Roe Ethridge
27 September 2012–13 January 2013
Yael Davids
27 September 2012–20 January 2013
Opening: Wednesday, 26 September, 8pm
M – Museum Leuven
L. Vanderkelenstraat 28
3000 Leuven, Belgium
This autumn, M – Museum Leuven presents two new solo exhibitions with Roe Ethridge and with Yael Davids.
Roe Ethridge (Miami, 1969) studied photography at the Atlanta College of Art. For the last few years, he has worked to commission for fashion houses and magazines, as well as in his own right as an artist. There is no movement, nothing happens in Roe Ethridge’s images: a sunset, the moon, a highway intersection, a model after posing for the camera, cigarette butts and a decaying apple. Nonetheless, his oeuvre speaks to us only about life. Roe Ethridge belongs to a generation which, in both photography and painting, has been able to profit from the achievements of the preceding generation even while liberating itself from the codes against which its predecessors had to struggle. In this sense, Ethridge is the heir of Irving Penn, Paul Outerbridge, Thomas Ruff and Christopher Williams. But his work is characterized by a relatively contemporary navigation through the genres, techniques, and history of photography. Ethridge combines photographic images—landscapes, cityscapes, portraits, still lives, collages and commercial assignments—without hierarchy but with respect for their individual character. His rich visual language is formal, documentary and experimental. His work displays a powerful conceptual project and a reflection of the medium of photography. The constant change of genre raises questions about the conventions of photography and the authenticity of the photographic image.
The exhibition at M brings together photographs made during the last ten years and provides a selective overview of the diversity of his work. The exhibition is mounted in cooperation with Le Consortium in Dijon. Curator is Anne Pontegnie.
Ethridge’s work has been widely exhibited in the United States and has also been included in many group exhibitions, such as the exhibition of new photography at the MoMA: New Photography 2010: Roe Ethridge. Ethridge is represented by Andrew Kreps Gallery New York and Barbara Gladstone Gallery Brussels.
The work of Yael Davids (Jerusalem, 1968) is concerned with the potential of narration immanent to the act of documentation and repetition. With a strict economy of gesture and an on-going interest in the notion of performance, her installations attempt to turn memories of ephemeral, fleeting presence into a definite shape. Being raised in Israel, Davids’ oeuvre embraces both the conflicted political history of a nation-in-the-making and her own individual biography that has been impacted by loss and the experience of mourning. Breakability and fissure are the central themes of the exhibition at M. The exhibition presents glass, ceramics, photographs and woven textiles in a spatial installation. The exhibition brings together a number of recent works, juxtaposed with new installations made especially for Museum M.
Curator: Eva Wittocx, chief curator Museum M.
In November, Yael Davids will take part in the Playground Festival in Leuven. On Sunday, 11 November 2012, Davids is organising a performance afternoon with: Inging by Jeanine Durning, Practical Training in Thinking by Snejanka Mihaylova and the performance Obliterating an Image by Yael Davids and André Van Bergen. More information: www.playgroundfestival.be
Yael Davids’ work has been shown in exhibitions and performed at Kunsthaus Dresen (2012), Kunsthalle Basel (2011), If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution at Van Abbelmuseum Eindhoven (2010) and Tate Modern London (2008).
Parallel to these two new exhibitions, the museum is also opening a smaller collection presentation with and based upon the oeuvre of Guy Mees, featuring works from the Cera Collection.
The exhibition Sol LeWitt. Colors at M will run until 14 October 2012.
M has the support of the City of Leuven, Province Flemish-Brabant and the Flemish Community.
The Yael Davids exhibition is supported by the Mondriaan Fund.
