Chris Evans, Galerie Juliètte Jongma, Amsterdam - The Rock & The Judge

Chris Evans: The Rock & The Judge

Galerie Juliètte Jongma, Amsterdam

15 January – 19 February 2005

The critic and art historian Michael Baxandall once wrote that an artwork 'is the deposit of a social relationship'. Galerie Juliètte Jongma presents 'The Rock and The Judge', the first solo exhibition in The Netherlands of the Scottish artist CHRIS EVANS (Easterington, 1967), curated by Maxine Kopsa.

There's a lot to be remembered here. There's the police force, a judge, the rock, an airbrush, the fraternity and a sculpture park based on Raymond Roussel's Locus Solus. But it all comes together, quite neatly. 'The Rock & The Judge' is like a surreal encounter with a CEO-come-artist-turned-alternative-rock star and a perfectly angelic though somehow demonic muse, like the rabbit in Donnie Darko, who, late at night, too many drinks and too many hours at a random party, all of a sudden find themselves speaking the same language. Who then wake up the next morning wondering if it was all just a dream.

'The Rock & The Judge' consist of three different works (airbrush paintings, lithographs and a sculpture) all connected through their common search for the depiction of power relations. Necessary irony entailed.

Chris Evans' work pattern usually begins with a personal encounter and then develops into a visual re-working, conceptually formed along the way. For instance: years ago, at the academy he met (and immediately disliked -the feelings were mutual) a part time mature student, a police officer, interested in drawing. When the officer was out of the room for a minute, not being able to withhold his curiosity Evans quickly took a look in his sketchbook and saw portrait after portrait of different judges. 'The Rock & the Judge' the work which lends its title to the show, comprises a sculpture and a drawing commissioned by Chris Evans (granted, slightly re-worked by Evans) by detective constable Richard Hill from the Yorkshire police force (not the same). The 'rock' -an autonomous object, a true sculpture- placed as though on trail in front justice's elevated bench, might depict -with enough wit- the win/lose situation involved in much aesthetic discourse and validation.

Three paintings done in airbrush -a technique few people could get away with without it becoming either tattoo-like or tastelessly 80s- are the beginning of a new project called The Fantasist. They portray imaginary outdoor sculptures and are loosely based on Raymond Roussel's surreal novel, Locus Solus (1916). The Fantasist is a self initiated touring exhibition and book of sculpture parks, comprising these and other works as well as commissioned texts by, amongst others, Lucy McKenzie, Liam Gillick, Will Bradley, and Paulina Olowska. The publication is due to come out in the summer of 2005.

Power. The subtle hierarchy that goes along within its precarious relationship, and the law and order prevailing that enables its successful continuance. That's in essence what is happening here. Or, as Will Bradley so aptly put it: 'Evans is deeply concerned with the impossibility of separating the artwork from the social and political conditions in which it exists, but unlike the politically motivated artists of the last generation he doesn't ask that art give up any of its connection with personal, poetic or imaginative investigation.'

GALERIE JULIETTE JONGMA

Gerard Douplein 23, 1073XE Amsterdam

www.juliettejongma.com

Peter Holl, Galerie Juliètte Jongma, Amsterdam - The Constellations

Peter Holl: The Constellations

Galerie Juliètte Jongma, Amsterdam

27 November 2004 – 7 January 2005

The exhibition 'The Constellations' is the first solo exhibition of the German artist PETER HOLL (1971) in the Netherlands.

Peter Holl displays in his artworks a clear reference towards he American photorealistic movement from the 70s. This movement rebelled against the subjective way of painting and expressed themselfs against the usual content and expectations of a portrait. Everything is superficial there's no depth within the image at the most it is indifferent, 'it is what it is'.

Peter Holl seems to implement this theorie. He did not choose reproductions of selfmade photographs nor does he portray his friends but he focusses on adapted, artficial images from (fashion) magazines. His subject choise seems to have a strong reference towards distant painting. The artist isn't in surch of fixing a moment like his American (pre-andisters) but in search of an optical play. His portraits show clear signs of several images mixed with one-and-other. Your eye tries to unravel their riddle and play with the wish to crack there code. At the same time it is clear that it is not in our advantage to decifer, the challenge is within the looking itself.

The exhibition 'The Constellations' which means 'stars' or a configuration of celestial body's seen from the earth, gives a reference to the mathematics. A mathematician uses this discription for the movement of the body with time as the fourth dimension. Herewith time becomes as equal as spacious coordinates. Time as a fourth dimension is mostly used in astronomy. The stars we see are seen from the past.

The artist gives with this element reference towards artists like Marcel Duchamp and movements like dadaisme and futurism where researches of movement where represented. Peter Holl gives a contemporary representation of this element. 

GALERIE JULIETTE JONGMA

Gerard Douplein 23, 1073XE Amsterdam

www.juliettejongma.com

J. Lindfors Berger, Maurice van Daalen, Misha de Ridder, Galerie Juliètte Jongma, Amsterdam - On Angels

J. Lindfors Berger, Maurice van Daalen, Misha de Ridder: On Angels 

Galerie Juliètte Jongma, Amsterdam 

9 October – 20 November 2004 

The group show 'On Angels' in Galerie Juliètte Jongma includes the works of three artists, Maurice van Daalen (NL), J. Lindfors Berger (S) and Misha de Ridder (NL). Their vision on the world is characterized by a particular sense of otherwordly creation.

At first glance the drawings by Maurice van Daalen (Zaandam, 1975) seem to be suburban areas scanned from above. This cross section of a living environment is extremely organised and seems to be existing under the ground. His mental but at the same time hilaric enumeration of architectual elements suggests a new world without sunrise and sunset. This emotional meaning in architecture designed by van Daalen is one where the artist takes the viewer to a surrounding where imagination rules.

The landscape photographs of Misha de Ridder (Alkmaar, 1971) have a strong, almost meditative quality. The enormous sense of concentration gives the landscape or details from the landscape a grotesque meaning. Without committing an infringement on reality De Ridder is able to intensify and capture the coincidence of the moment. The meaning of his photographs go beyond the image, but strongly references the action of looking itself.

In her final exam show at the Rietveld Academy last summer, J. Lindfors Berger (1978, S) showed an installation with two videoworks and sculptures of exotic animals. In one of the videos the artist interviews a Swedish convict who is in jail for murder. In the second video shown you see a mollifying conversation between the artist and her sister who discuss each others appearance. In her work, Lindfors Berger addresses notions of identity and the relation between the rational and the instinctive. During the exhibition 'On Angels' Lindfors Berger will show a new work which reflects on the gallery space and the show she is participating in.

GALERIE JULIETTE JONGMA

Gerard Douplein 23, 1073XE Amsterdam

www.juliettejongma.com

Arjan van Helmond, Galerie Juliètte Jongma, Amsterdam - Don't be a stranger

Arjan van Helmond: Don't be a stranger

Galerie Juliètte Jongma, Amsterdam

4 September – 9 October 2004

Galerie Juliètte Jongma, located on the Gerard Douplein in Amsterdam's Pijp, opens her doors for the first time on 4 September 2004. The gallery will focus on young international contemporary art in every discipline – art that taps into current discussion and reflects on contemporary discourse.

The opening exhibition is a solo exhibition by Dutch painter ARJAN VAN HELMOND (1971), currently working at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam.

Arjan van Helmond's work is characterised by strong filmic suspense, loosely referring to the ominous atmospheres present in the works of directors like Alfred Hitchcock. Arjan van Helmond focuses on those moments in a narrative when none of its characters are present; he tries to capture the underlying psychology of a certain location when deserted. His small-format paintings of landscapes, architecture, and interiors all hint at an imminent action, or its opposite: the sudden departure of the imaginary story's protagonists.

An image of an office space containing packed boxes may unfold a story about resignation, or moving, but in the material translation of the applied paint these boxes may at the same time become skyscrapers. A window covered with brownish moisture looks to be crying. Often the objects in Arjan van Helmond's works are open for various interpretations: a hotel bed turns into water on closer inspection, or becomes a book spread open. These subtle changes, from the recognisable into the more freely poetic, are what defines the work of the artist, and what makes the images linger on for a long time. The artist's eye focuses on that moment when time seems suspended, tiny details in our daily life or our memories, images and moments easily forgotten. As if to say that a moment will never return the same way.

GALERIE JULIETTE JONGMA

Gerard Douplein 23, 1073XE Amsterdam

www.juliettejongma.com