Juan Muñoz Conversation Piece, 1996 5 figures, polyester resin and steel cable 164 x 80 x 80 cm each approx., Private Collection Installation view Casa Encendida, 2005 Photo: Luis Asin © 2014 The Estate of Juan Munoz
In Search of Meaning, the Human Figure in Global Perspective
is a book and exhibition curated by Anne Berk. It is a research into conceptual figuration. Since the mid-eighties, artists in western and non-western countries choose again for the human figure, which embodies their questions about life. Berk travelled over the globe to hear their stories personally.
From 17 January to 6 April 2015 the exhibition was hosted by Museum De Fundatie in Zwolle, the Netherlands, accompanied by the catalogue/book describing the oeuvres of
21 artists. It was a great success. The exhibition drew 70.000 visitors, and the book has its second print. It was covered by all the newspapers, and it was on tv as well. For an impression you can watch these items (11 min.)
I hope to find a museum abroad to stage this exhibition internationally.
During my long practice as an art-critic for e.g. Het Financieele Dagblad, I saw the
art-climate change: since the eighties, abstract formal art made way for new figurative,
narrative art, modern for post-modern art and post-secular art.
Art has changed, and the world as well. This is no wonder, since art is the expression
of our time. Ideologies and belief systems have crumbled. This is a time of insecurity
and reorientation. What is the meaning of life? At the end of the eighties, artists choose
again for the figure, using its body-language as a way to communicate their questions to the viewer.
The representation of the human figure, even if it is fragmented or broken, is a starting point for post-modern or post-secular artists to consider the human condition, without pretending to have the answer.
The exhibition In search of meaning was structured as following:
– Self research (the artist body as Everybody)
– The physical body (Existential questions)
• Transformation of the body: birth, sex, death, after death, the life cycle
• Relation to nature and the cosmos
• Future Bodies
– Social relations (Ethical questions):
• Me and you
• Us and them (power structures)
artists:
Karin Arink (NL), Atelier Van Lieshout (NL), Stephan Balkenhol (DE), Caspar Berger (NL), Berlinde de Bruyckere (BE), Lee Bul (KR), Heri Dono (ID), Jan Fabre (BE), Antony Gormley (GB), Lidy Jacobs (NL), Folkert de Jong (NL), Riyas Komu (IN), Yue Minjun (CN), Juan Muñoz (ES), Marc Quinn (GB), Yinka Shonibare (GB/NG), Kiki Smith (VS), Elisabet Stienstra (NL), Johan Tahon (BE), Lin Tianmiao (CN) and Henk Visch (NL).
Sculpture lives on: from modernism to globalization Review XIIth International Conference the Netherlands 2013
Sculpture networks XIIth International Forum Sculpture lives on – from modernism to globalisation was held in the Netherland from 3 – 5 October 2013.
It was a fantastic event which where 130 participants from 15 countries networked and made friends, listened to lectures, exchanged thoughts about sculpture.
We were made very welcome by the Kröller-Müller Museum, where the symposium took place. During the excursion program, we visited other interesting sculpture venues such as Museum Beelden aan Zee, Atelier van Lieshout, sundaymorning@EKWC and DordtYart. The Dutch Association of Sculptors gave a presentation on sculpture in public space in The Netherlands.
And a curated selection of sculpture network artists gave a flashy presentation in
90 seconds on sculpture. The contents of the symposium and choice of lecturers were highly appreciated, as well as the astonishing art and locations.
This famous collection of the Kröller-Müller Museum was the starting point for the conference, providing an opportunity for international experts, artists and the participants to reflect on modernism in 20th century sculpture and the globalization of sculpture today.
JENSEITS – BEYOND THE BODY
curator Anne Berk
Düsseldorf, 28.10.–30.11.2012
WELTKUNSTZIMMER
Ronsdorfer Straße 77a
D-40233 Düsseldorf
Telefon ++49(0)211. 730 81 40
Fax +49(0)211. 733 11 75
jenseits Beyond the Body catalogus download PDF
Exhibition Bodytalk
Museum Beelden aan Zee, Scheveningen, NL, 2004,
curator Anne Berk