SATANSBRATEN

Sebastiaan Schlicher (1975) lived and worked in Berlin from 2006 to 2013. Last year, he conceived the idea for an exhibition bringing together artists he met during his Berlin years, alongside more recent Berlin connections and Dutch artists who share a similar mentality and thematic approach. The title refers to Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s 1976 film Satansbraten, while also carrying the meaning of “rascal” or enfant terrible, a badge of honour for the artist who navigates and survives in the Grossstadt. Schlicher himself wrote the following tongue-in-cheek statement for the exhibition: “Satansbraten (after the film by R.W. Fassbinder) refers to the Gesunde(s) Volksempfinden surrounding art and artists, and anticipates the growing awareness that visual art which has nothing constructive to communicate might as well be abolished.” Many of the Berlin-based artists bring together a raw edge with a sense of humour. Jan Brokof (1977), represented by Galerie Maurits van de Laar since 2008, gives the subject of cannibalism a contemporary political dimension. In exuberant fluorescent colours, Philip Grözinger (1972) creates paintings and ceramic works that evoke an apparently cheerful yet grotesque world in which social issues subtly emerge. His ceramic hot dog — both playful and slightly claustrophobic — stands for an endless appetite for more. Emily Hunt (1981), an Australian artist living and working in Berlin, creates baroque ceramic sculptures connected to themes of esotericism and magic. Among the works presented is a ceramic psychiatrist and patient seated on a dollhouse chair and sofa she found at a Berlin Flohmarkt. At the centre of the gallery stands a large cage by Paul Geelen (1983), containing two inflatable snails mating as a living nucleus within the exhibition. Several artists in the exhibition work collaboratively. Corinne von Lebusa (1978) and Moritz Schleime (1978) create joint drawings of elegant young women placed within rough surroundings. Michiel ten Bokum (1973) and Marjolijn de Wit (1979) combine text and image in their paintings, while Jonas Ohlsson (1967) collaborates on drawings with Oma Fanny Okwuchi, a refugee resident from Amsterdam’s Bijlmer district. Sebastiaan Schlicher presents densely worked drawings alongside three new noise machines. Catherine Lorent (1977), known for drawings of baroque cartouches, will give a performance with electric guitar during the opening. Participating in Satansbraten are: Michiel ten Bokum, Lutz Braun, Fritz Bornstück, Jan Brokof, Delphine Courtillot, Joost Elschot, Lotti van der Gaag, Paul Geelen, Diederik Gerlach, Andrew Gilbert, Philip Grözinger, Nathan Henderson, Nour-Eddine Jarram, Hans Hoekstra, Emily Hunt, Susanna Inglada, Corinne von Lebusa, Catherine Lorent, Bert Mebius, Jonas Olsson, Oma Fanny Okwuchi, Henny Overbeek, Chloe Piene, Ewoud van Rijn, Marjolein Rothman, Moritz Schleime, Sebastiaan Schlicher, Kristina Schuldt, Witte Wartena. Majolijn de Wit, Pio Sebastian Ziltz