Dirk Braeckman
Zarina Bhimji
17 November 2012–31 March 2013
Opening: Friday 16 November, 6pm
De Appel arts centre
Prins Hendrikkade 142
1011 AT Amsterdam
The Netherlands
T +31 20 625 56 51
info [at] deappel.nl
This winter de Appel arts centre simultaneously presents solo projects by the Belgian photographer/filmmaker Dirk Braeckman (1958) and the British artist Zarina Bhimji (1963). Braeckmans sensitive and large-scale photographs in shades of grey do not tell elaborate stories but are charged with an atmosphere which makes them “tick away like time bombs,” in the words of the author Luc Sante. The suggestive force and narrative potential of images are just as essential for Bhimji, whose latest film Yellow Patch (2011) has its Dutch premiere in de Appel arts centre.
In this exhibition Braeckman presents a carefully chosen selection of new photographs culled from the untitled publication recently released by Roma Publications (a cross between an artist’s book and a catalogue raisonné). From his extensive archive of negatives Braeckman selected “new images,” that have never been printed and that will be premiered in de Appel arts centre. Braeckman will equally reveal one of the lesser well-known aspects of his oeuvre in de Appel: a new film for the first time, which elaborates on previous film experiments.
The exhibition by Zarina Bhimji develops in two phases: from 16 November 2012 to 3 February de Appel premieres Bhimji’s new production Yellow Patch, from 5 February to 31 March de Appel showcases the installation Waiting (2007).
Yellow Patch is Bhimji’s second large film production. The 35mm film was entirely shot in India and was inspired by trade and immigration routes across the Indian Ocean. Beautiful close-ups of desolate Haveli palaces and colonial offices in the port of Mumbai are coupled with atmospheric images of the desert and the sea and accompanied by an evocative soundtrack.
Waiting was shot in East Africa in a factory used to process Sisal and has an abstraction that hovers somewhere between film and painting. The washed-out colour of the hair-like material, the light, and the interior of the factory create a saturated monochrome that, combined with the film’s soundtrack, becomes immersive.
In Braeckman and Bhimji’s work, ambiguous and ‘open’ recordings of architecture, landscapes, objects and spaces are the signifiers. They seem to emphasise the intrinsic expressive power of the image and invite the audience to a ‘slow’ reading of the work.
Zarina Bhimji’s exhibition in de Appel arts centre is supported by Outset Contemporary Art Fund.
A day after the opening at de Appel arts centre, Kunsthalle Erfurt presents a retrospective exhibition of Braeckman’s work:
Dirk Braeckman
18 November 2012–13 January 2013
Kunsthalle Erfurt is pleased to announce Dirk Braeckman’s first solo exhibition in Germany. The artist does not only reflect on the process of photography (in relation to painting) but on the construction and deconstruction, i.e. the “re-reading”, of an image in general. Therefore, the exhibition curated by Silke Opitz focuses on the way of perception. Besides a wide range of photographs there are also some of Braeckman’s rare films on view. An accompanying German publication is proposed.
You are cordially invited to attend the opening reception and meeting with the artist on November 18, 2012 at 11h.
For more information please contact Marieke Istha, Marketing and Publicity de Appel arts centre: marketing [at] deappel.nl.
