AMSTERDAM.- Visitors of the Oude Kerk will step directly into the work of Jesse Darling. The British artist won the prestigious Turner Prize in 2023 and is considered one of the most influential artists of the moment. With his installation Godsworth, Darling transforms the church space into a landscape constructed from construction debris, scrap metal, and other materials collected from Amsterdam. It is Jesse Darling’s first solo exhibition in the Netherlands and runs until September 27.
The church floor is largely covered with rubble from construction waste. Playful sculptures rise from the landscape, assembled by Darling from discarded furniture, scrap metal, and broken appliances. The material originates from Amsterdam and was partly collected by Darling himself. By using everyday waste and rubble, Darling emphasizes the often messy reality of human existence in his work and questions the social and political forces that determine what and who is of value. According to Darling, the rubble is not an endpoint but ‘matter in transition,’ something awaiting revaluation and a new meaning. This view originates from the time Darling was part of the Amsterdam squatters' movement. The installation reflects the transformations that not only the city but also the Oude Kerk itself has undergone over the centuries: from Catholic to Protestant, and from stock exchange and cemetery to concert hall and art venue.
Darling drew inspiration from the nearly forty altars that once stood scattered throughout the church, places where different groups of people gathered, each with their own rituals and interconnections. In Godsworth, these places of encounter and meaning-making return in the form of seemingly provisional compositions that could take on a different form at any moment. Scaffolding elements are part of these constructions: they offer stability, but also refer to something that is still under construction.
In this way, a space emerges in Godsworth where everything remains in motion: materials, meanings, and forms of gathering. In a time when social, political, and ecological systems are under pressure, Godsworth reflects not only on what is valuable, but also on how value is redefined and rediscovered time and again.
Jesse Darling (1981, Oxford, UK) is a visual artist, teacher, poet, thinker, and curator. He creates sculptures from recycled and everyday materials, with which he distorts familiar objects. Darling is known for his disruptive, often humorous, and at the same time empathetic installations. His work has been exhibited at Tate Britain, the Venice Biennale, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, The Drawing Center New York, Museum Ludwig Cologne, and Palais de Tokyo Paris (Spring 2026), among other venues.
