Tjebbe Beekman; Arjan van Helmond; Geerten Verheus. An exhibition of work by three young Dutch artists who subtly, at times even imperceptibly, alter representations of place.
Tjebbe Beekman; Arjan van Helmond; Geerten Verheus
Elsewhere is an exhibition of work by three young Dutch artists who subtly, at
times even imperceptibly, alter representations of place.
Tjebbe Beekman's paintings seem to oscillate between literal representations of
the urban metropolis which is his subject, and fragmented, disorientating
visions. They begin with photographs, multiple views of the same urban scene,
the process of painting them brings the views together in an uneasy equilibrium,
at one moment cohesive, at the next dissolving again into its prism of
viewpoints. Though the painted image becomes more unreal as it moves away from a
single literal perspective, in another way it represents a far truer vision of
the city than a single photograph, truer to the interruption, the restlessness
of lived urban experience. His paintings combine jarring media and modes of
representation in a disjunction which parallels their conflicting views.
Arjan van Helmond's paintings also make reference to photography. He paints
buildings, typically interior or exterior views of domestic buildings in
suburban settings. His clearest reference is to the utilitarian photography of
Ruff or the Bechers. Yet van Helmond re-invests narrative into his subjects,
fictional narrative that has nothing to do with the buildings actual history or
present, but stems instead from its generic features, its style, and
extrapolates from them possible psychological or sentimental associations.
In his photo-collages, Geerten Verheus too uses adapted photographs of places in
his work. He combines unrelated found images, culled from newspapers and
magazines, which are brought together only by their formal rhythm. The results,
in contrast with Beekman's compilations, appear seamless - but reveal subtle
displacements of context: white plastic carrier bags litter a snowy mountain
scene, and blend in by a kind of visual subterfuge - relics of urban debris
which imitate the snow-covered rocks of the romantic rural scene they inhabit, a
soldier's body in is draped over a pile of logs, his camouflage gear a sign of
the process by which the work is made.
Tjebbe Beekman studied at the Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten in the
Hague and Arjan van Helmond studied at the Jan van Eyck Academie, Maastricht and
the Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam. They are both currently in residence at
the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam. Geerten Verheus studied at
the Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam and then at Chelsea School of Art. He
lives and works in Berlin. Recent exhibitions include 'Big Mag Space Model' at
De Appel, Amsterdam and 'Here and Now' at Büro Friedrich, Berlin. He has shown
in London at the Jerwood Space and the Trade Apartment.
Image:
Arjan Van Helmond The Lake #1, 2003, Acrylic, ink and gouache on paper, 36 x 43 cm
PRIVATE VIEW FRIDAY 30 JANUARY 6.30 - 8.30 pm
Gallery open Tuesday - Friday 10am - 6pm, Saturday 12pm - 5pm
For further information and for images, please contact the gallery.
f a projects 1-2 Bear Gardens London SE1 9ED t. + 44 20 7928 3228 f. + 44 20
7928 5123