September 12 until October 31, 2015 – A-Trans, Berlin (D)
A Recipro City
The program A Recipro-City of A Trans examined the relationship of exhibiting artists and their work to the city in all its aspects. It seeks the influence of urban surroundings have on artistic practice. Exhibitions of Dutch artist group EX-MÊKH are based on creating space and fostering interaction. Interaction of the collaborators, of the artists and the exhibition spaces with each their own social and cultural character, of the interaction with invited artists, their public and with new visitors. EX-MÊKH creates space in two ways: in a very literal sense by research into exhibition spaces and in a mental sense creating space by developing new ideas or by treading unknown paths.
EX-MÊKH
The collaboration of visual artists Ellen Rodenberg, Kees Koomen and Maarten Schepers is called EX-MÊKH. Experiences of the public space interventions from Malieveld Project (since April 2012) have great influence on the artists‘ collaboration. On the Malieveld in Den Haag a number of artists gathers each week to make, present, discuss and document art in public space. From the beginning of 2007 onwards EX-MÊKH organized exhibitions in a number of spaces, varying from small intimate rooms to large, more intimidating halls. Each time over again the context in which the artworks were presented have been determined anew .
Augentausch
In Berlin EX-MÊKH presented a new layered exhibition in and around the gallery-space. With this the group will relate to the actual urban surroundings in Berlin. They will also engage in the local socio-cultural situation and they will try to activate the public. Next to the exhibition they shall perform actions in the public spaces of Berlin and during the Happy Talk in the gallery space. Ellen Rodenberg is interested in the human mindset toward space, time and situation when entering her world of art. She wants to combine her new research about how to imagine the process of creation with parts of older installations and presentations to engage the public with this world.
Kees Koomen will relate to the reciprocity of art in his own work. He processes his own experiences with German culture from his diaries into multi- disciplinary work in the gallery’s interior and engages the public by asking for commentary.
Maarten Schepers will create a seemingly paradoxical space in the gallery which will make outside space of the inside of the gallery. The sculpture might be the last hide out for the artist in Berlin.
The opening of the exhibition was performed by artcritic/curator Matthias Reichelt who spoke out this text .
The finissage took place October 31, 2015 in the gallery. In the program was a performance by Kees Koomen, a performance by Ellen Rodenberg in which Ellen Rodenberg and Yorgos Dimitiriadis collaborated on Ellen’s request. Yorgos did a solo-improvisation on percussion and with electronics to finish the program.
Kees Koomen hitchhiked his way through the exhibition in his performance. When asked what he wanted he asked if he could have a ride on the questioner’s thoughts. He then took his or her hand mirroring the picture of Helmut Kohl and Francois Miterrand that he put on the wall forming “A Secret Alliance”. Thus the couple discussed the work in the exhibition walking through it.
