BOOTH H03
Continuing the series Dialogues with Nature III, Galerie Fontana is pleased to present the works of the artist duo Feipel & Bechameil, Claudy Jongstra and Ruud van Empel.
Their work questions the capacity of our natural environment to develop strategies of resistance to the pressures brought to bear on it by industry. Similarly, Claudy Jongstra’s latest series is an urgent call for awareness to protect and conserve our ecosystem. The necessary fortification and resilience of the biotic community from which these pieces derive are manifest in these tapestries. Claudy operates from a self-sufficient studio and has a completely sustainable no-waste working process. In this way, she wants to contribute to enriching the soil and feeding the bees, thus helping to increase the biodiversity of the region. Considering the materiality of her practice, symmetry is drawn between the shell-like qualities of wool, ideally providing a soft, warm natural cocoon-like protection in which we can feel safe. Before the artist can start felting, all kinds of processes are involved to prepare the woollen fibres, such as carefully picking it clean and washing the raw wool, and carding it to obtain smooth wads of silken soft fibres. In Claudy’s dedication to the practice and production of each work, the act of safeguarding is a narrative that has been strongly woven into each piece.
Feipel & Bechameil present a collection of sculptural pieces that serve as a tribute to nature. Speaking on behalf of an absentee who cannot speak for himself when we are in the midst of a climate crisis and growth, the economy and the very values of work are called into question. Martine Feipel & Jean Béchameil have long reflected on the heritage of modernism while raising its ambivalence, today they underline the place of all living beings as central and question in an optimistic way, the fact that living beings are not limited to inhabiting this or that geographical space but to being a soil that is constantly changing and adapting to nature.
These artists produce artworks that are both formally accomplished as well as strongly committed to offering food for thought for a better future. Jongstra is an environmental activist. As Jongstra’s artistic practice expands, so too does the impact on her region. Collaborating with local farms, schools, universities and social initiatives, and drawing on a deep respect for the interwoven narratives of people, land, and tacit knowledge, Jongstra actively reimagines and revitalises the local landscape from monocultural production toward a more diverse, inclusive, and ecologically-just model.
In van Empel’s Floresta series, photographic assemblages lean into the notion of authorship and realism, as the artist explores a mastery of the ecological space through digital and analogue manipulation. Lush detailing, created by the artist, draws the viewer into vast imagined landscapes. Selecting examples from a plethora of images amassed by the artist, van Empel is a purist in his application of photomontage considering that his layering and combining of images do not subscribe to any morphing techniques. Subtle image manipulations are applied to subjects which result in a great psychological effect, thus showing an incredible imagination in his detail-orientated masterpieces.
With this presentation, we hope to combine both the practical and fantastical in communicating our position in the current climate crisis. We hope to inspire viewers to be aware of their own accountability, as well as to consider that ideation is non-linear. Perhaps the voice of this presentation is a hopeful one, but that is for the viewer to decide.
Made possible by financial support from the Mondriaan Fund