Grand opening event on November 1st from 4 until 7 pm
Dresscode: brown (and festive!)
Artist TINKEBELL. is exhibiting a new series of artworks, made entirely from Shell waste, at TORCH Gallery, Amsterdam starting November 1st. This waste, a tar-like material dumped by Shell in a former mangrove forest on Curaçao, was collected by TINKEBELL. and used as "paint" with which she painted the natural environment that was destroyed by Shell. Oleum Shell isla de Curaçao is the title of this new series of artworks.
It's not unknown that the megalomaniac oil company Shell doesn't deserve a clean bill of health when it comes to its treatment of our planet, the environment, and human rights. Yet, the concrete impact of Shell's presence on an environment remains largely invisible to many.
For her series Oleum Shell isla de Curaçao, TINKEBELL. investigated a large Shell waste dump in a former mangrove forest on Curaçao. This transformed the original bay into a 55-hectare asphalt lake full of steaming, toxic, tar-like material, right next to a residential area.
What was once a beautiful bay brimming with rich nature has now become a secluded industrial area with a toxic asphalt lake. To visualize what has been lost, TINKEBELL. painted the original mangrove forest destroyed by Shell, using paint made from the waste materials responsible for this destruction.
In previous artworks, TINKEBELL. also used the emissions and waste from Tata Steel and Solvay. Oleum Shell isla de Curaçao is a follow-up to this and thus part of "a series of series" that shows the impact of heavy industry across the globe over the past century.