February 25 – March 24, 1984
Artists Space
International Projects: Holland
Artists Space is pleased to announce the forthcoming exhibition of sculpture by the Dutch artists Irene Fortuyn and Robert O'Brien, whose work will be on view from February 25 to March 24, 1984.
This exhibition is the third of a series, International Projects, taking placer at Artists Space during 1983-84. The International Projects series, which has received funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, will present five separate installations. Already featured in the series are Canadian artist Andy Patton, selected by guest curator Tim Guest, and Belgian artist Didler Vermieren, selected by Belgian curator and critic, Jan Debbaut. In addition to Holland, countries to be represented in the series are Italy and Australia. A curator in each country has been invited to select an artist to travel to Artists Space to install an exhibition. Paul Groot, editor-in-chief of Amsterdam's Museum Journal and freelance critic and curator, selected Irene Fortuyn and Robert O'Brien, and has contributed an essay on the artists for the accompanying brochure.
Irene Fortuyn and Robert O'Brien are an artistic duo who have been working together since 1983 with the aim of challenging individual signature. Their project, Bon Voyage Voyeur (A view over the ocean) consists of two parts, the first of which was installed in the Galerie Van Kranendonk, The Hague, in January 1984. The second part consists of a sculptural installation to be constructed at Artists Space, containing such diverse materials as coal bricks, salt blocks, and balsa wood. The title of their sculptural pieces take their cue from popular culture, such as Dr. No and Diamonds are Forever, works which were included in past exhibitions. In the second part of Bon Voyage Voyeur (A view over the ocean), they describe their efforts as an attempt "to reassess sculpture in a world where materials and shapes aren't entities to themselves, but only exist in meanings." In addition to the installation at Artists Space, their book Some Thoughts About Sculpture will be available. They describe the books as being "about the position of sculpture now, about making it, the observer, the possibilities of showing it and it being seen, light on sculpture, and the disappearance of the visual."
Irene Fortuyn and Robert O'Brien both live in Amsterdam. In addition to their recent one-person at the Galerie Van Kranendonk, they have participated in many recent group exhibitions including "Groene Wouden" ("Green Forest") at the Kroller Muller Museum, Otterloo; "Sculpture 83" at the Rotterdam Kunstichting; "Trienal Plastic", Fellbach, Germany, and "Olivinia Comedia" at 'tVenster, Rotterdam.
The International Projects series was made possible by a grant from the Museum Program of the National Endowment for the Arts.
Artists Space's regular programming is made possible by grants from: the New York State Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts; the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation. Jerome Foundation, Lauder Foundation, Samuel Rubin Foundation; and our corporate sponsores: AT&T Long Lines, Chase Manhattan Bank, Citibank, Con Edison, EXXON, Lehman Brothers Kuhn Loeb, R.H. Macy and Company, Morgan Guaranty Trust Company, Philip Morris, and Warner Communications.