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6/9/2007

Two "one-artist shows"

De Appel (old location), Amsterdam

Michael Borremans - Veldwerk

Insinuation and suggestion are the most important weapons of the Belgian artist Michaël Borremans (Geraardsbergen, 1963). Although originally trained as a photographer and graphic designer, since the mid-1990s, Borremans mainly wields a paintbrush and has made a name for himself with absurd-ominous drawings and enigmatic-seductive paintings. He positions himself in a long art historical tradition (Goya, Courbet, Manet) and expresses contemporary concepts and feelings in a classically-oriented style of painting. Borremans has achieved international recognition with his paintings and drawings. Solo presentations of his work have been shown at, among other places, the Museum Für Gegenwartskunst in Basel (2004), the S.M.A.K. in Ghent (2004), the Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio (2004), the Parasol unit foundation in London (2005), The Royal Hibernian Academy, Gallagher Gallery, Dublin (2005) and La Maison Rouge in Paris (2006).

From autumn 2007 de Appel will explore an unknown aspect of Borreman's oeuvre, namely the films on which he has been working on the quiet. A 'scoop' seeing as Borremans in an interview with journalist Els Fiers (Metropolis M, October 2005) stated: 'A painting is not a stationary image: it moves, it is a presence. Film is something I would still like to experiment with. I'm considering working with this medium although I might never exhibit the results.' The presentation in de Appel - from 8 September through 4 November 2007 - is Borremans first solo exhibition in The Netherlands, but also counts as the international premiere of his cinematic work. In January 2008, the exhibition will travel further to the venue of co-organiser Centro de Artes Visuais in Coimbra, Portugal (21 January - 20 April 2008). To accompany the exhibition, a comprehensive catalogue will be published, a collaboration between CAV Coimbra, de Appel and Hatje Cantz.

Borremans' drawings and relatively small paintings have been created with an eye for detail. His palette is subdued, many grey and brown hues that have been combined in an extremely sophisticated manner. His figurative images breathe an atmosphere reminiscent of the 1940s and 1950s, but also represent a timeless world. In that sense they are scenes from a 'parallel universe' that seems closed off, in which people suddenly emerge, seemingly unaware of what is happening around them, engrossed as they are in mysterious, seemingly futile acts. Without exception, the paintings and drawings have an alienating and introspective effect. They betray an inner malevolent tension. Commenting on this, curator Jeffrey D. Grove remarks: 'Borremans' work radiates the surrealistic urge to avoid logical associations ...(...) the work is permeated by a humorous, socio-political commentary on the collective indifference, mediocrity and falseness of contemporary society.'

For the first time at the Berlin Biënnale in (2005), Borremans, as an experiment, used a film projection ("Weight", 2005, shown on an LCD screen) as an integral part of a room-filling installation. Now Borremans has decided to screen his films - that seem to be a logical step in his indirect investigation into the realism of the image - as an essential part of his artistic production. Formally and thematically, Borremans' films are closely related to his two-dimensional work. They are shifting 'tableaux vivants' with poetic titles like "The Storm" or "The Feeding", in which Borremans very gradually, with subtle camera work, creates an oppressive atmosphere. He uses a fixed camera position or slowly zooms in on certain details of the scenery, body parts, faces or clothing. With slight light-dark fluctuations, flowing edited shots or the repetition of certain actions, Borremans builds up a gripping but subdued suspense, that fails to lead to a 'climax' or 'apotheosis'. Who are these people? Are they real? What are they doing? Where is the line between reality and illusion? The images in Borreman's films balance on the divide between a recognizable, everyday reality and a bizarre dream world.

Borremans chose to work with 16 and 35 mm film because video cannot reproduce the specific hues and shadow effects he has in mind. In de Appel he uses different screens and formats to present his films: from DVD and a plasma screen to celluloid film and a 35mm projector. Because the films cannot be seen as something distinct from the rest of Borremans' artistic production, they are shown in 'environments'. The films have different literal (formal) and individual links with drawings and paintings that played an important role in the creative process. The exhibition offers insights into this and showcases the full scope of Borremans' - up till now - underexposed cinematic work.

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Thomas Zipp - White Dada

In the autumn of 2007, de Appel will host a solo exhibition on the second floor by the Berlin-based artist Thomas Zipp (Heppenheim, 1966). Zipp is multi-talented: he writes texts and music, makes paintings, drawings, sculptures, objects, collages and photos, which he brings together in room-filling installations. The basis of his work is a personal world of ideas fed by theoretical and philosophic concepts, an esoteric philosophy of life and utopian visions or visionary hallucinations. Starting from the exhibition spaces of de Appel, Zipp has developed a total-installation, a micro universe of images in which he integrates new paintings, sculptures and objects. During the opening night rockband DA, with Zipp on drums, will give a musical performance in the exhibitionrooms of de Appel that have been transformed into an arena.

Thomas Zipp is sometimes labelled a 'narrative conceptualist'. In and through his installations he creates 'private mythologies' that originate during his search for significant themes in old legends and modern age utopias. By situating these stories or acquired knowledge in a contemporary context, he generates new meaning. As he said in an interview with the philosopher Alain Badiou: 'We must always think of our world not only as the present situation but as the general availability of all the orders of eternal truths, what we can resuscitate, re-actualize and remake in this world from the heritage of these truths and their unending consequences. Nothing is ever lost.' That search for 'eternal truths' has resulted in an oeuvre that refers among other things to 'the tree of life' and 'Dante's Beatrice' and raises questions on a variety of topics from Germany's colonial past and British military history, to Piet Mondriaan's early environment of Neo-Plasticism, the history and effects of certain drugs but also ethical questions related to scientific progress.

Zipp is interested in the 'underside' of history's canon and in a personal and therefore subjective way, he investigates historical events or personalities, like political activist Martin Luther, the astronomer, Tycho Brahe, scientists like Otto Hahn - godfather of the atom bomb - and Harold Urey, surrealistic and futuristic artists like James Ensor, Francis Picabia, Max Ernst and Giacomo Balla. By quoting or paraphrasing their ideas in a singular and sometimes humoristic or ironic way, Zipp verifies to what extent the ideas or achievements of these public figures are still relevant today. Zipp's references and associations are subtle and suggestive - he is averse to symbolic bombast. The vague indications or minimal signs show Zipp's reductionistic approach to his subjects. Lauding the principle 'less is more', these works challenge the viewer to try and unravel Zipp's mental world.

Zipp has studied at the Städelschule in Frankfurt and the Slade School of Art in London. His work was on show in solo exhibitions at the Kunstmuseum Mülheim an der Ruhr (2007). Kunsthalle Mannheim (2007) and the Oldenburger Kunstverein (2005). It was also included in group exhibitions in the Kunsthalle Bremen, Tate Modern (2006) and the Museum für Neue Kunst in Karlsruhe (2006). The exhibition in de Appel is his first solo in The Netherlands

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The Shadow Cabinet:
"The Go Between - A Documentary"

September 8 - October 7, 2007

In the "Shadow Cabinet" (ex-)students of the Curatorial Programme are invited to give a presentation in the former directors' office. This time "THE GO-BETWEEN", the series of artists' projects that the curators of the CP 2006/2007 organised last April inthe Bijlmer area in Amsterdam South-East, will be revisited. Together with co- cameraman Kenneth Adoo, hip-hop filmmaker Jeffrey Crosse has documented the whole project. His movie "The Go Between - A Documentary" will be screened for a month in "The Shadow Cabinet".

Image: Michaël Borremans

Opening Friday 7 September 2007

De Appel
Nieuwe Spiegelstraat 10 - Amsterdam

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