Horizon: Jenny Owens and Santiago Vélez
Press Release
"Horizon", is an exhibition in which the collaboration between two artists is central: Colombian Santiago Vélez with Irish Jenny Owens both examine the Horizon. How does the horizon come about? what is there after the Horizon? And how does the Horizon relate to the physical environment and the people and birds who want to go beyond the Horizon.
The exhibition will be opened at 4 pm on September 29 in the presence of the artists and can be seen until October 27 at PontArte in Maastricht.
Opening hours during the exhibition: Thursday – Saturday from 11.00 – 17.00 hrs and by appointment. Kapoenstraat 29 in Maastricht.
Vélez’s starting point for this exhibition is based on the work that he has been developing for years. Refugees and people looking for a better future and their ways of achieving this future are part of his research.
We see beyond the horizon in his work. Vélez observes the water and waterways that form barriers. He travels to many places where migration takes place and looks for answers that connected to water and current problems of wealth distribution. His series "doors at sea" shows on the one hand the obstacles created by society and on the other hand the nonsensical nature of these doors on a huge expanse of water.
Other elements of his work are related to the history of Colombia and the questioning of how we deal with the past.
An important aspect of Owens' work in the exhibition shows the physical characteristics of Tarifa, a city in the southernmost tip of Spain, where the migration of people and birds takes place. The rustic and deserted spaces are witnesses of the migration Tarifa is also a place where two seas meet; the Mediterranean and the Atlantic.
Owens, currently a PHD student at the University of Barcelona, investigates the past using traces that are 'left behind' in the landscape. This is recorded through photography and video.
Figuur 3 Jenny Owens 2 seas
Both artists look at connections between the image and the horizon and think across the horizon as something that separates two spaces; two poles. It acts as a limit, which can also be exceeded, for example by birds in flight. They also regard it as something that gives a sense of hope and balance.
The artists know each other from Barcelona, where both work part of the year.
Santiago Vélez: Colombia, Medellín, 1972 makes photos, videos, installations and objects.
www.santiagovelez.net. The work of Santiago has been shown in various Biennials, in museums in Colombia and is part of public and private collections. He currently is working on his PhD of artistic investigation at the University of Barcelona.
Jenny Owens: Ireland, Dublin 1983. Is a very versatile artist who combines performance with installations, drawings and photography.
https://www.jennyowens.net/ Owens is working on her PhD at the University of Barcelona. She was selected from 2015 to 2017 to represent Spain at the JCE Biennale. She has won several awards with her work and has participated in different fairs. She will have a solo exhibition at PontArte in 2019.
A catalogue will be published together for which Teresa Blanch will write about the exhibition Horizon. She has been following both artists for a long time and knows their current work and their previous work and supports this artistic collaboration.
The exhibition will take place in the new PontArte space in Maastricht. In a 17th century building in the centre of the city where there is space to show artists who are represented or invited by PontArte to show their work.
PontArte
In December 2013 PontArte was founded by Marieke Severens and started in Alella, Spain, close to Barcelona with 7 artists living and working in Barcelona.
In 2015 PontArte continued as gallery in Maastricht, where the link with Barcelona and the artists remains but to which 2 Dutch artists have been added in the past period. PontArte now represents 14 artists. The portfolio is still under development, because good art and artists must be made visible.
PontArte is a gallery with art from the 21st century that works with international artists with whom there is a close bond. PontArte wants to show that there is room for contemporary art in our present time and that that is more than a nice picture on the wall.
We show work by artists in the gallery, organize exhibitions around an artist or a theme and can be followed via the online platforms Artsy.net, 1stdibs.com and Artsper.com
www.pontarte.com
For more information:
marieke@pontarte.com
or call: +31(0)637403499
