Fordham
with: Äbäke, Bernd Behr, Ben Cain, Simona Denicolai & Ivo Provoost, David Goldenberg, Patrick Guns, Conor Kelly, Maia Naveriana, Sophie Nys, Kristin Posehn, Audrey Reynolds, Jozef Somerlinck
www.netwerk-art.be
www.fordham.st
Netwerk, center for contemporary art (Aalst, Belgium), invites Man Somerlinck to curate an exhibition. Somerlinck operates the art initiative Fordham in London. Fordham is concerned with a certain, rather specific presentation of a question about the position of contemporary art in society. The projects that Somerlinck realizes with Fordham in London, are characterized by an intuitive insight in a dynamic fragment of the London art scene, a fragment that is fascinating, yet not connected to an institutionally confirmed circuit. The fact that the activities of Fordham are taking place in London, does not mean that Somerlinck only works with British artists. London is a metropolis, where artists of all nationalities live and work, and Fordham also offers a cross-section of this aspect.
Netwerk invites Somerlinck because of this specific horizon: a cosmopolitan situation within a local circuit searching to be embedded in society. Supported by Netwerk, he applies his expertise to constitute a dialogue between Belgian artists and people from that particular, artistic scene in London. This resulted in an exhibition in which the debate on the role of art in society is central. This exhibition shifts between two opposites, on the one hand the necessity, on the other the impossibility of making an artistic statement in contemporary, social order. Some artists choose to approach this paradox from the sidelines, with work based on reflection and reconstruction, others search direct confrontation and situate their activities in the immediate, social environment.
Opening
Sunday May 7th at 14.00pm
Exhibition
from May 7th till June 10th 2006
from Wednesday till Saturday from 2 till 6 pm (May 25th – closed)
