'Common Ground' Opening
Van Nelleweg 1, 3044BC Rotterdam
From metropole to fantasy island, from the beauty of nature to utopia. Common Ground is about places where people meet each other on a physical, intellectual and spiritual level. This multidisciplinary exhibition contains artworks from young talent and internationally renowned artists. The exhibition was opened by the Dutch Minister of Education, Culture and Science, Ingrid van Engelshoven. The opening was hosted by the CEO of AkzoNobel and the then new chairman of the AkzoNobel Art Foundation, Thierry Vanlancker and Director of the AkzoNobel Art Foundation, Hester Alberdingk Thijm.
Common Ground was about where we meet and how these places are represented, analyzed and interpreted in art. The exhibition focused on both physical and immaterial meeting places. In step with increasing urbanization, the cityscape plays an important part in our communal lives. Juxtaposed to the man-made environment, nature is represented as the place we originate from and still relate to in different ways. On an intellectual and spiritual level our domain of interaction encompasses ideas, ideals and identity.
Moreover, art itself acts as common ground. The AkzoNobel Art Space connects the company’s creative and corporate reality to society at large, while providing windows onto the world we shape and share together. The exhibition design by Tom Postma, known for his exhibition concepts for Art Basel and TEFAF, facilitates interaction between the art inside and the world outside, and encourages visitors and employees to mingle.
Special commissions:
For this exhibition exclusively, Gijs Frieling painted the mural Common Background that expresses modern humanity’s desire to reconnect with nature. Frank Havermans created a site-specific installation as a proposal for urban change in a world where everything is about efficiency, speed and standardization. “The main message I want to convey with my work is the importance of observing magnificence in our surroundings”, says Elspeth Diederix, who photographed flowers in the garden behind her studio and in an Amsterdam park – oases amidst the urban hustle and bustle.
Common Ground contained work from over forty international artists, such as Jennifer Tee, Charles Avery, Otobong Nkanga, Sam Salehi Samiee, Maria Roosen, Hester Oerlemans, Guido van der Werve, Isaac Julien, Michael Wolf, Damien Hirst and Xiaoxiao Xu.
