OPENING 23 FEBRUARY
5 – 7 PM
Annet Gelink Gallery is proud to announce Blind Man’s Bluff, a group exhibition on the theme of play. The exhibition features work by Ryan Gander, David Maljković, Antonis Pittas, Josse Pyl, Lara Schnitger, Sarah van Sonsbeeck, and, for the first time, Michelle Chang Qin.
When it comes to the relation between art and play, many conflicting opinions circulate. However, putting theoretical discussion aside, there are certainly similarities to be found. Both art and play involve creation and imagination, experimentation, participation, chance, or strategy. Both have a degree of unexpectedness, at times humour. Art and play also include speculation, being able to imagine what is not (yet) there, creating worlds. Blind Man’s Bluff shows works that touch on the theme in various ways: conscious or subconscious, politically charged, by chance or within a fixed set of game rules.
Blind Man’s Bluff is a way of playing tag, in which the challenger is blindfolded and thus must rely on alternative senses to find the other person. In the context of this exhibition, the game refers to the unseen and imaginary, introspection, the uncertainty of the future and the leap of faith, as well as the challenge of not knowing. From behind the blindfold, the challenger is forced to draw on their imagination, thus visualising a new version of the world around them.
