During the first weeks of November, m.simons has decided to adjust the programming slightly. In a series of three weekly presentations, the gallery will focus on one artwork each week, increasing the pace and narrowing the focus. This series, titled ENCOUNTERS, begins with a video piece by artist Gerald Van Der Kaap, Shanghai, 7 a.m.The presentation will be on view next week during regular opening hours, with the artist present on Thursday evening from 18:00 to 20:00.
“In 2013, I came across this scene in Shanghai around seven in the morning, looking for a coffee. It was December, in a small square at the start of the bustling Nanjing Lu, just before the shops opened. Someone put down a CD player with an amplifier, and a group started dancing. In 2017, I added new music to the video, by Âme, who also made the soundtrack for my film Beyond Index. When Michiel asked if I’d like to show a video in his gallery, I thought of this one almost immediately. Especially now.”
Amsterdam-based artist Gerald Van Der Kaap has participated in key moments of media art without ever lingering in any single medium. Since the early ‘80s, he has used photography to explore the entire media landscape in the digital age: (digital) photography, video, trash TV, a Dadaist CD-ROM, books, club nights, electronic music, internet, mobile phones, and an experimental feature film made in China, Beyond Index.
Kaap’s photographic and video works have been shown in numerous exhibitions, including solo shows at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Museum Folkwang Essen, Canon’s Artlab 2 Tokyo, Kunsthaus Graz, Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, Palau de la Virreina in Barcelona, Art Institute of Chicago, Museum Ludwig in Cologne, and the Guangdong Museum of Art.
