Platforms Project NET 2021 teaser

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On the 27th of May Platforms Project in Athens starts a 2021 edition of an on-line art-fair for independent artist initiatives. More than ninety participants shall contribute. On the 5th of April these initiatives start an online teaser on the Platforms Project-site in which they present themselves. Platforms Project invited EX-MÊKH so we decided to show our individual studio work by making a video about what our practice looks like. My contribution is Berliner Porträte, seven studies of portraits of people that have caught my eye. From the initial sketches in my little notebook to the sketches in oil-paint on stone-paper one can see how these portraits develop.

Geen bloem zonder wortel

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Tijdens Hoogtij op 25 september 2020 en het weekeinde daarna organiseert Quartair Contemporary Art Initiatives een Artist Support Fair. Hierin zijn twee kleine doekjes van mij te koop voor € 150,- per stuk.

Circe – 2020 (olieverf en houtskool op doek – 15×20 cm)
Arethusa – 2019 (olieverf en houtskool op doek – 27×31 cm)

We welcome you among the many creatives participating in the support fair ‘Geen bloem zonder wortel’ (‘No flower without root’) this weekend, from Friday, September 25th – Hoogtij #62 – to Sunday 27th. We will operate with a limited indoor capacity, following the Public Health guidelines for a safe event.

To give everyone a chance to visit the show, please consider visiting in the weekend too, as Friday will be busy due to Hoogtij#62.

In this support fair, Quartair offers a stage for artists to be represented, to show and sell their works. The revenue of the sales goes 100% to each creator. The show includes over 160 artworks, live music and a human-size walking carrot – the symbol of the roots of any culture.

Quartair
Toussaintkade 55, Den Haag

opening Friday 25th September 2020
From 6 pm to midnight
exhibition continues on Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th
from 1 pm to 6 pm

Quartair Contemporary Art Initiatives

FeMaler

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A-Trans in Berlin asked Ellen Rodenberg to make an installation in their Schaufenster exhibitions in Subwaystation Kleistpark. This season the theme of all A-Trans exhibitions is “A Femme City” dealing with the female gaze on urban developments. Ellen complied and decided to ask her male-EX-MÊKH companions Maarten Schepers and Kees Koomen to design a pendant of her installation focussing on the element of gender in EX-MÊKH.

The exhibition FeMaler will be visible from September 11 until Oktober 18 at Vitrine U – Kleistpark (U7) in 10783 Berlin.
The opening will take place with two performances on friday September 11 at 19.00 h.

“…When do we talk of a female gaze and of a female approach? What does it look like? I decided to engage the men of the EX-MÊKH-collective in this project in order to be able to hold the development of my work against the light of a male/female concept. Two shop windows next to each other, organized with work based on the male/female concept. I had discussions with Maarten Schepers and Kees Koomen about the difference in strategies, upbringing, social behavior and networking. When do we talk about expressing oneself with personal character and where do we observe the influence of gender?…”

(Ellen Rodenberg, 2020)

A-Trans

Dreamideamachine

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The Greek Site Dreamideamachine asked international participants of Platforms Project NET 2020 some questions about the fair. I was brought in contact with Efi Michalarou to answer the questions on behalf of EX-MÊKH. The interview was published on the site yesterday:

on top: Kees Koomen

How do you feel participating in an online Art Fair like Platforms Project 2020? A new experience that emerged through the needs of Covid 19 World Pandemic fighting. What are the new challenges and what do you expect from this participation?

Kees Koomen (EX-MÊKH): The online Art Fair came about because of the crisis and had to be put together in a short period of time. EX-MÊKH had planned a project with participation of the public, but now that there is no public to participate with directly we changed our plan. Within a week we decided to comment on the situation in a video, making use of our practice in the Malieveld Project in Den Haag. We planned an exhibition in a public space, the Malieveld in Den Haag, with performances and installations. About it we would make a video and send that to Artemis as our tribute to the fair. The result is a Buster Keaton – like video in which artists try to set up an exhibition which seems to fail, but somehow it shows the experience of trial and error artists and curators know from their practice.
We found the challenge in the required improvisation and in the idea of showing a direct reaction on the situation of artists in the world right now in the medium that somehow solves a lot of problems these days . Working with online exhibitions is new to us and we are looking forward to the moment the fair is online.
We expect the fair to have a lot of attention, as always, and we also expect more visibility than in the normal fair. All participants will activate their network so attention will be global. I am curieus about the views on the fair in general and on our booth in particular. Personally I am also participating in three other online artprojects and I expect the artworld to move increasingly in this direction as other elements in society will do. The chance to be part of a big on-line project like this is of course great. I hope there will be a lot of reactions from the public in general. We already benefited from our participation at Platforms project by doïng projects with other platforms and maybe we can make new acquaintances to work with and arouse interest with curators and galleries

FAQ NET Part V

Platforms Project NET

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In the mean time we are in the middle of the Corona-crisis and most cultural activities have been cancelled. For me personally it was a great disappointment Platforms Project 2020 is not happening in Athens this year but the director, Artemis Potamianou, and the board decided to organize it all on the internet. EX-MÊKH was going to do a participation project but now that our booth is goïng to be shown in digital 3D simulation we decided to make a video about trial and error. We went to the Malieveld and shot a video with performances. More news soon, but for now some material to chew on:

The boogieman
Existence 2020

Facial Reflections

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The Seafarer

Last week my solo-exhibition at Ruimtevaart finished during the beginning of the Corona crisis. You can see a post on the exhibition on my blog. I already had a lot of visitors but the exhibition can still be visited. You can send me a personal message or an e-mail: chmkoome@xs4all.nl
Update April 8 2020: In the mean time the exhibition has closed!

Hoogtij

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Today Hoogtij will take place in Den Haag. This is an evening tour along the independant exhibitionspaces and galleries in the city which happens every three months. A flyer with a map and exhibiting artists is issued each time. For the present edition (#60: an anniversary edition) and further publicity pictures are used of my performance Tsss- k-Boom that I did in Berlin in december last year together with percussionist Yorgos Dimitriades.
Hoogtij starts at Ruimtevaart today, the venue where my solo-exhibition Facial Reflections is still goïng on!

Hoogtij # 60

Hectobar 4.0

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During Art Rotterdam 2020 Hectobar 4.0 took place in TENT, Rotterdam. This is a swap or buy fair for artists and collectors. It works a bit like Fitax used to do. I showed sketches for three pre-Trump portraits that I made in 2016 in the USA, in the period Obama was still president and Trump tried to take his place. I had a fine score with the works of Annique Weve, Niels Post and Jeroen Jongeleen changing their works for mine!

Mijn bijdragen aan het gebeuren
Werk Niels Post
Werk Annique Weve
Het rechterwerk van Jeroen Jongeleen is aan de verzameling toegevoegd.

Hectobar 0.4