Sebastiaan Bremer: Recording Studio A

Fort Worth Contemporary Arts

March 18 – May 7, 2016

Throughout his career, Brooklyn-based Dutch artist Sebastiaan Bremer has used pre-existing images to explore ideas about time, memory and identity. Drawing meticulously on photographs with paint and ink, he reconsiders meaning and materiality in visual documents where the past and present collide. As an extension of his book TO JOY (2015), Bremer’s exhibition Recording Studio A presented a kaleidoscopic, three-dimensional view of his practice that brought together photography, painting, light projections, sculpture, found objects and live recordings in a collaborative performance space.

Part retrospective, part durational project, the exhibition presented works from the last 15 years of the artist’s career in a flexible, working studio space that echoed the architectural features of the Grote Zaal (Grand Hall) of De Doelen, a concert the hall in Rotterdam in The Netherlands. Designed by Bremer’s architect grandfather Herman Kraaijvanger in the 1960s, the Grote Zaal is well known for its clear and transparent acoustic qualities as well as being a creative hub at the heart of a vibrant city.

Alongside photographic works Bremer included a selection of books, personal photographs and other aides-de-memoire that inspired the making of his work. He also worked in the gallery during a residency period (April 25-30) revealing his studio practice and giving gallery visitors an opportunity to meet one-on-one and ask questions.

For Bremer, the trip is always the destination. Recording Studio A changed shape over time as he created new works, met new people in the gallery and explored collaborations with musicians, composers and designers who contributed to the exhibition including Jesse Chandler, Josephine Wiggs, Oliver Ray, Diederik Idenburg and Christiaan Kuypers.

Installation images by Devon Nowlin & Robert LaPrelle