When we think of 'space', we quickly think of the literal meaning, an architectural space, made up of four walls with right angles, with a ceiling, a passage and possibly windows. However, 'space' can also have an abstract or figurative meaning.

For the exhibition SPACE, five contemporary Dutch visual artists who use photography or video as a medium have been invited. Each interpret the concept of space and spaciousness in their own way. They play with scale, perspective, optical illusion, light and shadow effects. Each time it is about the duality between two- and three-dimensionality, between suggestion and reality. The alienating effect that their work evokes puts our capacity for spatial insight to the test.

The exhibition is about the interaction between space and photography. The exhibitors are: Michiel Kluiters, Marleen Sleeuwits, Femke Dekkers, Willem van den Hoed, Menno de Nooijer.

During DDW 21.10.2023 - 29.10.2023 open daily.

Michael Kluiters (1971). Since his academy days, Michiel Kluiters has been building spaces on a scale. He was fascinated by how he could visually affect an existing space by making blow-ups of his constructions. First with large photo works and later with wall-filling photo installations. Over time, Kluiters developed this into architectural interventions, video installations and images in public space. In his recent work, the architectural scale models have been turned into roughly built spatial objects with passages. He adds drama through cinematic lighting, as if something has happened or is about to happen. Are we looking at the remnants of a utopian past or at places that represent a possible dystopian future?

Michiel Kluiters studied autonomous design at HKU in Utrecht and sculpture at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy and the Ateliers in Amsterdam.

Marleen Sleeuwits (1980) is particularly interested in the illusory character of depicted spaces. She twists the observable reality, plays with scale and creates optical illusions. She often highlights alienating elements of seemingly meaningless places. She adds extra layers or peels back space to discover what lies behind a wall or ceiling. In this way she reuses characteristics that a place has of its own. She also does this by photographing certain elements and then incorporating them into the space. Sleeuwits explores the boundaries between two- and three-dimensionality. Where a spatial installation acquires a certain flatness, the flat surface of the photo takes on more and more shape. It's all about the translation from space to photo and vice versa.

Marleen Sleeuwits studied at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague and obtained her master's degree at AKV|St Joost in Breda.

In her work, Femke Dekkers (1980) seeks out the tension between static architecture and the illusion of the picturesque perspective. She determines a perspective with the camera and then uses the three-dimensional environment, framed by the lens, as a canvas: an empty plane within which new spatial arrangements can arise. Sometimes the physical space dissolves into lines, planes and patterns, sometimes the space can be seen casually as a workspace with a roll of tape or grit of pastel chalk on the floor. Such witnesses to the creative process also introduce a passage of time; the photo becomes a reflection of the actions in the space. In fact, that space is a stage, a stage, where new images can constantly arise (and where failure actually does not exist).

Femke Dekkers studied at AKV| St. Joost in Den Bosch.

Willem van den Hoed (1965) bases his works on existing spaces. During a few days on location, many hundreds of telephoto zoom details are collected and the works are later built up with these fragments of light and time in the studio. This results in razor-sharp images with an eye for the smallest detail. Man is absent in his work, but details betray human presence. In his most recent work, Van den Hoed creates new spatial illusions based on existing photographic material. Memories of cities are processed by him in almost cubist snow landscapes. The contours of the city are still present, but at the same time they become surrealistic empty outdoor spaces, in which any form of human activity is absent.

Willem van den Hoed studied architecture at Delft University of Technology. In 1998 he started his own architectural firm, but in 2003 he exchanged the applied professional practice of the architect for the autonomy of being an artist.

Menno de Nooijer (1967) made the stop-motion film Ruimte / Space (2 minutes) in 1989 during his academy days in Tilburg. He consciously chose to make animated films, in order to be able to manipulate the entire image. The urge to isolate oneself from the outside world and to have everything under control must be alternated with contact with others, preferably with inspiring like-minded people. In search of the magic of the medium with the aim of astonishing himself, but above all others.

Menno de Nooijer studied at the Academy of Visual Arts in Tilburg, followed by the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills in the US. From an early age Menno played in the films of his father Paul de Nooijer (1943). Since 1989 Paul and Menno come up with the creations together. They are multimedia artists who use photography, film, installation, performance and music. They often play the leading role in their slightly absurdist work.