Ondertussen: Kim David Bots

19 May - 26 augustus 2018
Location: Hogewal 1-9, The Hague
Open: Monday - Friday: 11-17 hrs; Saturday and Sunday: 12-17 hrs

Closed in the weekend: 16 July - 1 September 2018
Closed: 6 - 19 August 2018


The work of Kim David Bots leads the viewer to the borderline between a joke and a serious observation, guided by a straightforward, cartoonish visual language and an accurate hand. He works in a variety of media, ranging from painting, drawing, collage and photography to audio work, publications and - more recently - spatial art. This diversity enables him to speak with different ‘voices'. Thus he can approach an image, concept or subject from different angles, contradict himself or reinforce an idea by bringing it back in different shapes and forms.

Recently his work has developed from autonomous objects (paintings, drawings) to spatial arrangements that blur the distinction between work, archival materials, consumer products and found objects. Objects turn into props and create the suggestion of an interrelated narrative.

Moreover, his settings do not necessarily aim to tell an overall story. He presents a fusion of smaller observations, notes and ideas. To give an example: some time ago Kim David Bots found a dead rat in one of the many Vinex locations in the northern part of the Netherlands. He took a picture, and then recreated the scene in clay. He wondered how a plague would spread in the absurd, somewhat humoristic, but above all bureaucratic-psychedelic setting of a Vinex location.

In 2017 Kim David Bots received a PRO Invest subsidy for the stimulation and development of his work and artistic practice. He developed a variety of projects, such as a workshop for the artist-run-space Louise Dany in Norway, in collaboration with Daisuke Kosugi; a solo presentation in the project space of Wiels in Brussels, Belgium; a residency at the Frans Masereel Centre in Kasterlee, Belgium; and a solo exhibition at Kunstfort Vijfhuizen. In addition he also made two publications.

In the Ondertussen space he presents various works from this period and also a selection of new work.

www.kimdavidbots.com


Ondertussen
The Ondertussen space links Stroom's exhibition program to its enabling policy for artists. This policy aims to strengthen and improve the visibility of The Hague's artistic climate. Presentations in Ondertussen are usually the result of subsidies provided by Stroom, but can also show the results of mediation by Stroom or of other stimulating activities. The presentations are intended to illustrate the diversity of the grant applications and the positive effect of our enabling policy for artists. The presentations can vary from (interim) reports of (research) projects and residencies to network presentations. The Ondertussen presentation is the responsibility of the applicant.

Archive Ondertussen presentations

Ondertussen: Kim David Bots
photo: Myung Feyen, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
Ondertussen: Kim David Bots
photo: Myung Feyen, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
Ondertussen: Kim David Bots
photo: Myung Feyen, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
Ondertussen: Kim David Bots
photo: Myung Feyen, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
Ondertussen: Kim David Bots
photo: Myung Feyen, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
Ondertussen: Kim David Bots
photo: Myung Feyen, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
Ondertussen: Kim David Bots
photo: Myung Feyen, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
Ondertussen: Kim David Bots
photo: Myung Feyen, courtesy Stroom Den Haag
Ondertussen: Kim David Bots
photo: Myung Feyen, courtesy Stroom Den Haag