Studio Visit Koen Taselaar

In preparation for Koen Taselaar’s first exhibition at Mini Galerie titled Tofu Feelings, we made the trip to Rotterdam to visit the artist in his studio at Het Wilde Weten, an artists’ run initiative where he is creating his works for almost five years now. The building, a former Franciscan nunnery known as the Sint Mariaklooster, has been converted into multiple studios while also serving as a public platform for all forms of contemporary art, cultural discussion and debate.

At Mini Galerie Koen Taselaar will present a new collection of Imaginary Band drawings, that he created during his stay in Korea last summer and after. These ‘band’ drawings derive from his long fascination with band names, like The Talking Heads or Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers, to name a few. So eventually Koen started his own series of hand-drawn bandposters featuring made-up groups, in his own way creating songs purely through images and words. His new Imaginary Band drawings draw heavily on his experience of daily life in Korea, with band names such as Tofu Feelings, Bibimbop and the Kimchi Karaoke Hotsauce and The Polychromatic Ricecake Gang. Koen will return to Asia in the beginning of April for a four-month residency supported by the Mondrian Fund at the Modern and Contemporary Museum in Seoul.

Inspired by punk and Do It Yourself (DIY) culture, Koen has produced several self-published zines, such as Big Words Empty Chords, Words on Paper Words in Books and The Existing Book of Non-Existing Bands. His most recent publication Dyslectic Melody features his latest series of Imaginary Band drawings, and was risoprinted in an edition of 300 by Corners, a design studio and risograph printer in Seoul.

Especially for his solo exhibition Tofu Feelings Koen printed several designs using his own risoprinter. The designs will be assembled into a wallpaper decorating the gallery walls, turning the space into a ‘unique universe in which only he determines the rules’ for the duration of the exhibition.

Koen Taselaar’s exhibition Tofu Feelings opens on Friday the 9th of March, 18.00-21.00. The artist himself will be present. Please request the preview catalogue by contacting info@minigalerie.nl. For more information about the exhibition, go here.

Photography by Laila Cohen