A group exhibition, ENERGY, will showcase work by 19 artists working today in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Spain and Switzerland. ENERGY will feature paintings, sculptures, videos, lectures and performances about na- ture, humans, vanity, repentance, gloss, damage, utopias and dystopias. The artists have all been selected for their supremely edgy work which explores the determination and vulnerability associated with any quest for new pathways. ENERGY opens at the Koelwaterhal in Zwolle on 28 May, and will run until 17 September as part of the programme of Hanseatic Year 2023.
The Koelwaterhal is situated in an enchanting spot on the river IJssel. An extraordinary structure, it has a huge 10 metre tall glass space reflected in 10-metre deep underground spaces. The 16 cellars were used to purify water from the river for the IJssel power station, which was demolished between 2016 and 2018. The cellars are now empty, and the structure features highly appealing spaces both above and below ground. The Koelwaterhal is being transformed into an international art venue, a hotspot that will host exhibitions, music, theatre, lectures and hospitality. This space for the arts focusing on international, national and regional makers will strengthen the cultural infrastructure of the Zwolle region. The Koelwaterhal is an initiative of Ronald A. Westerhuis and ENERGY is its opening show.
The link between the exhibition and the Hanseatic theme is energy: the energy of the Hanseatic League that inspired Europe hundreds of years ago, coupled with the energy we now need to connect with the world in a way that safeguards the future of humanity. The international group of artists was chosen in order to create a truly European exhibition, entirely in keeping with the Hanseatic spirit. The age of self-confident merchants trading from sovereign cities that broke the chains of the feudal system and ecclesiastical institutions at the end of the Dark Ages. After an era of population decline and fundamentalism, the Hanseatic League offered the prospect of a modern, humane society. After centuries of stagnation, society was emerging into the light, a renaissance that marked the start of the modern era in Europe. The arts and sciences flourished too, based on the free exchange of ideas, goods and people, which led to renewal and progress. We stand on the shoulders of these open- minded explorers, inspired by the energy of the Hanseatic League. These are the qualities we need now, in our search for new ways to relate to the world around us.
In ENERGY the work of the 19 selected artists will inspire enchantment, contemplation and spontaneous debate among visitors, as well
as a programme of events exploring the theme in greater depth. Humans appear in all their surrealist, futurist forms, psychologising in the work of Dr Gindi, wandering through an extraterrestrial universe in the work of Francesca Marti, as lonely warriors in the postapocalyptic world of Raul Walch and as rarefied many headed mythical creatures in the work of Céline Struger. Jasper Krabbé locates his humans in the metropolises of past and present and focuses on their inner strength, while Maudy Alferink celebrates the raw beauty of self-expression. Tim Wes and Junte Uiterwijk connect the arts in their multidisciplinary practice, blurring the boundaries between image and sound. The same goes for Kim van Norren, who fuses painting and words by quoting song lyrics. Joyce Overheul exposes the naivety and injustice of humanity. Arne Quinze, Agnes Duijves and Warffemius focus on nature, on trees and flowers, Arne Quinze producing large paintings of his own garden, which he also regards as a laboratory, while in the work of Agnes Duijves real flowers articulate eternity in all their fragility. Animals feature in the work of Stief Desmet, fragmented yet vigorous, a sign of hope. The amorphous manifestations of living creatures created by Marieke Pauwels and Nick Ervinck appear to have been constructed in a parallel universe, a science fiction world where scale and form tempt us out of our comfort zone. The work of Hans Temmerman and Nadja Adelmann draws us into an empty world where the only human presence is the structures they build, only to be returned by the large, inaccessible steel structures of Ronald A. Westerhuis, our reflections in his hard but oh so vulnerable gleaming steel surfaces bringing us back to ourselves.
ENERGY
Koelwaterhal
27.5. – 17.9.2023
Preview: 26.05.2023
opening hours: Wed. – Sun. 11AM–6PM
Maudy Alferink, Tim Wes, Raul Walch, Joyce Overheul, Junte Uiterwijk, Céline Struger, Arne Quinze, Nadja Adelmann, Marieke Pauwels, Kim van Norren, Francesca Marti, Jasper Krabbé, Dr Gindi, Nick Ervinck, Agnes Duijves, Stief
Desmet, Hans Temmerman, Ronald A. Westerhuis en Warffemius
Curators: Ralph Keuning, Ronald A. Westerhuis, Annelies Ysebaert
Supported by: Gallery She BAM! / Laetitia Gorsy, Leipzig
Gallery Ysebaert, Sint-Martens-Latem / Gallery Gerhardt Braun, Palma / Galerie Eigen + Art, Berlin, Leipzig / Harms Rolde Collection, Nooitgedacht / Galerie SheBam/ Laetitia Gorsy, Leipzig / Galerie Ramakers, The Hague.
ENERGY is part of the programme of Hanseatic
Year 2023, which is sponsored by Zwolle
municipal council.
www.hanzejaar-zwolle.nl