Jeroen Erosie For Art Island
Mini Galerie is excited to be taking part in the second edition of Art Island, an art fair held in an old bunker on Forteiland IJmuiden from May 26th-28th.
What once served as an important defence front for Amsterdam will be transformed into an exhibition space showing works from over 35 art galleries and non-profits, and their artists. Mini Galerie will be there, showing a new collection of work by Dutch artist Jeroen Erosie.
We caught up with Erosie to discuss the event and his work.
“It’s a bit of a weird space actually, it’s not the setting for a typical art fair”. We talk about how this fact alone probably makes it the most ideal setting for an art fair. After all, art is all about metaphors and juxtaposition, irony and oxymorons. The place is rife in symbolism, and thus the perfect setting for an art fair.
Erosie laughs, and then gets back to the practical aspects of the show. “Part of my work will be displayed in a hallway so it’ll be a challenge to condense it into the space… a bit like a puzzle. But I’m a big fan of the site’s architecture and its use of concrete, I’m looking forward to incorporating it into my work.”
“I think my acrylic paintings in particular really work with the space. My current method is to use a foam roller to apply a translucent layer of paint onto canvas – it’s a beautiful instrument which links back to my youth in graffiti, to painting walls.
The transfer of the roller texture onto the paint reminds me of the way wood was used in building post-war architecture, and how the same technique was probably used when making this bunker. Wooden structures are created to contain the concrete which is later poured in. When it dries and the wood is removed, the wood’s texture is imprinted onto the concrete. I want to mimic this transfer of texture in my own work, I find it both fascinating and beautiful.”
Erosie also plans on showing a triptych of line drawings, along with some collages. We talk about the difference in method, how they contrast and compliment one another. He calls them “the two different sides of adventure”.
“In my acrylic paintings, I’m following a process, and it’s the process (of using the roller foam for texture imprinting) that conceptualises the art in this case. When I’m drawing, it’s like a rhythm takes over – and things are left to chance. Of course, I use my sketchbook as a starting point, but I’m always open to surprises. I find that if you hold on too tight to an outcome, it’ll never happen. It’s the moment I let go, when I let the randomness take over, that’s when my work turns out the best.”
“My drawings are like animation frames – every frame reacts to what came before it. At the start, I don’t know where I’ll end up, because who’s to say what can happen along the way? I’m reacting to chance. I feed off the reactions that keep occuring along the way. The best way to describe this kind of work is simply to say that I work with “chance” as my theme.”
Anyone familiar with Erosie’s work will recognize how he darts between a whimsical randomness and pensive precision – experience his new pieces within the context of this unique UNESCO World Heritage location during the weekend-long event.
The hours are as follows:
Friday 26th May (invite only): 3pm-10pm
Saturday 27th May: 11am-10pm
Sunday 28th May: 11am-8pm
How to get there: A ferry goes every half hour from Sluisplein 80, IJmuiden (30 mins from Amsterdam). Tickets for the boat and entry to the island are 20 euros, available at art-island.nl.
Request the preview catalogue of Jeroen Erosie’s new body of works for Art Island at info@minigalerie.nl.
Text: Alicia Hanssen
Photography: Chloë Alyshea + Mokyokay
