Participating artists: Sanne Bax, Bart Kok, Donglai Meng, Jessica Skowroneck, Sabina Timmermans, Jeanine Vloemans
Opening Saterday 25 March 4 pm.
Curator: Jessica Skowroneck ism Galerie SANAA
In winter we like to stay inside and tell stories about events past, but spring invites us to go outside and reconnect with the land. Its stories are wilder, more immediate: they tell us of desire and fertility, of growth and the origins of life. From the primordial soup, new living beings sprout once again.
Spring is a playful and promising time, full of love, lust, and the awakening of nature. At first glance it might look somewhat hedonistic, an invitation to enjoy only the easy pleasures of life. But when we take a closer look, many mysteries surface in the wake of these topics: where does new life come from? What is our drive to procreate? And inevitably: what is the meaning of it all? Just as plants have their roots hidden underground - the energy source of their new foliage hidden from view – all life has an unknown source that we cannot comprehend. And, as a shadow of new life, also comes death; for life cannot exist without death as its counterpart.
In this exhibition we want to celebrate the abundance of life and simultaneously contemplatethe deeper questions that being in this world brings with it. We do this in an inherently visual way: expressive brushwork, whimsical colors, scenes of lush vegetation, and landscapes rich with promise. Murals and sculptures transform the gallery into a space to take a walk in. Subtle scenes of friendship and love are shown alongside expressions of power and energy. We invite you to join us - with our head in the clouds and our feet in the mud - on a joyful journey to warmer weather and spring adventures.
Sanne Bax
In de lente en zomer van 2022 maakte Sanne Bax een voettocht van bijna 2000 km door de Californische wildernis. De kunstenaar wilde onderzoeken wat het betekent om als mens deel uit te maken van een landschap. In de Mojave woestijn waar mijn tocht begon voelde ik me uitzinnig van vreugde, verwonderd door alle vreemde vormen die ik om me heen zag. De Joshua Trees waren als dansende metgezellen, in hun aanwezigheid voelde ik me als een woestijndiertje, veilig genoeg om in de open lucht te slapen. De getufte sculpturen die bij Galerie SANAAte zien zijn een reflectie op die ervaring.
Bart Kok
For the exhibition I’ve made four paintings that are inspired by spring but were painted during the winter wherein the idea of spring being around the corner was a very welcoming idea. By imagining how spring would look and feel, while working on the paintings during those cold and grey days, the works became an over-exaggeration of the bright and beautiful colors I was longing to see again.
Donglai Meng
My interest originates from the study of psychoanalysis, which reveals the contradiction and split between human consciousness and subconsciousness, making me doubt the authenticity of the images we present in reality. Therefore, my artistic practice is to constantly capture and feel those unobservable inner states of human beings in different contexts, such as dreams, fantasies, hallucinations, etc. I question their significance to real life. My works are mainly installations, paintings, short stories, videos, etc. While exploring the mental world of people inward, I also research the connection between actual society and human psychology. I endowed my works with fictional narrative backgrounds, just like building dreams in the real world, making them as insinuations and reflections on real problems, and trying to draw viewers' attention to their inner experience.
Jessica Skowroneck
My recent paintings are inner landscapes. They show spaces that stand at the crossroads of the conscious and unconscious, between imagination and reality. My work is often inspired by photos or memories of the real world. By painting this world, I make it into a place of my own, a painted reality. I grew up in Sweden and nature has always been very important to me. Painting these landscapes, I began to see that they are both ‘inner’ space and ‘outer’ space. My aim is to connect the two. I’m looking for myself in nature, and for nature in myself.
The process of painting should allow for spontaneous marks and brushstrokes, colors, and forms. By working fast, I let my intuition lead the way in the studio. As a result, some paintings become more figurative, others less so. I often use the vertical format because I like the association with a door or a gate. The viewer is invited to step over an imaginary threshold into a painted realm where nothing is quite what it seems: The ground may shift, mountains might move. Rocks, rivers, and trees are beings for themselves - the personalities in these paintings with their own mysterious purpose.
Sabina Timmermans
Caressing and Colliding - Sharing the Land’ is a series of drawings about the entanglement between human beings and the landscape. I started the series during my working period at Van Gogh AiR in the Vlaamse Schuur at Landgoed de Moeren. The lands and forests in this area share a long history with humankind. I’ve explored these landscapes in search of shapes that are formed by continues encounters between human and non-human life. The many tree roots that I found crawling over the ground became the inspiration for the drawings.
Jeanine Vloemans
In de tentoonstelling Spring Musings & Muddy Feet toont Jeanine Vloemans oudere kleine schilderijen en een nieuwe installatie.
De kleine schilderijen lijken wel een leven in overdaad te tonen. Precies zoals de lente vaak ook wordt onthaald als iets feestelijks. De mens danst met het dier, de fontein des levens spuit fris water en een stilleven toont vers fruit. De installatie toont een muurschildering, een schilderij en eieren op de vloer. De vogelfiguur is geïnspireerd op de Germaanse Völva. Dit was binnen de Germaanse cultuur een vrouwelijke priester die zich in een vogel kon veranderen om door de lucht te vliegen en zo in de toekomst te kijken. De eieren van deze figuur die op de grond staan, zijn voor Jeanine een symbool voor een nieuw begin en nieuwe mogelijkheden die zij meebrengt. De muurschildering toont de zon waarbij de stralen de vorm van vrouwenbenen hebben. Deze zonnegodin lijkt over de hemel heen te lopen en de warmte te verspreiden.
