snug fit, flat head, squabble, folly, skimmer, stonewall, huff & puFF, Mind(Fool)ness & Mind-Mate

2017

Kruithof’s hybrid works present a critical and playful approach to the (digitally) mediated way in which we perceive the world. Water functions as a both subject and metaphor for our contemporary visual culture: it is fast-flowing, fluid and malleable. The exhibition title refers both to the element of water — that largely makes up the world and the human body — and to a commonly used Mexican warning cry: ‘¡Aguas!’ also means ‘Watch out! Beware!’ The exhibition constitutes an alarming and seductive visualization of how the incessant flow and consumption of digital images gradually alienates us from our physical reality.

Kruithof feels both overwhelmed and liberated by the enormous number of images that are produced and consumed on a daily basis. In addition to her own photographs, she uses existing images as source material. For the series of sculptures Snug Fit, Flat Head, Squabble, Folly, Skimmer & Stonewall she printed found or bought aerial photographs of environmental disasters (such as oil spills and chemical waste dumps) on latex, plastic and rubber anti- slip mats. She then draped these over sculptures that incorporate artificial appendages of the human body, such as prostheses, crutches or oxygen masks. These objects refer to the technological accomplishments of the human race, but also to the resulting artificiality, numbness and metaphorical lameness that result from it.

EXHIBITIONS

05.09.–13.10.2019 The life of thingsMOMENTA | Biennale de l’image, Montreal, Canada
12.04.–25.05.2019 Joy before the object, Seventeen Gallery, London
2018–2019 On Earth – Imaging, Technology and the Natural World, Le Lieu Unique, Nantes, France & FOAM, Amsterdam & Les Forges Arles France
15.07.–30.09.2018 SCENE/UNSEEN, Forum Triangulare, Kasteel, Oud-Rekem, The Netherlands
27.11.2017–28.01.2018 ¡Aguas! Next Level (solo) FOAM Amsterdam
07.10.–12.11.2017 The Aesthetics of Contamination (solo) Galerie Valeria Cetraro, Paris
09.09.2017–20.09.2017 Ego, Eco, Crescendo (solo), Organ Vida – International Photography Festival, The French Pavillion, Zagreb

TEXTS

Ego, Eco, Crescendo (exhibition text) by Lea Vene