Across The Globe: Artist Spotlight #1

Now that the galleries have been announced and their featured artists confirmed, we’re shining the spotlight on our participating galleries from across the globe. With a mixture of well-known faces and completely fresh talent, we’ll show you who’s who through a series of articles focusing on our 2019 attendees. We begin by sticking close to home and taking a look at the local Dutch art scene with artists represented by six galleries from across the Netherlands.

AKINCI

Amsterdam based AKINCI pushes the boundaries of what we consider as photography, representing artists whose works span across different media from video to 3D photography. With a heightened focus on the relationship between humans and nature, AKINCI presents both conceptual and experimental pieces. Inge Meijer (NL, b. 1986) will exhibit the results of a two-year long study and research of the ‘forgotten’ plant collections of museums in her series Plant Collection, giving focus to objects that are often overlooked. Persijn Broersen (NL, b. 1975) & Margit Lukács (NL, b. 1973) will be presenting new work from their series Point Cloud, Old Growth. Broersen & Lukács construct monumental works in which nature functions as a counterpoint to the virtual sphere which increasingly dominates our media-centric culture. Meanwhile, Edwin Zwakman (NL, b. 1969) will present brand new work which exposes and celebrates the persistent presence of nature in the urban realm. In his work, he reconstructs the world entirely from memory by building and photographing sets in his studio. Finally, Melanie Bonajo (NL, b. 1978) joins her fellow Dutch artists; through her videos, performances, photographs and installations, she examines how technological advances and commodity fetishism actually increase alienation in contemporary society.

Flatland

Kim Boske (NL, b. 1978) takes the stage at Flatland with a solo show that focuses on the system of ‘Time’. She will be exhibiting her never-been-seen-before unique impressions from the waterfall Amagoi no taki: a tangled and dreamlike study of streams of water that channels the mental capacity to exhilarate. These liquid narratives are printed on handmade Washi paper that she dyed in natural indigo at the Awagami factory in Kamiyama, Japan, during her artist in residence at KAIR, 2018/19. The production of Washi paper, as well as the delicate dying indigo technique, are both fading crafts in Japan; indigo leaves are stirred and sprinkled with water for four months and then enter a delicate brewing process in a vat. This animism results in the serene quality of the indigo: a specific depth of colour, rich range of blues and an ever-diverse gradient outcome. Working with these living organisms is an integral part of Boske's practice, showing how the physical movement through time and space changes our perspective on the world.

Galerie Bart

Henk Wildschut’s (NL, b. 1967) contemplative works from his series Power, will be seen at Galerie Bart, where he focuses his attention on the worldwide energy transition and more specifically, power, the lack thereof and its abundance. Jannemarein Renout (NL, b. 1969) will be premiering two new series at the Fair that explore the flow of time - the tension between the artificial time of the clock and the rhythm of nature - through Renography, a scanning process that she developed herself. Marleen Sleeuwits (NL, b. 1980) will also showcase her large-scale and meticulously detailed work from the series Interior, which tests the boundaries between 2D and 3D realities.

Galerie Caroline O’Breen

Galerie Caroline O’Breen will exhibit works by artistic duo Anne Geene (NL, b. 1983) and Arjan de Nooy (NL, b. 1965). In their humorous and pseudo-scientific series and book The Universal Photographer, they intend to create an ‘encyclopedia’ of photography. Jaya Pelupessy (NL, b. 1989) will create images specifically to be premiered at Unseen Amsterdam 2019. They will bear similarities to his prior series Flatten Image which uses light-sensitive paper, giving the images an appearance of a collage of light. Hans Bol (NL, b. 1957) will present his series God’s Allies Revisited in which he makes new prints from his archival material using both traditional darkroom techniques as well as contemporary post-production technology. In the series, he seeks to capture the special, mysterious, at times even divine, connotation of the image of the raven in cultures all around the world.

Galerie Ron Mandos

Galerie Ron Mandos will premiere works from artists exploring the concept of race and representation. Son of an Italian-American mother and Egyptian father, Marwan Bassiouni (CH, b. 1985) will present his series, New Dutch Views (currently exhibited as a solo show at the Fotomuseum Den Haag) which illuminates the daily reality of spaces, where several cultures exist alongside each other, intermingling and exchanging. Concerned about the western perception and conceptualisation of black bodies, Neo Matloga’s (SA, b. 1993) takes daily life in black households as his subject. In his work, his use of photographic collage imbues political and conceptual depth into every detail and layer. Mohau Modisakeng (SA, b. 1986), who has represented his country twice at the Venice Biennale, will premiere his brand new work which operates at the intersection of film and photography, focusing on identity, representation and society in Post-colonial Africa.

GRIMM

GRIMM, located in both Amsterdam and New York, will be returning with new work of two artists who have been presented previously at the Fair. Saskia Noor van Imhoff (CA, b. 1982) will be showcasing her photographic installation as she is currently working on a new project that will be premiered exclusively at Unseen Amsterdam. Dana Lixenberg (NL, b. 1964), best-known for her series and film titled: Imperial Courts 1993–2015, will be premiering her latest work. The power of her photographs arises in its intimacy, with an absence of social stereotypes. Renowned for her B&W portraits, for the first time, Lixenberg will premiere a series of photographs that show a deliberate contemplation of colour.