overview, Remco Torenbosch, Batia Suter, Bas vd Hurk, Katja Mater
Untitled (Monte Zuma #4), 2012 mixed media
Martijn in 't Veld Remco Torenbosch gelach en koop, Bas van den Hurk
EXHIBITIONS
Autumn of Modernism II
Temporary Gallery, Cologne (GER), 2012
curator: Lorenzo Benedetti
Gwenneth Boelens
Piet Dieleman
gerlach en koop
Sara van der Heide
Martijn Hendriks
Bas van den Hurk
Rob Johannesma
Katja Mater
Marc Nagtzaam
Falke Pisano
Roma Publications
Petra Stavast
Batia Suter
Remco Torenbosch
Martijn in ’t Veld
Curated by Lorenzo Benedetti
September 7 - October 28, 2012
Temporary Gallery Köln
The title of the exhibition "Autumn of modernism II" was inspired by "Herfsttij der Middeleeuwen", Johan Huizinga’s classic book published in 1919, a study of the forms of life, thought, and art at the end of the Middle Ages. The book shows that the artists of that period achieved their groundbreaking successes precisely because they drew on the past. This gave them a better grasp of the changes occurring all around them. It is fascinating to see that artists of different eras often respond to social upheaval in the same way, by turning to the past. We find this tendency among the artists participating in this exhibition, and it was also visible among artists of the 1960s and 70s, who were likewise grappling with major social transformations.
The group exhibition "Autumn of modernism II" illustrates how fifteen artists are responding to the social changes of our day, such as the present economic crisis. The explosion of news outlets and ways of consuming the news has made our society very focused on the now, and we sometimes forget to consider the future or the past. Artists try to step out of the present by consulting sources from the past and using them in their art, thus attempting to build bridges to the future.
Lorenzo Benedetti