3 – 18 Jun 2000

Nothing. It will show itself

Martin Fenne, Mieke Marx

Niets. Het zal zich tonen. (which roughly translates as: Nothing. It will show itself.), is the first exhibition bringing the work of artists Martin Fenne and Mieke Marx together.

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We are first struck by just how different their work is. The painterly representations by Martin Fenne possess an almost documentary character. The meticulously recorded interior of a launderette, a bell house and a bedroom. The contrast with the documentary lies in the material presentation. By using a variety of materials, the depiction is encapsulated layer by layer, its apparent transparency becoming impenetrable.

Mieke Marx' sculptural works take impenetrability as their starting point; possible associations are created by her unpredictable way of working, which she underlines by giving her works a container-like character. Objects somewhere between enormous, upside-down shopping bags and pliable buildings. Or are they garments, giant sweet wrappers or cases for gigantic musical instruments?

What links these objects is the suggestion of a physical presence of a body invisible to the eye. A theme to which Marx' use of felt, a much-used material over recent years, is ideally suited, both in terms of substance and tradition. After years of exchanging ideas and feeling great affinity with each others work, we're now presented with a concrete confrontation. Fenne and Marx have opted to polarise their differences.

The pivotal concept of the show is impenetrability. The individual works have been placed so as to create a certain 'mutual disturbance' without ever actually devouring each other. Both artists aimed to create a carrousel; a colourful panorama of moving images, objects and ornaments. Today: a merry-go-round in a closed space.