaborating for over twenty years now, conceived a twofold installation composed of entranced gazes and estranging riddles.

The main component, stretching out over two rooms, is a portrait gallery of thirty drawings on framed, off-white cardboard. The depicted personae have been stripped down of any attributes, marks of identity, or signs of the time, yet they are quite familiar to the artists themselves. These stolen faces, loosely traced yet highly distinctive, surround the viewer and engage in a wordless tête-à-tête.

All the while, the long-drawn-out, whining computer voices of two francophone women resonate from a new video. Rather than recruiting their actors from the usual suspects, that is to say friends and family members, the artists opted for a more austere and shabby representation of human figures: a couple of polysterene-headed mannequins, facing the viewer without the slightest movement, which previously made their appearance in the 2009 photographic Skeletten-series and the 2010 video Das Loch.

While speech is abundant, which isn’t often the case in De Gruyter & Thys’s videos, sentiment and reason are glaringly absent. The duo’s mind-numbing riddles propose nothing more than a newborn absurdism. This sequence of bizarre questions, separated by periods of silence that last just a little bit too long, seems almost designed to disorient the viewer. Ultimately, the exhibition space as well as the space of the image aim to connect with a third space, a mental rather than a physical one, which appears to be in a poor condition indeed.

Two future events will further animate the exhibition: a lecture held by the artists, and a record release on the occasion of which Erik Thys will play a live concert.

Jos de Gruyter (b. 1965) and Harald Thys (b. 1966) live and work in Brussels. Their multidisciplinary work is rooted in a folksy, tragicomic sensibility honed into an experimental dramaturgy. Future solo exhibitions will take place in 2012 at Culturgest (Porto), Mu.ZEE (Ostend), and in 2013 at Palais de Tokyo (Paris) and M HKA (Antwerp).

 

Upcoming exhibitions at Galerie Micheline Szwajcer:
MATT MULLICAN
March 22–May 5, 2012 

ALLEN RUPPERSBERG
May 10–June 30, 2012

 

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