ROTTERDAM.- TENT and Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen jointly present The Back Room, a four-part solo exhibition of underexposed yet iconic Rotterdam artists. Curator Noor Mertens, of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, presents work by an older generation of artists in the context of TENT's current programme. This summer, TENT focuses on the work of artist Arie de Groot.

Arie de Groot Arie de Groot (1937 – 2016) developed a unique idiom and worked mostly out of the public eye. His oeuvre mainly consists of works on paper that incorporate vulnerable materials such as cardboard and aluminium foil. De Groot was as much influenced by artists – such as Paul Klee and John Cage –poems and music as by ethnographic and traditional folk art. His work is subdued rather than spectacular and sits in stark contrast to many of his contemporaries. His practice articulates a great wonderment for life and its mysteries. His oeuvre demonstrates a clear trend in which he increasingly indulged a freedom for form and colour.

The Back Room
The Back Room examines the position occupied by both institutions – one as an established museum, and the other as a young exhibition space without a collection – at local and national level. Through this collaboration, TENT and the Boijmans van Beuningen reveal the subjective process of being included in or excluded from the art canon. The artists presented in The Back Room are partly collected by museums. However, despite their work not always receiving the attention it deserved, it is now considered important for several reasons. They are artists whose materials and strategies return in the work of today's younger generation of artists. Therefore, The Back Room raises questions about the role and position of the artist: how does the artist build a reputation and what factors influence their success? The Back Room at TENT runs concurrently with Project Rotterdam at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, which focuses on a younger generation of artists not yet known as institutional figures.

The Back Room previously showed the work of Paul Beckman, and Charly van Rest's work is on display until 10 July. From 6 October to 4 December, the series focuses on artist Esma Yiğitoğlu.