17 may 2022, Manuela Klerkx
Art Rotterdam 2022: New galleries, new opportunities
Now that we can visit art fairs again the way we used to do, I want to update you on galleries exhibiting at Art Rotterdam for the first or second time. Visitors often tend to visit the 'usual suspects', but I heartily recommend you to get out of your ‘comfort zone’ and to visit galleries you may never have heard of before. This fair is the ultimate opportunity to discover new galleries as well as new artists. I have already selected some (almost) newcomers for you.
The Laren-based Janknegt Gallery will be at Art Rotterdam for the first time this year with a duo presentation of Julia Schewalie and Anni Mertens. The work of Julia Schewalie (1988) consists of a dynamic game between construction and deconstruction. The artist strips the material used, such as vinyl records, of its original purpose and uses it as part of her creative work process. With great precision Schewalie sorts, constructs, arranges, cuts and composes small geometric parts into monumental surfaces. Changing reflections and mirroring of the surface - the effect of both natural and artificial light - are an integral part of the work, which is therefore constantly subject to change, resulting in a magical effect.
Anni Mertens, Escapade, 2022, Janknegt Gallery
Anni Mertens (1995) is an artist from Luxembourg, living in Ghent, who knows how to combine ceramics, steel, found objects and a healthy dose of humour in her work. By kneading, hanging and stretching clay, she creates objects that each have their own character. In her intuitive way of working, she embraces elements from both abstract and figurative sculpture. Her 'abstract characters' bear witness to a very personal imagery that suggests movement and dynamics. Some parts are left unglazed, exposing the earthy colours and texture of the clay, while others are covered in lively, bright glazes. A feast for the eyes.
Janknegt Gallery - Main section stand 48
Eileen Cohen Süssholz, Yesterday's news, 2021, Pedrami Gallery
Pedrami Gallery is present at Art Rotterdam for the second time. Located on Het Eilandje in Antwerp, Pedrami Gallery, founded by the Iranian Katayoun - 'Just call me Kathy' - Pedrami, is the first gallery in the Benelux with a focus on contemporary art from the Middle East. Pedrami mainly wants to show socially critical artists who are censored in their homeland to Western audiences. ‘Don't expect Persian carpets from me', says a smiling Kathy.
One of the artists whose work will be shown is Eileen Süssholz. The ceramic sculptures of this South African-born artist are assemblages of objects cast individually in moulds that she makes from objects and artefacts that are part of our cultural landscape. Whether they have been lifted from their art-historical pedestal or fished up from a pile of junk hidden in a cellar, her work aims to show that we live in a world of stuff to which we must relate on a daily basis. Süssholz, however, claims that objects are never just objects and explores the extent to which these everyday, inanimate forms act as symbols of our concerns and reveal values that underpin meaningful rituals that are part of our daily lives. The artist also ironically questions cultural clichés and contemporary notions of taste, as well as the status of the art object itself. The trivial and the sublime are inseparable in a combination of matter and colour that Süssholz brings to life in her ceramic compositions of great expressive beauty. With work by a.o: Nasser Bakhshi, Mohammad Barrangi, Wendy Krochmal, Gil & Moti, Salam Ata Sabri, Roghayeh Najdi.
Pedrami Gallery - Main section stand 88
Christine Clinckx, The noice person 2, 2022, Eva Steynen.Deviation(s)
Her website states: ‘Eva Steynen.Deviations distinguishes herself by creating well curated exhibitions with a museum-like character.’ And indeed, her exhibition booths are always very well curated. The visitor is invited to 'discover, reflect and connect'. For this edition of Art Rotterdam, she does so with work by Christine Clinckx, Wannes Lecompte, Johannes Ulrich Kubiak, Robert Soroko and Jan Verbruggen. Clinckx's work acts as a solace from the past and a hope for the future. It is both an escape from one's own reality and a harsh confrontation with the world that not only provides a form of recognition and projection, but also leads to questions. Her works can be cruel; they can force us to look at things we do not want to see or experience. The humour and beauty though create some distance between the viewer and the photographic works and offer room for change, for progression. By offering hope, her photos remain bearable. The beauty lies in the way the elements in her photo work are composed and ordered. The artist is present in circling stories and chaos that slowly orders itself in a process of question and answer.
Wannes Lecompte, groepsportret, 2021, Eva Steynen.Deviation(s)
Artist, musician and performer Wannes Lecompte (1979) celebrates the process of painting by making that same process the subject of his art. How does a painting come about? How do you start it? What does a musician have that a painter doesn't and vice versa? Why don't people applaud the image? And why do we look at the musician when he is making something and only afterwards at the image? Lecompte wants to liberate a painting from a canvas 'like Michelangelo liberated his sculptures from marble'. Titles like 'Dustiness' and 'The limbs, the two sisters and the fish-bird' suggest - rightly so - that a lack of logic and an abundance of association are not foreign to the artist. But when does a blue stripe become a bird? And when does a bird become a painting? By the way, Wannes and his art partner Gerard Herman make music you can listen to here. The choice is yours whether to applaud the painting or the music.
Eva Steynen.Deviation(s) - Main section stand 63
Jonas Lund, Lonneke van der Palen, Afternoon in Rome, 2019, Galerie Fleur & Wouter
Galerie Fleur & Wouter and GoMulanGallery are the 'New Kids on the Block' you absolutely cannot miss.
Jonat Deelstra, Past Reality Intergration, 2022, GoMulan Gallery
Galerie Fleur & Wouter show photographs by Lonneke van der Palen and paintings by Mirjam Vreeswijk, whereas GoMulanGo shows paintings by Jonat Deelstra and paintings and 3D sculptures by Joran van Soest. Both galleries have a knack for what's ‘hot & happening’ in today's art world and are eager to welcome you with open arms.
Fleur & Wouter Solo / Duo stand 17 & GoMulan Gallery Solo / Duo stand 51
Gijs Assmann, My dear (IV), 2018, ROOF-A
Roof-A is a Rotterdam based gallery that opened its doors in 2021. It describes itself as a dynamic cultural enterprise that provides a platform for adventurous art exhibitions and focuses on connecting people and culture, flexibilising borders by opening doors - between and with - artists, museums, galleries, companies, private individuals (inter)nationally. Artists whose work will be shown at Art Rotterdam are: Gijs Assmann, Hans Broek, Tania Franco Klein, Kalliopi Lemos and Marjan Teeuwen.
ROOF-A - Main section stand 05
Ralf Kokke, Cup In Hand, 2022, Gerhard Hofland
Tip:
In addition to work by Michael Kerkham and Johan Tahon, Gerhard Hofland also features work by Ralf Kokke (1989). Kokke's colourful, playful paintings arise from a subconscious, a fantasy that is as close as possible to his dream world. He wants to express these often inexplicable images in an uninhibited and unfiltered way. By allowing things to be as they are, the images come from within himself and thus reflect his immediate surroundings as purely as possible. By the way, on Wednesday evening, Ralf will be present at the booth to talk to interested parties. Please stop by for a chat and a drink.
Gerhard Hofland - Main section stand 90
