Adriano Amaral
David Jablonowski
Jennifer Tee
Tenant of Culture
Combine
Galerie Fons Welters - back space
3 Sep – 9 Oct 2021
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3 Sept - 9 Oct
Opening days: 3, 4, 5 September
The word 'nature' is most commonly used in the sense of 'wilderness'. Certainly in Europe, all nature reserves are cultural landscapes, formed under the influence of human thinking and acting. But isn't human influence part of that same nature? And is it really possible to distinguish between nature and culture?
Artists Jennifer Tee and Adriano Amaral regularly ask such questions in their work. It is a reaction to the now dominant way of dealing with nature. By allowing spirituality and fantasy to play a role, they show that our understanding of nature could be greatly enriched.
Other artists in this exhibition do not necessarily offer an alternative for how we deal with nature, climate and the environment, but criticize the way in which these issues are currently handled. For example, David Jablonowski made work on "greenwashing", a term used to indicate that a company pretends to be environmentally conscious. Tenant of Culture also addresses this in her works. She focuses on the fashion industry, which only superficially and 'thematically aestheticizes ethical questions related to its own production methods – distribution and waste.'
The title of this exhibition, Combine, therefore does not refer to the agricultural apparatus that grain is harvested with, but above all to the need not to approach nature, climate and the environment as isolated issues.
Adriano Amaral (1982, BR, lives and works in Portugal and Brazil). Solo exhibitions include: Kunstinstituut Melly, Rotterdam (NL, 2020), Condo, Rodeo Gallery/Jaqueline Martins, London (UK, 2019), Vleeshal, Middelburg (NL, 2017), Kunstverein Bielefeld (DE, 2016).
David Jablonowski (1982, DE, lives and works in Netherlands). Solo exhibitions include: Centraal Museum, Utrecht (NL, 2019), Kunsthalle Baden-Baden (De, 2017), Kunsthalle Lingen (DE, 2015), Kunstmuseum Den Haag (NL, 2013), Baltic Gateshead (UK, 2013), Westfälischer Kunstverein (DE, 2012), Dallas Contemporary (USA, 2011).
Jennifer Tee (1973, NL, lives and works in Netherlands). Solo exhibitions include: Stedelijk, Amsterdam (performance, 2020); Keramiekmuseum Princessehof, Leeuwarden (NL, 2019); Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn (DE, 2017); Camden Arts Center, London (UK, 2017).
Tenant of Culture (1990, NL, lives and works in London, UK). Solo exhibitions include Kunstverein Dresden, (DE 2021), Fries Museum, Leeuwarden (NL, 2020). Group exhibitions include Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem (NL, 2020); Fondation Cartier, Paris (FR, 2019).