Tent

OPTIC MOUNTAINEERING
Bretz/Holliger, Matthias Huber, J&B, Babette Kleijn, Quenton Miller, Edit Oderbolz, Andreas Von Ow, Marco Schuler, Qs Serafijn, Jens Stickel, Karin Suter, Florian Graf, Mimi Von Moos
21 July – 25 September 2016

This group exhibition features work by thirteen artists as part of a long-term cultural exchange between Basel and Rotterdam. For fifteen years, Atelier Mondial in Basel and Kaus Australis artists’ initiative in Rotterdam have jointly organised residencies for talented artists. Independent curator Annina Zimmermann, who was also the exchange’s first resident, curates the exhibition.

Optic Mountaineering reflects on the experience of living and working in a new place, freed of one’s usual habits and duties. A new environment provides artists with a sharpened awareness of the city, nature, and culture. Residences are not holidays but a period in which one artists reflect their practice gives, enabling new ideas and work to emerge. The first of two spaces evokes the impression of a new landscape. Edit Oderbolz shows a flapping piece of white cloth that intersects TENT’s space like a chain of snowy mountains cutting through a cloud horizon. Babette Kleijn analyses and creates a landscape in a large wall drawing of pencil, paint and thread. Matthias Huber presents his first wall paintings, and Andreas von Ow shows large papers covered with pigments collected in the dunes and which evoke the work of Dutch Masters.

The concentration of working in an empty atudio is an existencial experience. Q. S. Serafijn – known in Rotterdam for his ambitious ideas about public space – spent his Basel residency making watercolours, which are shown at TENT. Karin Suter creates figures of plaster, cord, and wood. In bizarre performances for the camera, Marco Schuler plays with the visitor, the studio, and his body. While Bretz/Holliger open a fictious door to their studio, Jens Stickel paints radiating yellow facades. Bert Frings currently collaborates with Jacob under the name J&B and takes inspiration from the street, creating assemblages from garbage bags, protest signs, and pizza boxes. Quenton Miller shows hundreds of pencil drawings revealing a humorous and profound look at the world around us.

Basel and Rotterdam are linked by history and trade. Dineke van Huizen, who coordinates the Basel-Rotterdam exchange, exhibits a comprehensive assembly of collected materials from Atelier Mondial and Kaus Australis. Mimi von Moos screens her recent video about the Rotterdam harbour. Florian Graf places a raft dedicated to Erasmus in TENT – the final destination of a long journey along the river connecting the two cities.

Optic Mountaineering is supported by Pro Helvetia