Mountain Chrystals
Not Somewhere Else, But Here
Wytske van Keulen
with Joost Conijn, Lucas Lenglet,
Thomas Manneke and Tim Smith (Harp)
Opening Friday, May 20, 7PM
Exhibition May 20-July 9, 2016
The exhibition Not Somewhere Else, But Here* centers around recent photography projects by MING Studios’ current artist in residence Wytske van Keulen: the two-channel slide projection Sous cloche and her ongoing series entitled Stick Holding Branch. Both projects focus on individuals who deliberately chose their own path in life, following their ideals. For Stick Holding Branch Van Keulen has traveled to Texas, France and Japan collecting representations of these ‘free spirits’, discovering a greater inter-connectivity among those who, for different reasons, turned their back to our increasingly economized and despiritualized society.
The exhibition is complemented by the work of Joost Conijn, Lucas Lenglet, Thomas Manneke and Tim Smith (Harp) – who Van Keulen invited to the exhibition – further investigating the connection between maker and subject within the documentary field. Although their methods of engagement differ, their exploration of the behavioral logic of freedom and liberation remains cohesive. Not Somewhere Else, But Here slowly and quietly investigates the sacredness of ones own interpretation of truth. The intimacy of this collection of works creates an opportunity to experience nostalgia for a place you’ve never been, a world close enough to touch, while simultaneously estranged.
Dutch artist Wytske van Keulen is known for her work exploring the human condition and atypical individuals through photography. Her images have been displayed internationally in Munich, Rotterdam, Berlin, Toulouse and New York. In 2014 she participated in Artist in Residencies for Le Chateau d’Eau Toulouse, France, and at Kamiyama AIR, Kamiyama, Japan. As current artist in residence at MING Studios (through June 2016) she is working on a new extension of her ongoing series Stick Holding Branch.
Wytske van Keulen primarily works with a Mamiya 7II; a lightweight rangefinder 6x7-format camera, with interchangeable lenses, which requires a placid and deliberate interaction with her subjects. Her approach to documentation varies from portrait to landscape, interiors to snapshots, culminating in a vast and encompassing depiction of life.
While her images explore the isolation of secluded individuals as opposed to living in modern society’s demands they also represent a shared point of view between photographer and the onlooker. Her eye for the minutia of everyday living, focused on the subject’s personal belongings, encapsulates an emotional transparency within the protected environment of her subject’s homes. This familiarity furthers both her expression of personage and the solemn impacts of an “unmade” life.
* The title of a poem by Adrienne Rich from her book The Dream of A Common Language (1978)
wytskevankeulen.nl
joostconijn.org
lucaslenglet.com
thomasmanneke.com
www.harpband.com
Special thanks to the Mondriaan Fund for their generous support of this project and cultural exchange.
Wytske van Keulen
with Joost Conijn, Lucas Lenglet,
Thomas Manneke and Tim Smith (Harp)
Opening Friday, May 20, 7PM
Exhibition May 20-July 9, 2016
The exhibition Not Somewhere Else, But Here* centers around recent photography projects by MING Studios’ current artist in residence Wytske van Keulen: the two-channel slide projection Sous cloche and her ongoing series entitled Stick Holding Branch. Both projects focus on individuals who deliberately chose their own path in life, following their ideals. For Stick Holding Branch Van Keulen has traveled to Texas, France and Japan collecting representations of these ‘free spirits’, discovering a greater inter-connectivity among those who, for different reasons, turned their back to our increasingly economized and despiritualized society.
The exhibition is complemented by the work of Joost Conijn, Lucas Lenglet, Thomas Manneke and Tim Smith (Harp) – who Van Keulen invited to the exhibition – further investigating the connection between maker and subject within the documentary field. Although their methods of engagement differ, their exploration of the behavioral logic of freedom and liberation remains cohesive. Not Somewhere Else, But Here slowly and quietly investigates the sacredness of ones own interpretation of truth. The intimacy of this collection of works creates an opportunity to experience nostalgia for a place you’ve never been, a world close enough to touch, while simultaneously estranged.
Dutch artist Wytske van Keulen is known for her work exploring the human condition and atypical individuals through photography. Her images have been displayed internationally in Munich, Rotterdam, Berlin, Toulouse and New York. In 2014 she participated in Artist in Residencies for Le Chateau d’Eau Toulouse, France, and at Kamiyama AIR, Kamiyama, Japan. As current artist in residence at MING Studios (through June 2016) she is working on a new extension of her ongoing series Stick Holding Branch.
Wytske van Keulen primarily works with a Mamiya 7II; a lightweight rangefinder 6x7-format camera, with interchangeable lenses, which requires a placid and deliberate interaction with her subjects. Her approach to documentation varies from portrait to landscape, interiors to snapshots, culminating in a vast and encompassing depiction of life.
While her images explore the isolation of secluded individuals as opposed to living in modern society’s demands they also represent a shared point of view between photographer and the onlooker. Her eye for the minutia of everyday living, focused on the subject’s personal belongings, encapsulates an emotional transparency within the protected environment of her subject’s homes. This familiarity furthers both her expression of personage and the solemn impacts of an “unmade” life.
* The title of a poem by Adrienne Rich from her book The Dream of A Common Language (1978)
wytskevankeulen.nl
joostconijn.org
lucaslenglet.com
thomasmanneke.com
www.harpband.com
Special thanks to the Mondriaan Fund for their generous support of this project and cultural exchange.
