JESPER JUST
CHLOE PIENE
3 March-6 May 2007
WITTE DE WITH
CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY ART
WITTE DE WITHSTRAAT 50
3012 BR ROTTERDAM
THE NETHERLANDS
31 10 411 0144
Continuing our focus on in-depth presentations of individual artists work, Witte de With is proud to announce two solo exhibitions: Chloe Piene and Jesper Just.
Opening simultaneously, they present very different approaches to film by two artists of the same generation, both at an exciting stage in a burgeoning international career.
Jesper Justs flms are extremely multi-faceted, so complex that the more one tries to analyze them, the more obscure they become. The harder we try to read the behavior of Justs protagonists and the relationships between them, the deeper we stumble into the psychological traps generously positioned by the artist. We are caught off guard, swamped by our own raw, emotional reactions.
Justs films can be regarded as incessantly shifting parts in a larger socio-political enquiry into the nature of human interaction and relationships: their pitfalls, failures and perversions, but also their dignity and beauty.
The exhibition curated by Sophie von Olfers and Nicolaus Schafhausen will feature several of his recent films and a new work commissioned for this project by Witte de With, the Ursula Blickle Foundation and S.M.A.K. (supported by the Danish Arts Council). The exhibition will run simultaneously at Witte de With and the Ursula Blickle Foundation, with a selection of Justs films screened in the ursula blickle videolounge at the Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna during April. Justs works will be on show at S.M.A.K in from April to June, who together with WdW Publishers and the Ursula Blickle Foundation are co-publishing the first major book on Justs work to date.
Chloe Piene is known for her intense drawings and powerful videos. Since the late 1990s, she has been making charcoal drawings of naked figures, based on images of herself, others and, occasionally, animals. In her videos, Piene twists cinematic tools and conventions. Through the use of simple techniques like the slowing down of sound and image, she forces her viewers to engage at a more subversive level.
Extreme emotions such as isolation and fear are enhanced by strong chiaroscuro images, intense soundtracks and solitary performances. Pienes work succeeds in a subtle engagement in the plight of victim and hero, viewer and protagonist.
The exhibition curated by Renske Janssen and Nicolaus Schafhausen includes a selection of Pienes recent drawings and videos. It is accompanied by a publication exploring the role of sound in her films, the performative nature of her drawing, and the interplay of fear and fantasy in her practice.
EVENT
5 April, 8 pm
Book launch & artists talk: Fear and Fearlessness.
Chloe Piene in conversation with Renske Janssen, featuring clips from horror films that have influenced Pienes work.
Free entry. Language: English.
PUBLICATIONS
Jesper Just Film works 2002-2007
Writers: Philippe Van Cauteren, Nicolaus Schafhausen, Nina Folkersma, Sophie von Olfers, Andrew Renton, Ilsa Colsell, Jacob Lillemose
Languages: Dutch, English, German
Published by: Ursula Blickle Foundation, WdW Publishers & S.M.A.K.
Design: Atelier Susana Carvalho Kai Bernau
Publication date: 15 April 2007
ISBN: 978-90-73362-73-4
Chloe Piene
Writers: Nicholas McCarthy, Dominic Eichler, Renske Janssen, Chloe Piene, Nicolaus Schafhausen
Language: English
Published by: WdW Publishers
Design: Kummer & Herrman
Publication date: 5 April 2007
ISBN: 978-90-73362-74-1
For more information, please see our website www.wdw.nl or contact info@wdw.nl