The Magician
Groupshow curated by Oscar Peters, 37PK HaarlemON SHOW (until 21 Dec)
Participants Maaike Kramer, Chris Wienk, Wayne Horse, Marlies van der Straeten, Elle van Baaren, Krystel Geerts and Oscar Peters
Oscar Peters is, at the invitation of Horizonverticaal and 37PK, artist-in-residence for two and a half months at DOC4 in Haarlem. At the end of this period, he presents the work he created there across two locations. In collaboration with Horizonverticaal and 37PK, Peters presents the group exhibition The Magician at 37PK: a show featuring diverse works by six artists who inspire him. In addition, as part of The Magician, Peters is creating a site-specific installation, Rabbit in the hat, for the exhibition space at Horizonverticaal.
The Magician and Rabbit in the hat teeter on the edge between a flimsy, transparent magic trick and a demonic ritual. The artists move somewhere between those two poles: total disillusion and disenchantment; total enchantment.
The magician creates something out of nothing. Sudden, fierce, shocking creation that often disappears just as quickly as it appeared. The magician promises castles in the air, illusions, and a brief glimpse behind the veil into another world. A mystic and mysterious figure, often solitary and lingering at the fringes of society, searching for the philosopher’s stone. From lead to gold, or from dark forces to cheap sleight-of-hand, magicians have captured the imagination for centuries. The artist’s position is not all that different. The illusion is there, the transformation, the other world, the mystical, every element is present, but arranged in another configuration.
The Magician and Rabbit in the hat teeter on the edge between a flimsy, transparent magic trick and a demonic ritual. The artists move somewhere between those two poles: total disillusion and disenchantment; total enchantment.
The magician creates something out of nothing. Sudden, fierce, shocking creation that often disappears just as quickly as it appeared. The magician promises castles in the air, illusions, and a brief glimpse behind the veil into another world. A mystic and mysterious figure, often solitary and lingering at the fringes of society, searching for the philosopher’s stone. From lead to gold, or from dark forces to cheap sleight-of-hand, magicians have captured the imagination for centuries. The artist’s position is not all that different. The illusion is there, the transformation, the other world, the mystical, every element is present, but arranged in another configuration.