de Appel new site

On the occasion of the inauguration of the new exhibition venue ‘de Appel Boys’ School’ on the Eerste Jacob van Campenstraat 59 in Amsterdam, de Appel presents “For the blind man in the dark room looking for the black cat that isn’t there”.
This group exhibition celebrates the experience of curiosity and speculation as a form of knowledge. In that spirit, the contributing artists each pursue a better understanding of the world, but also insist that an artwork isn't an explanation and that art is not a code that has to be unlocked. In this exhibition, viewers stop being passive receivers of information and become active participants in a playful spirit of inquiry.
Curator Huberman speaking about this expo you tube link Just as when I was first residing in Amsterdam, attending exhibitions, I had the sense that everything was in code, and I was on the outside of some (obvious) pre-requisite knowledge needed to understand the work I was seeing. Thus I was excited about this intro for the show travelling to de Appel. Just as I was excited when reading Roberta Smith expressing I started to feel as if it were all part of a big-box chain featuring only one brand. Me too!! This NYtimes article was shared a great deal on the face book by many an artist.
I thought more about the show at De Appel in the next couple of days after I saw it. However immediately after viewing this show, it all felt a bit flat. I realized there was no painting. This premise- this not knowing- is essentially what many painters do- enter into completely unknown territory. I have a hard time believing in a lack of calculatedness whereas some of the artists in this particular show are concerned. Perhaps more of a painting envy?
btw- very much a PS1 vibe here at this former boys school. .

as a maker of rocks myself, my attention is of course peeked when other artists are making rock like objects. The thing that struck me the most with this Rachel Harrison installation was how now the fotos are orbiting around the sculptural object rather than sitting on it's surface. I realize in my mind, when I see Harrison's work, I always get a visual flash of an early work of her's.. acting as some kind of barometer of how I see all her (future) work. It was a structure of precariously leaning drywall, and an inserted video of termites or an ant-farm or something of that nature.

I liked Matt Mullican's room with lot's of stuff.
be nice to have a big (wall) space to drag out the archive and have a look at it.

The not knowing is easy, so sings stuart A. staples.