Current
NEEDLES IN THE HAY
(Curated by Sasha Bogojev for The Curators Room)
12 December 2021 – 31 January 2022
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Artists:
Grgur Akrap, Zac Yeates, Anna Jung Seo, Chiaki Kadota, Donglai Meng, Joseph Noderer, Eskubi Joseba, Erkut Terliksiz, Stijn Bastianen, Harry Rothel, Adam Štech, Andrea Medjesi-Jones, Yonel Watene, and Frank Jimin Hopp.
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Installation views
Press:
Needles in the Hay at Juxtapozz
Needles in the Hay at Artplugged
Needles in the Hay at Supersonic Art
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Location:
Prinsengracht 675, 1017 JT Amsterdam. The Netherlands
www.thecuratorsroom.com | hello@thecuratorsroom.com | +31(0) 625005374
Open:
Thursday – Saturday
13 – 17 hrs or by appointment
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The Curators Room is proud to Announce Needles in the Hay, a group show picked by Sasha Bogojev.
One of the things we’ve become more aware of in the past two years of the global pandemic is the unforgiving power of odds. No matter how small and insignificant a certain probability might be, recent times taught us that its mere existence is predestined to make an impact on the elements connected to it. And it’s this concept of chances and the related idea of risk and hope, as well as the general sense of liability, that prompted Sasha Bogojev to put together an exhibition where numbers work to our advantage.
As much as social media, namely Instagram, might have contributed to the democratization of the art world and have provided a historically unseen platform to creatives to introduce their work, the abundance of content makes this experience increasingly harder. With the growing interference and influence of both genuine and wannabe art advisors, collectors, curators, galleries, foundations, or institutions, the haystack we’re working through is becoming exponentially more convoluted and deceiving. And while this situation can be difficult for art aficionados and collectors, it can certainly turn frustrating for the artists themselves.
Overlooked by the almighty tastemakers or generally misrepresented, they are still out there, in the shadow of the mesmerizing spotlight of art trends, making the work that deserves more attention than it might be currently getting. And with this show, Sasha Bogojev and Gabriel Rolt from Amsterdam’s The Curators Room are doing their part to make the difference, find these gems hidden in plain sight and present their works in a large two-floor, multi-room space in the historic center of Amsterdam.
With an extensive overview of numerous studio practices and the positioning of people working there, Juxtapoz magazine’s contributing editor eye-picked a selection of international artists whose works deserve their own time in the spotlight. Whether looking at the general concepts of their practice, the particularities of their process, or their ways of handling and utilizing the chosen techniques or mediums, Needles in the Hay are having an important role in the ongoing development and conversation about figurative art, and especially painting. Frequently focusing on the atmosphere suggested by chosen colors and the sense of dynamics or movement conveyed through the often fluid yet determined paint manipulation, the work is having its footing in historic timeline with references to Surrealism, Cubism, Fauvism, Surrealism, as well as outsiders art, illustration, and abstraction. Hailing from all over the world, from New Zealand, over Australia, Japan, China, South Korea, to the USA, and across Europe and the UK, the exhibition is meant to provide a focused digest of exciting practices taking place at (mostly painters’) studios at the present time.
The exhibition will be including a selection of works by Grgur Akrap, Zac Yeates, Anna Jung Seo, Chiaki Kadota, Donglai Meng, Joseph Noderer, Eskubi Joseba, Erkut Terliksiz, Stijn Bastianen, Harry Rothel, Adam Štech, Andrea Medjesi-Jones, Yonel Watene, and Frank Jimin Hopp.
- Text by Sasha Bogojev
about:blankImage: Change block type or styleChange alignmentabout:blankAdd titleThe Curators Room
175 x 220 cm, 2021 (diptych)
Yonel Watene, Winnie After Vincent, Oil on denim, 70 x 60 cm, 2020
Past
SHALLOW THEN HALO
(Curated by Gabriel Rolt)
Until 04 December 2021
Location:
Prinsengracht 675, 1017 JT Amsterdam. The Netherlands
www.thecuratorsroom.com | Gabriel@thecuratorsroom.com | +31(0) 625005374
Instagram: @the_curators_room
Open:
Thursday – Saturday
13 – 18 hrs or by appointment
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Artists:
–> Click HERE for the artist’s page
Daniëlle van Ark (NL), Adam Broomberg and Isaac Schaal (SA), Paul du Bois-Reymond (NL/DE, Daria Birang (US/NL), Giuseppe Buzzotta (IT), Jake and Dinos Chapman (UK), Nik Christensen (NL/UK), Aukje Dekker (NL). Bas Geerts (NL), Martin Kanja (KEN) , Eduardo Millan (ES), Andrea Orejarena (CO), Lisette Ros (NL), Javier Ruiz Perez (ES), Caleb Stein (UK/US), Shoe (NL) , Freddy Tratlehner (NL) and Vincent van de Waal (NL)
*Special guests: Joseph Abraham Doneus (Surinam, c. 1825 – after 1878) and Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (Spain, 1764-1828)
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IMAGES
Room 1
Nik Christensen / Daniëlle van Ark / Caleb Stein / Andrea Orejarena /Goya
Room 2
Goya / Adam Broomberg /Aukje Dekker
Room 3
Goya / Eduardo Millan / Javier Ruiz / Giuseppe Buzzotta
Room 4
Lisette Ros / Goya
Room 5
Goya / Daria Birang / Jake and Dinos Chapman / Joseph Abraham Doneus
Room 6
Goya / Paul du Bois-Reymond / Freddy Tratlehner / Vincent van de Waal
Room 7
Goya / Bas Geerts / Martin Kanja / Shoe
PRESS RELEASE
“Behold, I am that which must always overcome itself.”
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche – Thus Spoke Zarathustra
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The desire to delve beneath the surface is a desire for knowledge and control. It backfires, and we end up besieged: as soon as we reach the inside, we are again confronted with another surface. Inside the grave there is no living soul; what lies buried is only the reminder of its absence.
Obsession is a will to power that always ends up besieged, haunted by its object. It zooms in on a target that, in principle, will escape its lens. If “the dream of reason produces monsters,” as Goya wrote, this lies in the fact the suspect has always already fled the crime scene, even if the culprit is caught red-handed, in flagrante delicto.
It takes some bravery to bring the criminal face to face with the victim—that is, to look into the mirror. At the end of obsession, we embrace the vanity of the world. If there is a world-to-come, surely it must be hell and not only heaven. Maybe perfection itself is the culprit, forever taunting us with ideas about the flaws, defects and decay of this world.
There is nothing as shallow as a surface. It repeats itself incessantly, eternally, and in this repetition all familiar forms become foreign to us. The only escape is the embrace in which I become a foreigner to myself: “Whatever I may create and however I may love it – soon I must oppose it and my love. Thus my will wills it.”
Baby, I can see your halo.
Mari van Stokkum and Errol Boon in conversation with Gabriel Rolt
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Hola! Hallo! Halo!
As an artist, you must vow to yourself that freedom is more important than all else. Free of stigmas and dogmas you promise to your audience that you will be all that you can be.
As an artist, there is no yellow road to follow. Instead you might find yourself passing through shallow swamps, muddy waters, misty airways, salty oceans, lightless constellations or dense jungles. As an artist you must carve your own way to excellence. And sometimes all these different ways merge in Amsterdam to reach for the heavens.
These artists all carved their own way towards excellence. They came here through dense jungle, humid fog, muddy waters, shallow swamp, underground tunnels, mental mountains but they are here. And they are now.
The artist’s road to excellence may be littered with bears, zombies or lego pieces. And whilst being shoeless, penniless or shameless, you may encounter a swamp, glacier, jungle, concrete wall, glass ceiling or black hole. In fact, the roads these artists took to get here were fearlessly carved out by themselves because there was no road
Hail to these artists. And to each of their haloes.
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Niels Shoe Meulman in conversation with Gabriel Rolt
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Mari van Stokkum (1993) is a philosopher who studied in Amsterdam and now lives in Münster, writing a dissertation on phenomenology and psychoanalysis. Although based on the soul, he is currently in the process of decaying.
Errol Boon (1992) is a philosopher who writes and teaches about various fundamental issues regarding art and society. Currently, he is affiliated with the University of Arts Utrecht, and working on the notion of ‘artistic truth.’
Niels Shoe Meulman (1967) is an Amsterdam based visual artist, known for his gestural paintings which reveal vivid traces of graffiti and calligraphy. He revolutionised the art of writing when he initiated the Calligraffiti movement, claiming “a word is an image and writing is painting”.
Gabriel Rolt (1977, Barcelona, Spain) is a curator. Rolt’s special interest in the emerging art scene led him to found Galerie Gabriel Rolt, an Amsterdam based art gallery that fostered the careers of an impressive stable of local and international artists. He subsequently was creative director of HERO gallery. In 2021, Rolt initiated the curatorial platform The Curators Room.
Past
LR on demand
‘I’ll dance as fast as I can’
Live performance –
October 7th, 20:15 hrs
The curators Room – Oosterpark
Mauritskade 55 – Amsterdam – 5 euro (drinks included)
Capacity is limited.
YOU ARE INVITED !
‘I’ll dance as fast as I can’ – Live performance – October 7th, 20:15 – LR On Demand, The curators Room – Oosterpark – Mauritskade 55 – Amsterdam – 5 euro – Capacity is limited.
Date: Thursday 7th of October
Time: 20.15
€ 5
Location:
The Curators Room – Oosterpark
Mauritskade 55, Amsterdam
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This live performance is part of the exhibition
‘Shallow Then Halo’
(curated by Gabriel Rolt)
Thank you @atelierartplaats for hosting The Curators Room for the event ❤️
LR on demand
‘Ik dans zo snel als ik kan’ / ‘I’ll dance as fast as I can’ (2020/2021)
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PERFORMANCE
‘I’ll dance as fast as I can’ – LR On Demand (band) is a collaboration between Lisette Ros, Gabriel Rolt and Bas Geerts. Rolt and Geerts will be providing an improvised audio-session (ca. 30 min) of guitars and drums, which will form the sound field of Ros’ performance. The trio will be set in a triangular shape, with at least 2 meters distance from each other. Ros, the ‘front woman’, will try to dance as fast as she can in nudity on extremely slippery red liquid. There will be no internal interaction between the performers.
DURATION: approx. 30 MINUTES
MANIFESTO:
Dancing in isolation: participate or perish. ‘It’s the survival of the fittest in which everyone only pursues their self-interest.’ (Marian Donner: Zelfverwoestingsboek, 2019).
I am dancing as fast as I can to embody the utter exhaustion that stems from the paradoxical nature of the duality between self-interest and self-destruction. The dancing body can’t be restrained, it doesn’t have a fixed shape or core, instead it’s bouncing up and down, bleeding. Falling and rising. Just trying to dance.
I am a force to be reckoned with: challenging my own vulnerability, teasing with destruction and dancing as fast as I can. Reclaiming my body, my flesh, my blood and the freedom of movement, because my blood is bleeding for someone else. But it doesn’t matter: I’ll try again, I’ll fail again. I’llfail better than I did before…
*It stands. What? (The body) Yes. Say it stands. Had to up in the end and stand. Say bones. No bones but say bones. Say ground. No ground but say ground. So as to say pain. No mind and pain? Say yes that the bones may pain till no choice but stand. Somehow up and stand. Or better worse remains. Say remains of mind where none to permit of pain. Pain of bones till no choice but up and stand. Somehow up. Somehow stand. Remains of mind where none for the sake of pain. Here of bones. Other examples if needs must. Of pain. Relief from. Change of.
First the bones. On back to them. Preying since first said on foresaid remains. The ground. The pain. No bones. No ground. No pain. Why up unknown. At all costs unknown. If ever down. No choice but up if ever down. Or never down. Forever kneeling. Better forever kneeling. Better worse forever kneeling. Say from now forever kneeling. So far from now forever kneeling. So far.
-Samuel Beckett: Worstward Ho!, 1983.
The Curators Room
presents:
Javier Ruiz Perez
‘WAX AND WANE’
(Curated by Gabriel Rolt)
01 July – 23 July 2021
Opening reception: Thursday 1 July, 18 – 21hrs
Zamenhofstraat 150
building 112, studio 205
1022 AG Amsterdam.
Open:
Friday – Sunday
13.00 – 18.00 hrs
To visit call Gabriel Rolt:
+31 6 25 00 5374
gabriel@thecuratorsroom.com
DM @the_curators_room
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Press release
Javier Ruiz Perez (La Carolina, Jaén, Spain, 1989)’ pantings are collage-like compositions consisting of visual footage collected from social media and the internet.
The depicted subjects are always living figures, a group of people or single individuals, against a background of andalusian landscapes.
The medium employed is oil paint on canvas and paper, applied quickly, wet on wet, a technique that confers a sense of urgency and immediacy to the works.
This intuitive conviction that appears to guide Perez’s making process stems from the nature of his subject matter: the obvious of the real. His paintings always manage to deliver an uncanny balance between credibility and oddity, resulting in depictions that are incomprehensible, yet plausible.
This directness is the effect of portraying banal realities of the internet or of everyday life, but twisting them delicately. Most and foremost, it’s the choice of re-installing scenes of modern life into idyllic landscapes that generates a subtle sense of confusion in the viewer, who finds him/herself unsurprised by what he sees, but taken aback by the context.
Situations that we are bound to recognize as fragments of our collective imagery, shaped by social media and contemporary culture, are here juxtaposed to peaceful lanscapes of green hills and mediterranean mountains, in a contrast of harmony and absurdity that carries sarcastic undertones.
Perez’ pantings are also reminiscent of classical oevres: ‘Vida plácida, protégenos de todo mal’ retrace the bodily position of Christ in traditional ‘deposition’ altarpieces, while ‘Vida plácida, protégenos de todo mal II’ . reminds of old master’s depictions of Jesus’ deathbed. This taste for the past allows the works to deliver an ulterior sense of familiarity in the viewer, while at the same time creating a feeling of estrangement due to the use of bold colors, strange facial expressions or the sudden insertion of modern objects.
The peculiarity of Perez’s practice lies exactly in this subtle interplay between the banality and the absurd, dreams and reality, in compositions that manage to become timeless in their extreme contemporaneity.
Javier Ruiz Perez (Jaén, 1989) graduated from the Escuela de arte 10 in Madrid and the Pasadena Art Center in Los Angeles in 2013. His works are part of important private and museum collections including Museum Voorlinden , NL and MEAM (museum of European Art Barcelona), ES.
Javier Ruiz Perez lives and works in Amsterdam, The Netherlands
– Text by Sara van Bussel
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Installation views:
Images:
JAVIER RUIZ PEREZ
Vida plácida, protégenos de todo mal
Oil on canvas
180 x 195 cm
2021
JAVIER RUIZ PEREZ
Vida plácida, protégenos de todo mal II
Oil on canvas
180 x 195 cm
2021
JAVIER RUIZ PEREZ
Vida plácida, protégenos de todo mal III
Oil on canvas
190 x 220 cm
2021
JAVIER JAVIER RUIZ PEREZ
Untitled 2021
Oil on canvas
50 x 65 cm
2021
JAVIER RUIZ PEREZ
Untitled
Oil on canvas
50 x 65 cm
2021
JAVIER RUIZ PEREZ
Untitled
Oil on canvas
70 x 90 cm
2021
PAST:
The Curators Room
Presents:
YOU WON’T GET WHAT YOU WANT
(curated by Gabriel Rolt)
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Works by:
Paul du Bois-Reymond
Bas Geerts
Lucas Lenglet
07 May – 22 May 2021
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Location:
Studio Bas Geerts
Frans de Wollantstraat 34
1018 SC Amsterdam
Open:
Thursday – Saturday
13.00 – 18.00 hrs
To visit call Gabriel Rolt:
+31 6 25 00 5374
gabriel@thecuratorsroom.com
DM @the_curators_room
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Paul du Bois-Reymond
The vibrant works by Paul du Bois-Raymond witness the intensity and delicacy of these oil stick paintings. By pushing the medium as deep as possible into the canvas surface, Amsterdam-based artist is fully utilizing the impact of the pigment while constructing delicate surface. The images are depicting everyday scenes but with unusual color shifts and exaggerated saturation. With candid framing and great eye for light play, these paintings tend to dissolve into wonderful abstractions when examined from up close only to assemble back into familiar image when look at them as a whole. (Sasha Bogojev)
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Paul du Bois-Reymond (Berlin, 1974) is an artist, musician and designer who lives and works in Amsterdam.
He studied at the Rietveld Academy of the arts (1992-1996) and was co-founder of the infamous DEPT, and later Machine design collectives.
Recent (solo) exhibitions include: Patrik Droste Gallery, Germany ; Kunsthaus Betanien, German, Gabriel Rolt Gallery, The Netherlands ; Unruly Gallery, The Netherlands
PAUL DU BOIS-REYMOND
My Desire Will Outlast Yours
Oil pastels on linen
160 x 100 cm
2021
PAUL DU BOIS-REYMOND
All our words were important
Oil pastels on linen
160 x 100 cm
2021
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Bas Geerts
Bas Geerts (Leiden, 1971) ’ work is a, perhaps unexpected, combination of the digital and the handmade. Whilst the work look at home in the tradition of Op Art, there is an unseen logic behind the amorphous and reflective abstract forms that populate the surfaces of Geert’s paintings. Each painting begins as a digital design which randomizes the size and shape of geometric forms. He then paints the design results in layers of metal leaf, pure pigments and acrylic paint. The aesthetic effect of the work brings to mind ephemeral natural phenomena such as the rippling surface of water or patterns of condensation, that, in their complex mystery intimate a fundamental mathematical order to our universe.
Recent (solo) exhibitions include: The Collective Space, Amsterdam ; Christian Ouwens Galerie, Rotterdam ; JollyJoker, Amsterdam ; NARS, New York ; Neuer Kunstverein, Pfaffenhofen ; Paradise Row Gallery, London and Galerie Gabriel Rolt, Amsterdam
Bas Geerts
‘The trash you hear is just your reflection spat out the mouth of the deadbeat’
metal leaf and acrylics on linen
150 x 150 cm
2020
Bas Geerts
‘The clock hands begin to melt away replaced by the marching of your army’
metal leaf and acrylics on linen
150 x 150 cm
2020
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Lucas Lenglet
Lucas Lenglet works across the disciplines of sculpture, installation, print and photography. Initially his work showed a strong focus on the polemic created by the formalisation of violence and the architecture of safety. Now he generally defines his work as thoughts on inclusion and exclusion in the broadest sense for which he uses the vocabulary of architecture and the artefacts belonging to the creation of safety to discuss this. Lenglet’s engagement with the solutions people find to the problems of living together is presented in a formal spacial language using everyday materials and industrial production methods. He has a combined practice of studio work and large scale commissions for public space.
Lucas Lenglet (1972) was born in Leiden, the Netherlands and received his BA in Fine Arts from Gerrit Rietveld Academie in 2000. He was an artist-in-residence at Kuenstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin and IASPIS, Stockholm. Lenglet is a mentor within the mentoring program of Mondriaan Fonds and was a guest lecturer and -advisor at Rijksakademie, Jan van Eyck, Gerrit Rietveld Academie and LUCA School of arts, Brussels.
Recent (solo) exhibitions include: Stigter Van Doesburg gallery (2020), Kröller-Müller museum (2019), Nieuw Dakota (2018), Kunstvereniging Diepenheim (2016), Witte de Wit (2014), Goethe Institute Amsterdam (2012), Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (2008) and Palais de Tokyo (2007).
Lucas Lenglet
In the moment of adversity and hope
2020
used glass jars, glass, mirror, plywood
144 x 84 x 53 cm
Lucas Lenglet
Cut off
2018
steel, magnets
10,5 x 19,7 cm
About The Curators Room
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Gabriel Rolt (born 1977, Barcelona, Spain) is a curator, agent and art advisor. Rolt’s special interest in the emerging art scene led him to found Galerie Gabriel Rolt, an Amsterdam based art gallery that fostered the careers of an impressive stable of local and international artists. He subsequently founded and was creative director of HERO gallery.
Stepping away from the traditional gallery space, Rolt pushes the boundaries of curation, online and offline. Stay tuned for upcoming projects, artworks and art activations by the Curators Room.
Contact /// gabriel@thecuratorsroom.com