Work by Emmanuel Van der Meulen

June 26 – July 31, 2010

MINUS SPACE is delighted to present the first installment of the Brussels, Belgium-based Center for Contemporary Non-Objective Art’s (CCNOA) most recent initiative 30/30 – Image Archive Project (IAP).

Conceived by artist and CCNOA Chief Curator/Artistic Director Tilman, the exhibition will feature a diverse group of small works by 9 international artists, including Delphine Deguislage (Belgium), Clemens Hollerer (Austria), Atsuo Hukuda (Japan), Andrew Huston (USA), Camila Oliveira-Fairclough (Brazil/United Kingdom), Ingrid Maria Sinibaldi (France), Emmanuel Van der Meulen (France), Jan Maarten Voskuil (The Netherlands), and Lars Wolter (Germany).

With 30/30-IAP, CCNOA seeks to establish a collective collection that will showcase the mesmerizing breadth and depth of approaches reductive artists are currently pursuing on the international level.  The project’s title refers to the size restriction for all works to be included in CCNOA’s emerging registry, which is set at 30 x 30 cm with a maximum depth of 5 cm.  This will enable CCNOA to easily travel the project worldwide (museum in a suitcase).

30/30-IAP is administered by CCNOA in a joint effort with artists CCNOA has collaborated with over  the past 12 years, as well as newly invited artists from around the globe.  CCNOA is currently planning forthcoming 30/30-IAP exhibitions at artist-run venues in Australia, Europe, Japan, New Zealand,  and the United States.

SUPPORT
MINUS SPACE’s programming is made possible by the generous support of The Golden Rule Foundation, as well as individual donors. We thank you!

MINUS SPACE
98 4th Street, Buzzer #28
Brooklyn, NY 11231
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Installation by Roland Orepuk

thru February 27, 2010

WITH YOUR EYES ONLY is an experimental project, which analyses the elements of perception in a collage of artistic interventions and objects. Within the frame of reductive art, levels of perception and the mechanisms of observation are questioned in a multidisciplinary, playful approach. Starting point are the phenomenological conditions of the artistic production like color, light, material and time which influence the structure and content of the reductive works and wherein exemplary questions related to perception open up. Visual structure is given to the artistic interventions by an architectonic display which refers directly to a changing spatial experience through its staging qualities and, at the same time, is a platform for the presentation of different perceptual levels.

Reductive art is a relational „language of art“, which aims at a specification of perception and develops abstracting image strategies via an analytical and emotional approach. Reductive works, thus, not only question their conditions, but also refer as translating media to further reaching contents and contexts which cannot be experienced straightly. In the foreground of the analysis of these strategies of reductive art and its communicating “physicalness” is the relation of the audience and the object, which contribute to an attempted clarification of the understanding of an artwork by linking up physically directed associative reactions, intellectual consciousness and the interpretation of meaningful content.

The topic also refers to notions of a participatory perception of an artwork following an open concept of the artwork, as it was postulated, amongst others, by the American artist Robert Morris in the 1960s. The approach to expose the artwork to a phenomenological experience was critically opposed by Michael Fried arguing that this understanding of art devotes itself to a dramatics which neglects the audience and negates the auratic right of the artwork (Art and Objecthood, 1967). In contemporary art and in particular in the reductive realm, these, also by Morris proposed options of creation, are consciously employed and discussed anew with respect to changing conditions.

The exhibition project analyses the encounter with strategies of a reductive image language in the context of a relational, perceptual behavior which depends on movement. With the approach of presenting the artistic objects and interventions in a relatively unconventional way, the exhibition consciously refers to the translating, transforming qualities of the respectively addressed levels of perception, which concentrate towards a contentwise expanded discourse. The artistic strategies are developed via various procedures and aim at the development of a dialogical process of perception including also methods which consider site-specific conditions that integrate the artwork in the present or generated space. In this process, the evolving objects serve as information carrier, which point at the content as such via a sensorial mode of perception. The transporting function of the object points at different approaches of recognition, it invites physical participation and notional debate. At first place, it is often drawn on familiar and established perceptive patterns which yet have to be examined with respect to their up-to-dateness and the definite object.

The site-specific extensive intervention of the Belgian artist Ward Denys will set the parameters of the visual-artistic basic orientation of the overall project. Denys deals with the intersections of visual art and architecture, analyzing the borders of functionality and dysfunctionality, of surface and space. Often a physical reversion of the present situation and the object, resembling a mirror effect, is crucial. By this “suspension” of physical constants, he involves the audience and their perceptual reception into the work. Denys realizes this approach when “shifting” the exhibition space by turning the floor plan through 35 degrees, and thus requests, through the changed spatial orientation, also a shift and translation of the perception. This “new” floor plan is the construction plan for his site-specific structure, which, at the same time, serves as a platform for further artistic works.

This intervention lets evolve a new spatial situation, which the New York-based artist Dan Walsh takes up to interpret his notions on light as a phenomenological condition of artistic production. Walsh understands the medium of painting as a tool to bring into play the contemplation of perceptual mechanisms. The analytical experimental projects which he has pursued since years focus on the questioning of the perceptual process. Walsh will construct some site-specific objects of similar texture and form and subject them to different light conditions and -qualities, in order to analyse the changes of perception.

With interventions which are driven by painting, into present, often for this purpose conceived spatial situations, the Brussels-based artist Pieter Vermeersch creates site-specific environments. By means of painting, Vermeersch describes spatial conditions and their interaction with color. With these created color spaces, he lets the audience directly participate and addresses their sensorial levels of perception. Vermeerschs’ contribution will be developed in tight cooperation with Ward Denys integrating his architectonic intervention regarding color and space.

In the specially conceived video installation “Minimal Reality”, the Russian artist Alexandra Dementieva pointedly goes into the process of visual perception. We see a movement, an additive and substractive time lapse which appears through a process of contrasting. In the course of a minutely detailed procedure and starting from a white “void” image, a complementary form evolves up to its anew emptying. We do not know and will not really know what it is that we perceive. But what we see is a process which refers back to the act of seeing; this process is enhanced to an expanded sensorial level of perception by the cooperation with the Belgian sound artist Aernoudt Jacobs.

The contributions of the other participating artists will be presented in such a way that a tight context between the different perceptual levels evolves and a dialogue of the sensorial qualities is triggered. The totality of the exhibited objects shall concentrate, in a wider sense, to an image which is directed by a link of various overlapping, complementary or distinguishing perceptual patterns and contents. The works start a dialogue in the sense of perceiving and using visual levels of perception, and this shall be understood as a proposed physical, mental and sensorial expedition.

The exhibition project finally offers the opportunity to question critically and if necessary re-evaluate possible traditional expectations with respect to the own perception of reductive art. WITH YOUR EYES ONLY hints at a continuous recheck of the own position considering the interaction with present objects and situations.

Participating Artists:
Greet Billet, Kjell Bjørgeengen, Alexandra Dementieva, Ward Denys, Clemens Hollerer, Simon Ingram, Aernoudt Jacobs, Leopoldine Roux, Esther Stocker, Tilman, Pieter Vermeersch, Dan Walsh, Carrie Yamaoka

Daniel Göttin, Transformer 2, 2008

After 2step, minimalpop, Painted Objects, Double Exposure, A Bit O’ White, My Eyes Keep Me In Trouble, Yo, Mo’ Modernism, With Your Eyes Only, COMPOSITE VISIONS is the ninth touring group exhibition organized by CCNOA, Brussels, Belgium.

Since its last theoretical stance as a sublime yet powerful art form, creating a new -ism and ironically also stating the end not only of painting but possibly also of visual art in general, and of its intellectual process, the idea of the ‘reductive’ itself has made an impressive return. Traces of the idea of the ‘reductive’ and similar approaches to art-making can be found in many artistic oeuvres which have come into the limelight since the overpowering postmodern related statements by artists and critics in the late 80’s, and the aesthetics of the ‘reductive’, nonobjective and concrete are now a subject of reflection in contemporary art practices, re-emerging from an imposed quasi non-existence.

In this state of relative non-recognition within the discourse and debate around art and culture in general, the subject of the ‘reductive’ as a possible antithesis to the overpowering reintroduction of representational painting and at the same time to the emergence of the focus on new media, technology and photography, has regained considerable strength over the last decade within an international frame of cultural production and commerce, as well as through the firmly held lone positions of artists like Mosset, Charlton, Armleder, Morellet, Palermo and others throughout the 80’s and 90’s.

Having seemingly recovered from the harsh critical overtones after almost being eliminated from contemporary discourse, in which a retroactive and purely commercial tone took over, the ideas and strategies of the ‘reductive’ and ‘essential’ have slowly found their way back into artistic language and practice. Yet, due to the visual superimpositions of present times, artists have started to shy away from the rigid limitations of -isms related to the ‘non-objective’ or ‘reductive’ and have embedded existing ideas, confluence of styles and approaches into the contemporary world, the here and now, mingling with popular culture as well as branching out of the studio practice inherent in painting as we know it and as the majority still likes to understand it.

Crossovers with other forms of art, like pop art, installation, and new media, play a major role in this new understanding of art-making in the realm of the ‘reductive’ and in its breaking out of its claimed territory with excursions into new planes of understanding, confronting the remarkable stakes which are on offer within the perimeter of ‘reductive’ art production today.

COMPOSITE VISIONS is triggered by the multitude of influences entering the thinking, thought process and practices of an array of like-minded contemporary artists from around the globe working within the fascinating and resilient discourse surrounding the historical, formal and contemporary explorations within the field of the ‘reductive’ in general and ‘reductive’ painting in particular.

Organized by the Brussels-based CCNOA COMPOSITE VISIONS comprises the work of 16 international artists and aims to give a modest inside overview of the possibilities within this broad approach. This type of exhibition is never able to display the entire palette of diversity; CCNOA’s objective is simply to document some of the thinking around this subject.

Participating Artists:
Kjell Bjorgeengen, Julian Dashper, Delphine Deguislage, Edith Dekyndt, Daniel Gottin, Clemens Hollerer, Camila Oliveira-Fairclough, Ingrid Maria Sinibaldi, Michael Skoda, Tilman, Alan Uglow, Jan van der Ploeg, Dan Walsh, Lars Wolter, Carrie Yamaoka, Beat Zoderer

Tilman, NYC39/7 (detail), 2009
Mixed media

December 12, 2009 – February 13, 2010

With Your Eyes Only is an experimental project, which analyses the elements of perception in a collage of artistic interventions and objects. Within the frame of reductive art, levels of perception and the mechanisms of observation are questioned in a multidisciplinary, playful approach. Starting point are the phenomenological conditions of the artistic production like color, light, material and time which influence the structure and content of the reductive works and wherein exemplary questions related to perception open up. Visual structure is given to the artistic interventions by an architectonic display which refers directly
to a changing spatial experience through its staging qualities and, at the same time, is a platform for the presentation of different perceptual levels.

Participating artists: Greet Billet, Kjell Bjørgeengen, Alexandra Dementieva / Aernoudt Jacobs, Ward Denys, Clemens Hollerer, Simon Ingram, Leopoldine Roux, Esther Stocker, Tilman, Pieter Vermeersch, Dan Walsh, Carrie Yamaoka

Installation view

December 5, 2008 – January 31, 2009

Curated by Tilman & Jan Maarten Voskuil

Participating Artists: Justin Andrews (AU), Karina Bisch (FR), Krysten Cunningham (US), Ward Denys (BE), Terence Haggerty (UK/US), Clemens Hollerer (AT), Simon Ingram (NZ), Fabian Luyten (BE), Camila Oliveira Fairclough (BR/UK), Jeena Shin (NZ), Morgane Tschiember (FR), Lars Wolter (DE), Carrie Yamaoka (US)

On the occasion of the first Brussels Biennial, CCNOA, in cooperation with Brussels-based artist & curator Tilman and Dutch artist & curator Jan Maarten Voskuil, is pleased to present the exhibition YO, MO’ MODERNISM… as part of the Brussels Biennial Off-Program. The exhibitions will feature the work of 25 artists from Belgium, elsewhere in Europe and abroad who investigate the premises of modernism and question and/or highlight aspects and principles of modernism within contemporary art practice.

The terms ‘modernism’ and ‘modern art’ are generally used to describe the succession of art movements that critics and historians have identified since the realism of Courbet, culminating in abstract art and its developments up to the 1960s. The term modernism is used to describe the style and theory of art from the 1880s on lasting into the mid-20th century. It commonly applies to those forward-looking artists, architects and designers who self-consciously rejected the past as a model for the art of the present, advocated a return to the basic fundamentals of art and subsequently created a new and diverse vocabulary. With the invention of photography, the realistic approach to painting and sculpture became unnecessary, and artists began searching for new ways of visualizing and thinking about the nature, materials, and function of art. Freedom of expression, experimentation, and radicalism became constituent parts of their artistic practice. They believed that art should stem from colour and form and not from depiction of the natural world. But modern art has often also been driven by various social and political agendas. These were often utopian, and modernism was in general associated with ideal visions of human life and society and a belief in progress.

Due to the complexity of the subject as well as the size of our exhibition space, YO, MO’ MODERNISM… will be presented in two parts. While part 1 will focus on contemporary artists whose works explicitly expand on and refer to concepts, conceptions and ideals within the modernist movement, part 2 will present works by artists whose artistic practice is no longer driven by the social or metaphysical utopias of the pioneers of modernism, but have taken a rather extroverted stance towards modernist ideas, exploring and expanding on the subtleties of our daily environment as well as on popular culture and its constituents. Dogmatic and pragmatic statements of the heroes of past decades have been replaced by a playful approach towards art-making and its implications today, and have subsequently led to the exploration of other areas of contemporary culture, like sound, architecture, music, generic materials, video, etc. This has broadened the comprehension and perception of abstract art, its forms, functions and validity, and the perspective on the reciprocal transfer between the material realities of art and life.

August 20 — September 13, 2008

Organized by CCNOA and curated by Tilman, the exhibition includes artists Justin Andrews (AUS), John Beech (UK/USA), Kjell Bjorgeengen (N), Helen Calder (NZ), Julian Dashper (NZ), Matthew Deleget (USA), Alexandra Dementieva (RUS/B) & Aernoudt Jacobs (B), Ward Denys (B), Billy Gruner (AUS), Andre Hemer (NZ), Clemens Hollerer (A), Andrew Huston (UK/USA), Simon Ingram (NZ), Kyle Jenkins (AUS), Klaas Kloosterboer (Nl), Pippa Makgill (NZ), Rossana Martinez (USA), Simon Morris (NZ), Rose Nolan (AUS), Miranda Parkes (NZ), Léopoldine Roux (F/B), Esther Stocker (I), Tilman (D/B), Emmanuelle Villard (F/B), Dan Walsh (USA), Tamara Zahaykevich (USA), Beat Zoderer (CH).

Work by Billy Gruner

June 7-29, 2008

Clemens Hollerer, Nick and the Beanstalk, 2008
Enamel on wood, 14 x 7 x 7 cm, edition of 100
5 colors: white, red, blue, green and yellow

CCNOA announces its new Friends Membership Multiple 2008, created by the Austrian artist Clemens Hollerer.  Started in 2004, CCNOA’s Friends membership program provides additional funding for the continuation and expansion of its exhibition and publication programs.  To reserve your copy of the CCNOA Friends Multiple 2008, please send an e-mail to info@ccnoa.org.

Esther Stocker, Was sind das für Dinge, die wir voraussetzen? (Quine), 2005
Site specific installation / wood, 8.5 x 4 x 3.2 m approx.
Installation view at Galerie Krobath Wimmer, Vienna, Photo: W. Woessner

May 9 — June 15, 2008

CCNOA presents the new large site-specific installation entitled Abstract Thought Is A Warm Puppy by Italian artist Esther Stocker in their main space, a retrospective of collaborative works by Alexandra Dementieva (RU/B) & Aernoudt Jacobs (B) in their multimedia space as well as new works by Sacha Goerg (CH/B), Clemens Hollerer (A), Michal Skoda (CZ), and Justin Andrews (AUS) in their project space.

Installation view with work by Kyle Jenkins

December 8, 2007 — January 15, 2008

The inaugural exhibition at IS featuring international artists Richard van der Aa, Justin Andrews, Sanne Bruggink, Christoph Dahlhausen, Matthew Deleget, Iemke van Dijk, Jasper van der Graaf, Billy Gruner, Clemens Hollerer, Kyle Jenkins, Sarah Keighery, Gracia Khouw, Arjan Janssen, Maike Mei Lan, Rossana Martinez, Jan van der Ploeg, Perry Roberts, Tilman, Jan Maarten Voskuil and Guido Winkler.  Includes original texts by Billy Gruner and Jan Maarten Voskuil.

Installation view of main gallery

Perry Roberts & Emmanuelle Villard

Tilman & Clemens Hollerer

Ward Denis

June 18 — September 23, 2007

Curated by Petra Bungert, Center for Contemporary Non-Objective Art (CCNOA), Pas de soucis …, French for ‘no worries, mate’, conveys the laissez-faire attitude conditional to the noonday heat of southern France. Such an environment may seem antithetical to the rigorous and disciplined art practice, yet one need only think of Paul Cézanne’s tireless gaze upon Mont Ste-Victoire — located not so far away — as he explored and developed a new visual language and human perception that would change the course of art and thus create a cool compatibility between summer nonchalance and artistic thought and exercise. 

This year NOS and CCNOA present the work of 21 international artists — John Armleder, John Beech, Cedric Christie, Ward Denys, Clemens Hollerer, Andrew Huston, Renée Levi, Mathieu Mercier, Gerold Miller, Olivier Mosset, Benjamin Rivière, Perry Roberts, Gerwald Pockenschaub, Léopoldine Roux, Michal Skoda, Tilman & Wolfgang Glum, Emmanuelle Villard, Jan Maarten Voskuil, Dan Walsh, and Beat Zoderer — who explore the boundless territories of abstract, nonobjective, concrete, and conceptual art through a dialogue of form and color, working with an eclectic choice of materials, including industrial-based and found objects. By alternately fusing the abstract, the decorative, and the utilitarian, their works interact on the borders of painting, sculpture, installation, architecture, and video, while presenting a complex visual vocabulary, both playful and serious, and expressing the dynamic diversity and relevance of abstract art practice today.  The exhibition includes large site-specific indoor and outdoor installations, paintings, objects, multiples, audio and video works and is accompanied by a 24-pages full-color publication.

April 15 — May 27, 2007

Organized by CCNOA, this group exhibition serves as a compilation, a gathering of information, thought, content and context relating to today`s artistic practice in the realm of reductive art.  Features artists John Beech (UK/USA), Kjell Bjorgeengen (N), Victoria Carolan (UK) & Guy De Biavre (B), Matthew Deleget (USA), Alexandra Dementieva (RUS/B) & Aernoudt Jacobs (B), Ward Denys (B), Jaroslaw Flicinski (PL), Clemens Hollerer (A/B), Andrew Huston (USA), Klaas Kloosterboer (NL), Rossana Martinez (USA), Leopoldine Roux (F/B), Emmanuelle Villard (F/B), Leon Vranken (B) & Beat Zoderer (CH).