Cecilia Rebergen

Cecilia Rebergen (1991) graduated in 2013 at HKU, the Netherlands

Selected exhibitions

2018
Duoshow with Vincent de Boer, Moira, Utrecht
Soloshow ‘Dogmata’, Willem Twee Spiegelzaal, Den Bosch

2017
Groupshow ‘UtrechtDownUnder’, Kunstliefde, Utrecht
Groupshow ‘The Wild’, W139, Amsterdam
Groupshow ‘ Het Stijlpaviljoen’, Amersfoort
Groupshow ‘Grafiek en de jonge kunstenaar’, Willem twee fabriek, Den Bosch

2016
Groupshow ‘<500’, Gallery Artesofitta, Veghel
Duo with Jop Vissers Vorstenbosch, Popps Packing, Detroit
Solo, ‘PSV5’, Design Thinking Centre, Amsterdam
Groupshow, ‘All you can eat’, Villa Ockenburgh Locatie Z, Den Haag

2015
Groupshow ‘Parels voor de Zwijnen II’, Amersfoort
Solo, Het Kunsttorentje, Almelo
Solo, ‘To meditate like a loose cannon’, Exbunker, Utrecht

2014
Groupshow ‘Begrenst’, Artspace Flipside, Eindhoven
Groupshow ‘Preparture’, Willem II, Den Bosch
Groupshow, Het 5e seizoen residency, Den Dolder
Solo, ‘If painting tends to expand’, dBs,  Utrecht
Groupshow 
’Best of graduates’, Kunsthal, Almelo

2013
Groupshow ‘Gährender Bodensatz’, Artspace FLIPSIDE, Eindhoven
Groupshow ‘Casco Concrete’ Onder MAX, Utrecht
Groupshow ‘Grenzwerk’ FRISE 
künstlerhaus, Hamburg
Duo with Tim van der Meer, Fort Ossenmarkt, Weesp
Groupshow EXPOSURE HKU, Utrecht

2012
Groupshow, ‘Brave meisjes zijn stom’ , Hal 16, Utrecht
Groupshow ‘De wereld van pubers’ Centraal Bureau HKU,  Utrecht

Selected press
2017          Glamcult, On track at The Wild
2017          Het Parool, De kunst dendert om je heen
2017          De Volkskrant, Deze man bouwde zijn eigen kinetische kustpretpark
2017          Trendbeheer, The Wild w139
2017          Brabants dagblad, Grafisch Kunstpaleisje
2016          Lucy in de lucht, Op zoek naar een andere whitecube
2014          Mister Motley, If painting tends to expand
2013          Eindhovens dagblad, Tussen industrieel en natuur
2013          Lucy in de lucht, De reikwijdte van een ruimte
2013          HP de Tijd
, Cecilia Rebergen houdt van de falende mens

Prices and nominations
2014          Longlist Royal award for painting
2013          Nomination for  HKU award 2013

Recidencies
2016           Popps Packing , Detroit  (USA)
2014           Begrenst, Artspace Flipside, Eindhoven (NL)
2013           GRENSWERK “Gährender Bodensatz ”  Tripkau-Hamburg (DE)
2012           Kunstfabrik am Flutgraben, Berlin (DE)

Extra
Working period at Beeldenstorm, with support of Het Materiaalfonds
Artwork in publicspace, het Kunttorentje, with support of Stichting Nieuwe Kunst Twente.

Artist statement 2017 – 2018 :

In current research I focus on intentional and unintentional distortion and/or loss of information during the process of transformation by the artist.

The lingual symbols I use in my sculptural practice were designed to transmit ‘meaning’. What this meaning might be, or what the viewer should read, has been lost; both long ago and recently. Meaning was lost when the culture using this language disappeared and meaning was lost when I transformed the language and used only specific elements and never the whole. The repetition of symbols and the transformation of the surface it was written on, diffuses the power of language. What remains, however, still speaks to us. Our will to read and understand is so strong that, even when it is obvious that total abstraction is very near, instinct drives us to try and read the lines.

There are three distinguishable stages in my art practice. Stage one could be called the stage of Dogma. Following a fixed procedure, the grid and chosen symbols are arranged on a flat surface. Preparatory translation of these elements into a writing system allows me to repeat the script and enables a state of intense concentration in which I paint the symbols.

In the series ‘Lineair A’, the source material consists of an ancient untranslatable language. In ‘Letter to David Smith’ symbols are based on the artwork ‘The Letter’ (1950) by David Smith. Translating these sources, using a methodized approach of election, I pursue a fundamental quality.

Stage two could be called the stage of Distortion. In a swift and forceful moment, the surface which carries the symbols is manipulated. The tools of the human actor; hands, knees, feet, distort its grid and transform the work into a dynamic, unpredictable shape.

Stage three is yet to be defined. Transmitting content to the viewer would normally take place in the context of an exhibition. In the process of translation by the artist, we can move away from, or towards the essence of the ‘original’ information.

Artist statement 2015 – 2017
Concerning the catagory ‘painting’  and the sculpural series: ‘Professioneel speeltuin vandalisme/ Professional playground vandalism’

In my work as a painter and sculptor, I constantly search for the boundaries of the painted object. I believe that the traditional boundaries of painting are too predictable and too confined. In my installations the reshaping and disproving of the box or frame is part of the total image. I achieve this by making site-specific installations with painted sculptures that make the relation with the space in which the work is placed visible and concrete. So I build, or extend the painting into the space/context. Ideally the paint, the object and its surface, and the exhibition space interact.

The creation of such a work pushes me to take the exhibition space into account. I need to consider the implications of a specific space. This is visible in my choice of material, size, and colour.  To facilitate this method, my work consists of modular painted sculptures that can be adapted to different circumstances.

However, it is not my intention to be merely adapting to an exhibition space, I also want to take over. My sculptures are generally big, colourful and communicate a kind of cheerful violence. I believe that in the destruction of a structure or dogma, a new structure can be created. So in destructing and reshaping, taking over with paint, I create new structures that form an artwork. The starting point is the structure painted on the surface of an object. By reshaping the object, the painted surface/structure moves along with the reshaping of the object, becoming a different structure and melting together with the object, according to the method of reshaping. Consequently I have used  pressure/gravity as primary method in my newest body of work.