FOMU EN

Grace Ndiritu Reimagines the FOMU Collection

Expo
17.02.2023 - 07.01.2024
On show
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Grace Ndiritu Reimagines the FOMU Collection, FOMU Antwerpen, 2023 © We Document Art / FOMU Antwerpen
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Grace Ndiritu, A Quest For Meaning: Painting as a Medium of Photography, 2014, Collectie FOMU / Collectie Vlaamse Gemeenschap BK/9433/15 © Grace Ndiritu 2023
20230227 FOMU Grace Ndiritu1383 web
Grace Ndiritu Reimagines the FOMU Collection, FOMU Antwerpen, 2023 © We Document Art / FOMU Antwerpen
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Grace Ndiritu, A Quest For Meaning: Painting as a Medium of Photography, 2014, Collectie FOMU / Collectie Vlaamse Gemeenschap BK/9433/15 © Grace Ndiritu 2023
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Grace Ndiritu, A Quest For Meaning: Painting as a Medium of Photography, 2014, Collectie FOMU / Collectie Vlaamse Gemeenschap BK/9433/15 © Grace Ndiritu 2023
Wolfgang Tillmans
Wolfgang Tillmans, Faltenwurf 2019/1984, 2020, Collectie FOMU 2022/20. © Wolfgang Tillmans, courtesy Maureen Paley, Londen
Samuel Bourne
Samuel Bourne, Summeree Temple at Ramnaggur, from the Tank, ca. 1865, Collectie FOMU P/1981/327/1
Nadine Tasseel
Nadine Tasseel, Zonder titel, 2002, Collectie FOMU P/2008/4/7 © Nadine Tasseel 2023
Gregory Halpern
Gregory Halpern, Zonder titel, 2008-15, uit de reeks ‘ZZYZX’, Collectie FOMU 2017/44/2 © Gregory Halpern 2023
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Grace Ndiritu Reimagines the FOMU Collection, FOMU Antwerpen, 2023 © We Document Art / FOMU Antwerpen
Dries Segers
Dries Segers, Zonder titel, uit de reeks ‘Seeing a rainbow (through a window that isn't there)’, 2015, Collectie FOMU 2022/10 © Dries Segers 2023
Alexandre
Alexandre (Albert Edouard Drains), Iguanodon de Bernissart (opgegraven in 1878), ca. 1883, Collectie FOMU P/1984/209
Albert Malevez
Albert Malevez, Tafel met bord voetselder, 1933, Collectie FOMU
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Grace Ndiritu Reimagines the FOMU Collection, FOMU Antwerpen, 2023 © We Document Art / FOMU Antwerpen

For Grace Ndiritu Reimagines the FOMU Collection, British-Kenyan artist Grace Ndiritu constructs an original photographic universe of paintings, textiles and interior design inspired by female artists O’Keeffe, Modotti and Albers. It represents a radical and holistic reinterpretation of the classic collection exhibition.

Ndiritu’s art practice explores our rapidly changing world. She sees shamanism as a means to reactivate ‘the dying art museum’. With this new exhibition, Grace Ndiritu has created a refuge, a space for slowing down and reflection. She invites you to see with an open mind, make intuitive connections and abandon rational thought processes. Ndiritu is interested in architecture as a type of 'spiritual technology' and has designed a wooden scenography inspired by mid-century Californian homes and modernist museum interiors and world’s fairs.

Ndiritu’s photographic installation A Quest for Meaning: Painting as a Medium of Photography (2014) formed the springboard for her exploration of the FOMU Collection and the ensuing exhibition. Ndiritu uses free association to combine photographs and coloured walls. Her surprising amalgams give fresh meaning to works by, among others, Alexandre, Bianca Baldi, Samuel Bourne, Dirk Braeckman, Alvin Langdon Coburn, Lynne Cohen, Gilbert Fastenaekens, Gertrude Fehr, Geert Goiris, Willy Kessels, Rinko Kawauchi, Man Ray, Auguste Salzmann, Filip Tas, Nadine Tasseel and Wolfgang Tillmans.

A highlight of the FOMU Collection, the Kaiserpanorama will also be on display after undergoing a complete restoration and has been integrated into the design of Ndiritu's show. The device was a modern piece of automated machinery when it was made in 1905 and presented a 3D photographic spectacle to the public. Twenty-five people at a time can sit on stools circling the viewing cabinet and enjoy the magic of three-dimensional images.  

From 1 April to 10 September 2023 S.M.A.K. (Gent) will present Healing The Museum, a mid career-survey looking at Grace Ndiritu’s diverse practice.

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