Catalogue Prosecute my Posture

Citizens in Western societies have many opportunities and possibilities, but are feeling more and more insecure. We are feeling increasingly insecure about our looks, our skills and talents, and we are afraid of being left out. There is less job security and more uncertainty about our future prospects. This uncertainty comes with ever increasing feelings of loneliness, fear, stress and meaninglessness.

These feelings of insecurity as described above are related to two important themes: identity and the vulnerable body. These two themes are part of today’s most important socio-political developments. Identity is not only about who we want to be and who we can be, but it is also about traditional notions of culture and history. And the increasingly important topic of the vulnerable body forces us to think about medical-ethical dilemmas such as the integrity of the human body and psychosomatic diseases. Identity and the condition of the human body are two of the main causes of our growing insecurity. These are two themes that may well prove to become the fatal weaknesses in our societies or perhaps they already are?

An important starting point for all artists taking part in Prosecute my Posture is the power of image and language. Something else that they all have in common is movement or performance. The artists are all using it as a way to express identity, vulnerability and dignity of the body in both an impactful as well as a mysterious way. Even though their work touches on societal and occasionally even political themes, not one of the artists opts for a downright political or loud visual language. On the contrary, these visual artists are making use of delicate material such as paper, glass and silk. The themes are expressed in a subtle way and the works of art have a highly poetic nature. It is as if the artists are constantly challenging the audience to touch their works of art.

This exhibition consists mainly of installations and spatial art. In addition, there is a performance programme. Despite the fact that the performances vary greatly between the artists, there are similarities too. All four of them seem to attach more value to the gesture, coincidence and chances, rather than to a detailed choreography. With this, the artists seem to refer to performances artists such as Yvonne Rainer and Carolee Schneemann.

As part of this performance programme, Metallica by Jimmy Robert will be performed on Saturday 6 October 2018 within the context of the exhibition Pure Rubens held in Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam.