Hans Op de Beeck
“Location (6)”
1-21 June 2008
Preview: 31 May 2008 (by invitation only)
Daily from 12 noon until 10:30 p.m.
Westergasfabriek, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
On 31 May 2008, the new installation “Location (6)” by Hans Op de Beeck will premiere as part of the Holland Festival in Amsterdam.
Visual artist Hans Op de Beeck has now created “Location (6)” (2008) – a monumental installation intended for the Westergasfabriek in Amsterdam. The Westergasfabriek is a former gas works that has been turned into a thriving multifunctional cultural center. This installation-art creation draws on Op de Beeck’s interest in manmade vistas, as well as his fascination with melancholic barren spaces devoid of human life.
His new work is a worthy successor to the sculptural installation “Location (5)” (2004). This particular installation was earlier on display in the Municipal Museum in The Hague and the Art Unlimited exhibition in Basel, Switzerland and has now been given a permanent home at the Towada Art Center in Japan. “Location (5)” is a pitch-black “mockup” of a motorway fast-food restaurant looking out on a deserted motorway (highway) in the dead of night.
The new installation “Location (6)” is based on a similar principle: the viewer is inside a building and is looking out at the wider world – in this case, a vast expanse of land stretching out as far as the eye can see. The exterior space has once again been created in the form of a monumental landscape sculpture with an incrementally manipulated perspective (perspectival trompe-l’œil). Visually speaking, however, “Location (6)” is almost the opposite of its predecessor. Through a hallway, the spectator reaches an observatory with a panoramic window offering a view of an imaginary desolate snowy landscape. Everything basks in white light and is shrouded in a fog. The whole place has an ephemeral, almost immaterial feel about it that invites viewer to gaze into the near-nothingness.
Hans Op de Beeck
The multi-disciplinary oeuvre of the Belgian visual artist Hans Op de Beeck (b. 1969) consists of sculptures, sculptural installations, multi-media works, videos, animation films, drawings, photographs, publications and stage designs.
Hans Op de Beeck conceives and builds contemporary fictional urban and household locations and scenes sometimes featuring human characters that viewers feel very familiar with. These include both secluded spots suitable for inner reflection, as well as crowded areas populated by sometimes inept characters shedding light on our own present-day lives; our dreams and ambitions; and how we look upon time, space and each other.
His work has been shown at numerous exhibitions including Reina Sofia (Madrid), Tate Modern (London), Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (Arizona), Towada Art Center (Towada), ZKM (Karlsruhe), MACRO Future (Rome), The Drawing Center (New York), the 6th Shanghai Biennale (Shanghai), Kunstverein Hannover (Hanover), Whitechapel Art Gallery (London) and P.S.1 (New York).
Holland Festival
Since 1947, the Holland Festival has evolved into the leading international festival for the performing arts in the Netherlands. Its strong reputation for innovation and top quality attracts internationally acclaimed productions in the areas of opera, theatre, dance and music. On top of that, each year, the Holland Festival showcases one notable example of installation art created by a prominent artist.
Venue
Westergasfabriek / Haarlemmerweg 6-10 / 1014 BE Amsterdam, the Netherlands
After its presentation in Amsterdam, the installation will travel to the Singapore Biennale (11 Sept. – 16 Nov. 2008). Artistic Director: Fumio Nanjo. Curators: Joselina Cruz and Matthew Ngui.
The artist is represented by Xavier Hufkens, Brussels; Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna; Galleria Continua, San Gimignano and Beijing; as well as Galerie Ron Mandos, Amsterdam and Rotterdam.
For press inquiries, please contact Lidwien van Heun of the Holland Festival at +31 (0)20 788 21 00 or lidwien@hollandfestival.nl
