Walt Van Beek
Erika Hock
Pim Kersten
Giorgos
Kontis
Giacomo
Santiago Rogado
Ilias
Papailiakis
Antonis Pittas
Antonis Pittas
Curated by
Giorgos Kontis
The new
is new in its relation to the old, to tradition.[1]
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.[2]
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.
Walt
Esch Van Beek
*1981,
works and lives in Brussels, BE
Walt Van Beek’s practice is located at the crossroads of design, performance, painting and installation. His work stems from his childhood as a skater. For 20 years he has skateboarded in a professional and almost obsessive manner. His literal ideas resulting in performances and designs fit in urban terrain and clearly work in constant contact with the public place.
Having initiated several collaborative projects and exhibition formats such as Wai Wai Space (Brussels) and w-o-l-k-e (Brussels), collaborations and the creation of experimental platforms also have become an essential part of his work.
Walt Van Beek’s practice is located at the crossroads of design, performance, painting and installation. His work stems from his childhood as a skater. For 20 years he has skateboarded in a professional and almost obsessive manner. His literal ideas resulting in performances and designs fit in urban terrain and clearly work in constant contact with the public place.
Having initiated several collaborative projects and exhibition formats such as Wai Wai Space (Brussels) and w-o-l-k-e (Brussels), collaborations and the creation of experimental platforms also have become an essential part of his work.
Erika
Hock
Born (1981)
in Dshangi - Dsher, Kyrgyzstan Erika Hock studied History at Westfälischen
Wilhelms Universität Münster and Studies of Visual Arts at Kunstakademie
Münster, as well as at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. From 2012 - 2013 she
studied at HISK, Higher Institute for Fine Arts, Gent.
Recent solo
shows include: Second Home, Philara Collection, Düsseldorf; The
Phantom Table, Sofie Van de Velde Gallery, Antwerp; Body Body,
Kunsthaus Essen; What Bananas Say, Salzburger Kunstverein,
Salzburg; Elbows & Knees, COSAR HMT Gallery, Düsseldorf; The
Seamstress, Her Misstress, the Mason and the Thief, Tenderpixel
Gallery, London;
Recent group shows include: Inhabited by Objects, CAB, Brussels; The People’s Cinema, Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg; Every Letter Is a Love Letter, Tallinn Art Hall, Tallinn; Un-Scene III, Wiels, Brussels; The Catwalk, Komplot, Brussels; The Unfettered Gaze, Museum Marta, Herford; Concept Store, NEST, The Hague; Fair shape of the whip, Herrman Germann Contemporary, Zurich
Recent group shows include: Inhabited by Objects, CAB, Brussels; The People’s Cinema, Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg; Every Letter Is a Love Letter, Tallinn Art Hall, Tallinn; Un-Scene III, Wiels, Brussels; The Catwalk, Komplot, Brussels; The Unfettered Gaze, Museum Marta, Herford; Concept Store, NEST, The Hague; Fair shape of the whip, Herrman Germann Contemporary, Zurich
Pim
Kersten
(Den Bosch,
1980) received his MFA degree from AKV. St.Joost in 2012. He has made
exhibitions and presentations at different galleries and initiatives throughout
Europe such as Galerie Caesuur (NL), Galerie Arti Capelli (NL), Lokaal01 (B),
Extra City (B), Independant project space 5533 Istanbul (TR) Sabspace
(IT), De Service Garage (NL) TAC Eindhoven (NL) with upcoming exhibitions in
Athens, Berlin, Warsaw and Amsterdam. From 2016 to 2017 he has worked as an
assistant research curator for the new collection display of the Van Abbemuseum
‘The Making Of Modern Art’, with Steven ten Thije & The museum of American
Art, Berlin. In 2009 Kersten worked in Los Angeles due to a self organised but
subsidized artist residency and currently lives and works in Tilburg, The
Netherlands.
Giorgos
Kontis
The work of
Giorgos Kontis focuses on abstract painting and on its function as an image. It
becomes a contemplation on the autonomy the painted image gains, triggering
questions on authenticity and the artistic agency. Giorgos studied at the
Athens School of Fine Arts, he holds a MFA from St.Joost Academy in Breda,
Netherlands and he is currently doing a practice based PhD in Painting, at the
Royal College of Art in London, on the notion of Authenticity.
Recent
shows include: Daybreak, Maverick Projects, London; Close, Closer,
Fading, Lychee One Gallery London; O, Kunstbuero, Vienna, with Just
Quist; The Same Sky, Lepsien Art Foundation, Düsseldorf; Tender
is The Night, CAN Gallery, Athens; Ab-stractions, Hellenic American
Union Athens; Eurocontrol premises (solo), Brussels; Let Gooo project
(solo), Ruimte Caesuur, Middelburg; Young Masters, Glazenhuis, Lommel,
Belgium;
Giacomo
Santiago Rogado
Giacomo
Santiago Rogado (b. 1979, Lucerne, Switzerland) lives and works in Berlin. In
2005 he earned a diploma with distinction at the Lucerne University of Art and
Design. In 2007 he received the Swiss Art Award, in 2009 the Manor Art Prize
and in 2013 the Recognition Award from the City of Lucerne.
Exhibitions
include: Growing together through emotions over time, Galerie Mark
Müller, Zürich; Coalescence, Acme Studios, London; Observing Self,
Galerie Mark Müller, Zürich; 229 792 458, Gabriele Garavaglia – Giacomo
Santiago Rogado, CAR DRDE, Bologna; Center of Mass, Bernhard Knaus Fine
Art, Frankfurt; Intervention, Kulturkirche Erlenbach, Zürich; Albrecht
Schnider - Giacomo Santiago Rogado, Helmhaus Zürich; Focal Point,
Museum im Bellpark Kriens; Part Two: The Confluence, Galerie Luis
Campaña, Berlin; Devoted To The Moment, Galerie Mark Müller, Zürich
Ilias
Papailiakis
Ilias
Papailiakis was born in Crete in 1970. Between 1990 - 1996 he studied painting
in the Athens School of Fine Arts. In 2001 Papailiakis represented Greece in
the 49th Venice Biennale alongside artists N. Navridis and E.
Chatziargyrou while distinctions and awards include the first prize of the
Spyropoulos Foundation. In 2013 he was shortlisted for the Deste prize.
Exhibitions
include: Documenta 14, Study for a Sedate Landscape, Elika Gallery,
Athens; Ilias Papailiakis, the Breeder, Athens; Cassandra,
Upstairs Berlin, Berlin; Sorcha Dallas, Glasgow; Democracy is the
Opposite of Ingratitude, The Breeder, Athens; Land of the Just,
Vilma Gold, London
Antonis
Pittas
Antonis
Pittas (GR/NL) lives and works in Amsterdam. He mainly creates
context-sensitive installations, informed by architecture, art-historical
references, the performative aspects of installation art, and its social
dynamics.
Recent
exhibitions include: Extra-Citizen – a prologue,Kunsthal Extra City,
Antwerp; The Artist/Knight, Kasteel van
Gaasbeek, Lennik; The Way
Beyond Art, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven; Road to Victory, Hordaland
Kunstsenter, Bergen; Shadows for Construction, Narrative
Projects, London; Theatre Dreams of a Beautiful Afternoon - Part
2, International
Foundation Manifesta Office, Amsterdam; The Economy is Spinning, Onomatopee,
Eindhoven; AJNHAJTCLUB, Q21 /
MuseumsQuartier, Vienna; hold on, SMBA, Amsterdam; montage, Annet Gelink
Gallery, Amsterdam; No Country for Young Men, BOZAR,
Brussels