Radical Autonomy

October 24, 2009 thru January 3, 2010
Guest curator: Arno van Roosmalen, director Stroom Den Haag
Location: Le Grand Café, centre d'art contemporain
Saint-Nazaire, France
Sequel: Radical Autonomy / nieuwe werelden van niks in Aalst (B), 2011

Participating artists:
Quentin Armand, Walead Beshty, Etienne Chambaud, Angeline Dekker, Simon Dybbroe Møller, Ryan Gander, gerlach en koop, Benoît Maire, Ane Mette Hol, Navid Nuur, Pauline Oltheten, Evariste Richer, Ton Schuttelaar, Joëlle Tuerlinckx.

In April 2006 the exhibition Modern©ité, conceived by the Grand Café, was shown at Stroom Den Haag. In 2007 Le Grand Café organized a solo exhibition by Ivan Grubanov, on the occasion of his presentation Visitor in The Hague at Stroom (2005-2006). The dialogue between the two institutes continues today with Radical Autonomy, a project proposed by Arno van Roosmalen as the Grand Café's first guest curator. For the near future  there are plans for a joint exhibition by the French Raphaël Zarka.

In the latter part of the 19th century the so-called Haagse School ('The Hague School') embodied the Dutch counterpart to French Impressionism. A group of artists amongst which Israëls, Mesdag, Mauve and Weissenbruch lived in The Hague between 1870 and 1900. Inspired by the Barbizon School they concentrated on perception and light, precisely the atmospheric, 'coloured grey' light that characterizes the watery landscape by the sea. The light in St. Nazaire is equally influenced by big skies and the seaside landscape as The Hague, giving both cities a ‘natural' bond.

A number of very talented protagonists of the contemporary art scene in The Hague still, or again, display a strong focus on perception (of light). Probably due to the impact of conceptual art, zero and fluxus many of these artists share a conceptual approach and a minimalist form. Their art is autonomous in a very radical way: intimate, condensed, self-referential and putting the perception of the observer to the test.

This ‘radical autonomy' is certainly not exclusively tied to The Hague; it's a phenomenon visible in the work of a variety of young, international artists. It evolved as a reflection on our time; on the prevalence of ‘relational aesthetics', on socially engaged art practices, on the tendency to interdisciplinary approaches. All of these might in some way be considered to ‘blur' specific qualities of visual art.

The Dutch philosopher Maarten Doorman wrote: "Contemporary art might dissolve into various adjacent domains such as design, fashion, architecture, advertising and other artistic disciplines; and contemporary art might satisfy all kinds of political and social needs as well as the market; (but) in order not to loose itself completely, precisely the reconsideration and a renewed plea for the autonomy of the artistic domain is fruitful, based on the naïve thought that the myth of art, even if it were not true, has a lot to offer us. (...) Somewhere in our world of earning money, hedonism, seductive technology, shameless wealth and, at the same time, a sense of moral superiority, unambiguity and control, art could be a sanctuary for futility, obscurity, insight, ambivalence, joy and unease."(1)

The exhibition ‘Radical Autonomy' brings together a group of upcoming international artists that will ‘open your eyes' and shift your frame of perception.

website Le Grand Cafe

(1) Maarten Doorman, "Gefoeter op moderne kunst is laf" ("Bashing modern art is cowardish"), De Volkskrant, 23 May 2009

Press
ArtPress (review)
Flash Art (review)
ArtForum.com
(review/critics' pick)

invitation Saint Nazaire featuring work by gerlach en koop
exhibition survey
photo: Stroom Den Haag
exhibition survey
photo: Stroom Den Haag
background Evariste Richer ‘Ellipse / Eclipse’, foreground Ton Schuttelaar ‘Leadership’
photo: Stroom Den Haag
Navid Nuur ‘Encounter’
photo: Stroom Den Haag
left to right Ryan Gander ‘To Slow down the Spectator’s Eye’, Joëlle Tuerlinckx ‘Sans fond gris’, Quentin Armand ‘100% bouteilles de bières’
photo: Stroom Den Haag
Ton Schuttelaar ‘Leadership’, Ryan Gander ‘To Slow down the Spectator’s Eye’
photo: Stroom Den Haag
Ton Schuttelaar ‘An implied positive content’
photo: Stroom Den Haag
Quentin Armand ‘100% bouteilles de bières’, Ryan Gander ‘To Slow down the Spectator’s Eye’
photo: Stroom Den Haag
foreground Navid Nuur ‘Untitled’, abckground Benoît Maire / Etienne Chambaud ‘Position actuelle de l’idéalisme’
photo: Stroom Den Haag
Benoît Maire ‘Le réel ….’ and Simon Dybbroe Moller ‘Unfold your dreams’
photo: Stroom Den Haag
Angeline Dekker ‘Internal Construct’
photo: Stroom Den Haag
gerlach en koop ‘wear and tear (page 51)'
photo: Stroom Den Haag
gerlach en koop ‘Post’
photo: Stroom Den Haag
Navid Nuur ‘GRAND QUEST IONS’
photo: Stroom Den Haag
Saint Nazaire, harbour
photo: Stroom Den Haag
Saint Nazaire, harbour
photo: Stroom Den Haag
Saint Nazaire, harbour
photo: Stroom Den Haag
Saint Nazaire, station
photo: Stroom Den Haag
Joëlle Tuerlinckx, 'Aquarel pur sang'
photo: Stroom Den Haag
construction of a Navid Nuur
photo: Stroom Den Haag
gerlach en koop, 'Concessions? Never make any.'
photo: Stroom Den Haag
installation: foreground Ryan Gander, background Navid Nuur
photo: Stroom Den Haag
installation: construction for Ryan Gander's 'To slow down the spectator's eye', with escape hole
photo: Stroom Den Haag
installation: a gerlach and koop situation in the making
photo: Stroom Den Haag
installation: two wrapped Navid Nuur works
photo: Stroom Den Haag
installation: an Angeline Dekker in progress
photo: Stroom Den Haag