July 9–31, 2016
Press preview: July 6–7
Opening: July 8, 6–8pm
6th floor
One Park West
31 Strand Street
Liverpool
L1 8LN
T +852 2810 0317
mail [at] edouardmalingue.com
Edouard Malingue Gallery is thrilled to announce the very first solo exhibition in the UK of Tromarama curated by Ying Tan in collaboration with Open Eye Gallery. Part of the Liverpool Biennale fringe programme, Tromarama will transform the interior of an ordinary private residence into an enigmatic, reflective space. Together, through moving image, sound and juxtapositions of domesticity, they provide an exploration of how the digital world redefines our existential existence. Tromarama is a collective formed in 2006 by Febie Babyrose, Herbert Hans Maruli and Ruddy Hatumena. Graduating from the Institute of Technology in Bandung, the three are among the first generation of artists who were confronted with the impact of the digital revolution in Indonesia during the early 2000s. This exhibition presents a selection of recent animations and lenticular prints, as well as a new work, which was created especially for the occasion.
The exhibition features animations that combine HD photographs of animated objects, such as shoes, suitcases, desk lights and wires, with images of the urban Indonesian landscape. Although each work exists in a seemingly foreign public sphere elsewhere in the world, it interacts with a private one that we, the audience, all possess ourselves. They activate otherwise impossible narratives within a domestic space, behind a closet, through a bedroom window, inside a kitchen cupboard. A new work highlights the playfulness of tea making, an otherwise mundane and joyful ritual undertaken countless times in everyone’s daily lives in the UK.
Play, in the sense of “fresh, intriguing and humorous” pulsates through the body of Tromarama’s practice, which combines video animation with music and installation. Each work, rather than existing in viewership isolation, is woven into the larger social fabric of the things we do both inside and outside our homes.
At the heart of Tromarama’s practice is the creation of an inclusive narrative through the use of form and colour, objects and figures, sounds and rhythms. Each work literally animates the ordinary and weaves its existence into a tale of tribulations fuelled by consequence. As such, their work infuses the ordinary with novel means of contemplation in the context of urban life, developments and political reverberations.
Tromarama have been exhibited widely and have held solo exhibitions at the Mori Art Museum (Japan), Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam), National Gallery of Victoria (Melbourne). Group exhibitions include the Samstag Museum of Art (Adelaide, Australia), APT 7 QAGOMA (Brisbane), Singapore Art Museum (Singapore), MOCA (Taipei), MOCA (Shanghai), Frankfurter Kunstverein (Frankfurt) and upcoming exhibitions include the 2016 Gwangju Biennale.
Curated by Ying Tan
Presented by Open Eye Gallery
Supported by Edouard Malingue Gallery
Media enquiries
Jennifer Caroline Ellis: jennifer [at] edouardmalingue.com, T +852 2810 0319
All other enquiries
Lorraine Malingue, lorraine [at] edouardmalingue.com, T +852 2810 0318
About Open Eye Gallery
Founded in 1977 Open Eye Gallery is an independent not-for-profit photography gallery based in Liverpool. One of the UK’s leading photography spaces, Open Eye Gallery is the only gallery dedicated to photography and related media in the North West of England. Open Eye Gallery has consistently championed photography as an art form that is relevant to everyone. It promotes the practice, enjoyment and understanding of photography by creating challenging and entertaining opportunities to experience and appreciate distinctive, innovative photographs.
About Ying Tan
Ying Tan is a UK-based curator with a concern for negotiating sites of cultural specificity in her practice. She is currently the curator at the Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art (CFCCA) where she is in charge of the annual programme of exhibitions, public programmes, as well as national and international touring shows. She has curated numerous exhibitions at the CFCCA, in addition to many other off-site projects in London and internationally. This includes the co-commission of Haze & Fog with Cao Fei (2013), as well as UK premieres of What Happened in the Year of the Dragon (2014) with Sun Xun and Xu Bing’s Book from the Ground (2003–present). She is a visiting lecturer for Christie’s Education (UK) and a contributor to KALEIDOSCOPE Asia Magazine. She is also on the curatorial faculty for Liverpool Biennial. Other recent projects include: Floating Cinema (UP Projects, London), Asia Triennial Manchester 2014 (UK) as well as Curating each other (Connecting Space, Hong Kong).
