17 Jan 2015 | 3,678 views
ABOUT THE WORK OF KALEB DE GROOT
by Huib Haye van der Werf
Perhaps the best way in which to describe the work of Kaleb de Groot is the term psychogeography. As Guy Debord defined it in 1955 ‘the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organized or not, on the emotions and behavior of individuals. Not to propose that this term is an exact explanation of his artistic practice, but its definition provides all the language and circumstances to understand his art. In the case of De Groot, his vocation is indeed the study of environments but important in this is that he is often the inventor of these settings, either by building them himself (and/or in collaboration with others) or animating an existing situation. In doing so, his aim is to tap into the mental, often associative, potential of a location.
Patterns and forms carry a nostalgic air of their former purpose. Each material and element in his work holds its own specific memory and unique relationship to the context in which it has been. The language used in composing his work – and how it relates to its greater surroundings – is architectural, only reshuffled and reinterpreted. Plastic tarps from Chinese construction sites become inflatable architecture, the structure of his former house in IJmuiden becomes a protective capsule dragged behind his pick-up truck through his old neighborhood, explosives from land-mines become tools for cosmetic decoration, and even his own skin becomes a document on which each realized project is given its own unique form and place in permanent ink.
Read more about Kaleb de Groot’s work in this PDF.
CV (selection)
Kaleb de Groot
Grote bickersstraat 265
1013KP Amsterdam
0031-(0)-641546947
kaleb@xs4all.nl
www.kalebdegroot.nl
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2011 Counter Memory 003, 37PK, Haarlem, the Netherlands. (with Iben
Molenkamp)
2010 Revisit Exquisite, Service garage, Amsterdam.
2009 Southwest abstract company, 1646, The Hague.
2008 Zig Zag Proxy, Visual Arts Council, Lusaka, Zambia
2008 Exquisite Gunpowder City 16 Shot, CEAC, Xiamen, China (with Roosje Klap)
2007 Goedendag/One Hot Blue Ball, Galerie De Praktijk, Amsterdam & public space
in IJmuiden
2007 Kannibaal, Elitisme in de Kunst, P///AKT, Amsterdam (with Jonas Ohlsson)
2006 The Revirgin Hot Spots, Gallery De Praktijk, Amsterdam
GROUP EXHIBITIONS (selection)
2014 Voyage autour de ma chambre, Het bos, Antwerpen, Belgie.
2014 Souffler, VZL contemporary Art, Amsterdam.
2013 KAAP, Fort Ruigenhoek, Utrecht.
2013 On Fresh Soil, W139, Amsterdam.
2012 Present Forever, Fatform, Amsterdam.
2012 De Nederlandse identiteit?, Museum de Paviljoens, Almere.
2012 Gold, W139, Amsterdam
2012 The Island, Fatform, Amsterdam.
2011 Counter memory 007, Maximum City, 14thJakarta bienal, Jakarta, Indonesia.
2011 Informality, SMBA, Amsterdam.
2010 Fatform, Amsterdam.
2009 Eat the Frame, Nouvelles Images, The Hague. the Netherlands.
2008 ‘Wens om Indiaan te worden; verlangen naar transformatie’, Kunstfort bij
Vijfhuizen, the Netherlands
2007 Flatstation, interventions in public space of the Bijlmer, the Netherlands
2005 Flatface/ Event Horizon), icw Dieuwke Spaans, Anne de Vries and Chris Baaten, P/////AKT, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
2001 Locus Focus/ Sonsbeek, Arnhem, the Netherlands.
For the rest of his CV download this PDF.
