ROTTERDAM.- Woody van Amen and Hidde van Schie present new and existing work in an exhibition in which art's power to touch people is central. Paintings of birds inconsolably crying, enthusiastic flashing light sculptures, magical 'taxat' symbols, and serene neon paintings pay homage to an art that wants to give a new, romantic impetus to the relationship between the artwork and the viewer. Beyond irony and cynicism, the two artists create a space for emotions, for sentiment, as a self-reflective striving or desire for something that transcends banal reality.
For 50 years, Woody van Amen's (1936) remarkable and multifaceted oeuvre has included painting, sculpture, installations, and film. In the mid-sixties, Amen participated in the exhibition 'Nieuwe Realisten' at the Haags Gemeentemuseum and subsequently broke through as a leading figure of an international art movement in the Netherlands. Just back from New York and working in a style that amassed appealing icons from consumerism and popular visual culture, he was suddenly the representative of Dutch Pop Art. In the seventies, he began extensively travelling in Asia and Indonesia. The manner in which he has, since then, brought together his interest in low culture – from advertising to film to comics – with notions of identity and spirituality is ground breaking.
Hidde van Schie (1978) makes music, writes, creates collages and installations, but is known primarily as a painter. He is a versatile musician; on his recent album The Mirror & The Razorblade / Dusty Diamond Eyes he sings and plays the guitar and organ. No difference emerges in Van Schie's work between 'high' and 'low' art: both matter, 'when it hits you,' as he says. His compositions of jungles and birds are painted with a supple ease and virtuoso hand, often referring to famous motifs in art. In his sculptures and collages, he assembles all kinds of materials: magazine photos, texts or parts of musical instruments such as drums, guitars, and speakers. Van Schie graduated with honours in 2001 from the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam.
Shift & Drift – Five Years of the Research & Development Grant
Shift & Drift shows a selection of Rotterdam artists, who have been given the opportunity to experiment thanks to the CBK Rotterdam's Onderzoek & Ontwikkeling (Research & Development) grant. In 2010, The CBK Rotterdam established this grant for projects, residencies, publications, and research, to stimulate exceptional projects by Rotterdam artists, to enable them to deepen their professional practice, and to adopt a higher profile. The exhibition and accompanying publication both celebrate the fifth anniversary of the O&O grant, showing the ambition and timeliness of the Rotterdam art world.
The exhibition includes work by seventeen artists whose offering to the O&O grant explored new possibilities in their work. The O&O grant has supported some of the artists in their ambition to do specific research abroad (Jan Adriaans, Ine Lamers, Fatima Barznge, Lorelinde Verhees, Simon Kentgens). Efrat Zehavi works with clay sculptures, dolls or characters. Using support from the O&O scheme, she went to Prague to learn classic animation skills. The O&O grant gave many artists the opportunity to deviate from their normal professional practice, and explore new techniques and principles. Jan van de Pavert made use of the O&O to enable a path of wandering, trying, and starting over again. Kiki Lamers turned her oeuvre completely upside down by taking a radical departure from painting. Wouter Venema immersed himself in a constantly evolving quest through different disciplines. Lucian Wester's colour photographs made using an old technique, which, thanks to O&O support, he could realise himself. V&B (Ellemieke Schoenmakers and Alex Jacobs) introduced an old theme to a new era. Their monumental painting full of paintings is based on the 'kunst kamer' genre of the 17th century.
