SMART Project Space | 1e Constantijn Huygensstraat 20, Amsterdam

ARTISTS PRESENT.
A series in which artists present their work.
Location: SMART Cinema
Price: free addmission

Friday October 24th, 20.00 hrs.

Job Koelewijn's is a risky process in which it is possible to get lost, a m=
ovement in precarious equilibrium between success and failure, because (not=
withstanding the fact that a few similar materials show up in several of hi=
s works) there is no 'style' that supports it, there is no identifiable lan=
guage at first glance. There are, however, reoccurrences and passages, conn=
ections and references among works, even between those separated by a few y=
ears time: like a rhizomic movement, which follows the alteration of differ=
ent sentiments, places and states of mind, rather than the logic of a linea=
r progression. Also from a formal point of view he seems, each time, to dar=
e or challenge himself to seek out the material, the shape, the image or wh=
atever it is that needs to be communicated. For this reason as well, Koelew=
ijn's works contain something of the strident, the bizarre and even the sli=
ghtly kitsch in the eyes of a faithful modernist. Bruce Nauman and vernacul=
ar reality, religious spirituality and baby talc, minimalism and traditiona=
l Dutch clothing, romantic poetry and mens deodorant, Divine Comedy and con=
centrated broth cubes: there are no materials, philosophic or poetic sugges=
tions for which Koelewijn cannot create a dialogue to demonstrate an absolu=
te faith in artistic expression. For Koelewijn, in fact, art has a sacred c=
haracter; it is an act of regeneration and purification, a spiritual exerci=
se, a challenge, renewed each time, to ourselves and to our own capacity to=
confront reality.

(Luca Cerizza from Job Koelewijn - History Future)



Edwin Zwakman initially appears to use photography in a conventional manner=
. However, insofar as the utterly hackneyed phrase 'the camera never lies' =
ever had any meaning, in Zwakman's case quite the opposite is true: his pho=
tographs are lies from the beginning to end.



In his work we see familiar images: landscapes and seascapes, high fences e=
ncompassing excavations which have been fortified with sheet piling, earth =
diggers pictured against the background of a new development, roundabouts v=
iewed from high in the air, modern blocks of flats with large glass facades=
in which speeding trains or tall cranes are reflected, or tourist coaches =
in which a medieval cathedral is seen against the background of a departmen=
t store. It all seems so normal and obvious. Yet a closer inspection of Zwa=
kman's photographs produces a strong sense of unease, a feeling that someth=
ing's wrong. But what exactly? Are there discrepancies in the time and scal=
e? Is there something odd about the position of the camera? Are the light a=
nd colour rather peculiar? These questions are never really answered. And y=
et they persist.



Zwakman's photographs are enormous, sometimes 3 metres high or wide. This i=
s, to a certain extent, an obvious decision when the subject of the image i=
s a roundabout, but when one encounters on a laid table a breakfast plate w=
ith a radius of 60cm and a 60cm tall packet of hagelslag, one does not feel=
at ease, even if the proportions seem to be correct. The knowledge that th=
ese are photographs of a scale-model reality that has been constructed in t=
he studio does little to destroy the enigma. (Forward text by Jan Debbaut i=
n Edwin Zwakman - Facades)





For information please contact Genee Presta genee@smartprojectspace.net


SMART Project Space | www.smartprojectspace.net
Exhibition Space & Cinema: 1e Const. Huygensstraat 20
Opening times: Tues-Sat from 12.00-22.00, Sun from 14.00-22.00 hrs.
Mail to: P.O.Box 15004, NL-1001 MA Amsterdam
Phone: +31 20 427.5951
Fax.: +31 20 427.5953
mail: info@smartprojectspace.net

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