Jubilee edition Art Rotterdam 2024

There is the 12th edition of Prospects with work by 86 talented, up-and-coming artists; there is a spectacular collection of large-scale outdoor works and last but not least, the brand new section: Artistic Matter, made possible by Lakeside Capital Partners, presented by Stichting Galerie Weisbard and Annemarie Fine Art. Starting in 2025, Art Rotterdam will be based in Rotterdam Ahoy.

Artistic Matter

Artistic Matter gets a place of honor at Art Rotterdam. Upon entering the main hall of the old Tobacco Factory, you walk right into it. What matters, in this section, is a unique use of material. Most artists work with materials such as oil paint on linen, watercolor on paper, bronze, wood or marble. At the same time, more and more artists are choosing innovative techniques and unusual materials. It is these artists that Artistic Matter puts in the spotlight. This time it is the Slovak-Rotterdam artist Tomáš Libertíny. He introduces complex skeletons and constructions in a beehive. Patiently he guides the bees in the construction process, creating a delicate connection between man and nature. The effect is a special, stylized form in beeswax. In collaboration with artist Tomáš Libertíny, Lakeside Bee Farm was built on the estate of Lakeside Capital Partners' headquarters in Rotterdam - Overschie. The long-term relationship between the artist, Tomáš Libertíny and the Managing Partner of Lakeside Capital Partners, Ali Keles, created a fruitful basis for this long-term collaboration. His work is in the collections of MoMA, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, MAD / Palais de Louvre and Lakeside Collection, among others.

Prospects

Prospect, an initiative of the Mondriaan Fund, showcases work by 86 artists who received funding to launch their careers in 2022. The offerings range from photography to textile works, from video to paintings, and from performances to sculptures. Composer of the exhibition is curator Johan Gustavsson in collaboration with curator Louise Bjeldbak Henriksen: "During the 12th edition of Prospects, visitors will encounter works by 86 talented artists. Together, the works offer a fascinating snapshot of the development of contemporary art in the Netherlands. We appreciate the close collaboration with so many extraordinary artists, and while the expressions of the works vary widely in media and form, there is a shared enthusiasm that binds these artists together. This edition, the last in the iconic Van Nelle Factory, showcases artworks that are intimate and distinctive. They delve into themes such as identity, relationships, our interconnectedness with nature and other living things - essential elements of what it means to be human. The works encompass the universal aspects of existence."

Exterior Works

In front of the entrance to the Van Nelle Factory and elsewhere on the grounds, Art Rotterdam is displaying a spectacular collection of large-scale outdoor works. For example, Studio Dré Wapenaar's Tentendorp Revisited, a work in which architecture, design and visual art come together. There are four modules, arranged on and under, next to and in front of each other. The highest tent stands on a four-meter-high platform with next to it, at two meters high, an "air-pit," and in the lower tent an internal "sitting-pit. Together they create the appearance of a village in which people are connected in every possible way. Gallery Nest presents the works RADIATE ||&||| (EVIAN CHRIST) by Joeri Woudstra. The two crosses, made of speakers and stoboscopes, are part of a larger performance and installation series. They play a pre-programmed light and sound composition. In the outdoor area, Atelier Van Lieshout presents a giant vulture, Vulture. The vulture is not immediately the most noble bird of the animal kingdom, but it is a resourceful and tenacious figure. A true survivor, which Van Lieshout also says, with some irony, best describes the artist's character. This is the first time this functional sculpture will be on display in the Netherlands. Willem Besselink (NL=US Art) is fascinated by visible and invisible structures and patterns in the world around us. With his sculpture Doorzicht he presents one of the possible visualizations of the many structures present. Prospects presents the work of several artists, including Sanne van Balen and Cecilia Bjartmar Hylta. By Sanne van Balen there is Voice, a 3D rendition of a painted landscape to which she assigns linguistic meanings. Cecilia Bjartmar Hylta signed for the site-specific outdoor work Untitled (dust sculpture), constructed from the dust she collected in the Van Nelle Factory.