Now Age at Garage Rotterdam

Artists: Hadassah Emmerich, Sulaïman Majali, Nick van Woert, Ada van Hoorebeke, Samuel Levack & Jennifer Lewandowski, Thomas van Linge

Exhibition title: Now Age

Curated by: Yasmijn Jarram

Venue: Garage Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Date: May 22 – July 12, 2015

Photography: Thijs de Lange, images courtesy of the artists and Garage Rotterdam

Dressed totem poles, cat litter box filling and an industrial pyramid: the international group exhibition Now Age combines nature, mysticism and spirituality with the everyday here and now.

Now Age applies a contemporary filter to timeless fascinations in a subtle and, at times, humorous way. The visual artists taking part in this group exhibition – some of whom have never exhibited in the Netherlands before – share an idiosyncratic interest in natural and spiritual worlds in relation to the present. Each of these artists is playing with characteristic images and materials. Ranging from batik fabric, ropes and ceramics to scaffolding pipes, hammers and plastic sheeting. These absurdist combinations result in impressive explosions of color, mysterious primitive symbols and self-invented ritual ceremonies.

Nick van Woert (US) stacks steel, bronze and copper ‘boulders’ to create totem poles, occasionally dressed in items of his own clothing. In his so-called landscape paintings, he has replaced the soil with strange, artificial substances. Thomas van Linge (NL) also mixes nature and contemporary culture, namely by confronting industry and craftsmanship with one another. While Samuel Levack & Jennifer Lewandowski (UK) have given their installation the mysterious title of Black Volcanic Rock, though it actually comes across as fairly straightforward and minimalist.

The same cannot be said of the psychedelic work of Hadassah Emmerich (NL). Her very large, circular-shaped and expressive painting practically oozes energy. Ada van Hoorebeke (B) is experimenting with traditional batik fabric by involving practical objects such as bats and walking sticks in the creative process. In his hypnotic video, Sulaiman Majali (UK) explores the dark side of mystical, archetypal images. The series of primitive looking rituals actually remind us of the present.