Artists present
dal 18/9/2003 al 19/9/2003
Segnalato da
18/9/2003
Artists present
Smart Project Space, Amsterdam
A series in which artists present their work: Erik van Lieshout, Erik van Lieshout (1968) is one of the most exciting Dutch artists at the moment. Toughness is his trademark throughout his drawings and paintings, but also in his videos and installations. Alex Cecchetti: in his video works and drawings, Cecchetti pairs harsh violence with a visionary and poetic aesthetic.
A series in which artists present their work.
Erik van Lieshout
Erik van Lieshout (1968) is one of the most exciting Dutch artists at the
moment. Toughness is his trademark throughout his drawings and paintings, but
also in his videos and installations. Urban subculture is the source of Van
Lieshout's work. He takes his photo material from his direct surroundings,
newspapers, comic strips and the street. He reworks this and makes it completely
his own, a raw idiom. Often his work is explicitly pornographic and imbued with
a sense of violence but also superbly humouristic. Sex and violence are
approached with a lot of pleasure.
Erik Van Lieshout is participating in this years Venice Biënnale, presenting a
video installation entitled Respect that depicts an absurd multicultural reality
in the south of Rotterdam. Respect is shown in a Van Lieshout version of Gerrit
Rietveld's Schröder House, thus functioning as a comment on the Dutch Pavilion,
also designed by Rietveld.
Alex Cecchetti
In Alex Cecchetti's universe not only are there heroes against the sky but also
saints, wrestlers and children, all engaged in a quest for knowledge - a mission
whose outcome results in questions rather than answers. In his video works and
drawings, Cecchetti pairs harsh violence with a visionary and poetic aesthetic.
In San Francisco's Trilogy (13' 2001 dvd) Cecchetti plays tribute to St. Francis
of Assisi, the popular and controversial figure from his homeland, the Italian
region of Umbria. The video's three episodes provide a portrait of the life of
the Saint by focusing respectively on his childhood struggles, the hard clash
between pragmatism and spirituality, and the presumed truthfulness of the
miracle. What emerges is a complex reality composed of a series of unresolved
conflicts.
UDONTNEEDTOWORRYABOUTMYYOUTH (7' 2002 dvd)
On an endlessly white salt landscape, under a deep blue sky, two characters
from an old Western tale meet in the middle of a narrow gangway (footbridge)
that ends with an old grimy wooden latrine. The protagonists are a 15 year old
and a man scarred by time, neither of whom want to let the other go. The kid
makes the first blow and soon they fall off the footbridge and still fighting,
they end in a puddle of salt. When they awake the next morning, they are dirty
and covered in salt and blood. Whilst sitting by the gangway looking around, a
third man comes along in a wheelchair and wishing to pass them to go to the
latrine. They don't want to let him pass, and turn their head towards the white
landscape. The trigger of a shotgun suddenly arouses their attention. The man in
the wheelchair is carrying a large Winchester over his shoulder. He's got them
covered and at last he can get through and reach the latrine. The episode ends
with a scene of the burning latrine, which was set alight by the kids and the
man. They burn everything, the latrine, the man, the wheelchair and the shotgun.
A fire wheel runs all over the salt mine, burning like an ancient sun!
King Head Of Elk (7' 2003 dvd)
50 kids fighting into the woodlands at the ancient game of the tails. There
will be only one winner in the end. Then images of an empty school.
Friday September 19th, 20.00 hrs.
Location: Smart Cinema
Price: 5.50 Euro
Opening times: Tues-Sat from 12.00-22.00, Sun from 14.00-22.00 hrs.
SMART Project Space
Exhibition Space & Cinema: 1e Const. Huygensstraat 20
Mail to: P.O.Box 15004, NL-1001 MA Amsterdam
Phone: +31 20 427.5951
Fax.: +31 20 427.5953