Walt Van Beek
Erika Hock
Pim Kersten
Giorgos
Kontis
Giacomo
Santiago Rogado
Ilias
Papailiakis
Antonis
Pittas
Curated by
Giorgos Kontis
The new
is new in its relation to the old, to tradition.
The
aesthetic regime of the arts is first of all a new regime for relating to the
past. It actually sets up as the very principle of artisticity the expressive
relationship inherent in a time and a state of civilization.
The making
of art comes along with a sense of repetition; instead of a Tabula Rasa
there is a confrontation and an endeavour in dealing and being in a dialogue
with the past and the spectres that come along with it. The past as both
heritage and burden, and a repetition that is inevitable yet impossible as
well; the work of art rooted in tradition, yet an ever changing one with a
sense of an aura being constantly redefined. Formalism after semiotics, medium
specificity and a sense of materiality that becomes questioned and explored;
expanded forms of painting and sculpture in an endeavour to trace their
relationship and its continuity with the past, as well as with the exhibition
space that hosts and witnesses that and becomes flexible -intangible and
conceptual itself.
The making
of art as well as the exhibition space as a figure are in an ever present
challenge and demand to be in sync with their time. What emerges is a duality
in the space the artwork inhabits; a space in language, in its medium and
cultural context, and the exhibition space in which it is physically present.
A
coexistence of the work with the past and within the cultural context, as well
as within and with the exhibition space. And, a question about how seemingly
traditional forms of art, such as sculpture and painting, function in relation
to their present; being, simultaneously, in an open dialogue with the past and
history of their medium and the heritage that follows it. The matter here is
not a case of medium specificity, it is rather a state of flux of the aesthetic
function of the work and how this is intertwined with the conditions that
surround its making; a relationship between the work and its ground, whatever
this may be.
Walt Van
Beek is invited to create a site specific installation aspiring to function as
a basis for the whole exhibition. A structure -conceptual or even intangible-
aiming to relate to the space and to the function of exhibiting and displaying, and,
through that, to form a place or ground for the other works.
