The Atomic Number

However, in the current day and age where recognizability and intelligibility have become important values within the cultural spectrum, there are still many, or more and more, artists engaged in the production of abstract contemporary mural art. What is striking here is that, even within outdoor mural art, a (young) generation of street artists focuses on abstract representation. What motivates them to choose abstract imagery? What are their sources of inspiration? And what are their own (authentic) starting points?

This exhibition reflects on the origins of abstraction, what abstraction means to muralists today, and how these interpretations relate to each other. Different work and views of four (inter)national muralists will be brought together in one space.

The title ‘The Atomic Number‘ refers to the mother of all abstractions. Abstraction in computing is closely related to abstraction in mathematics through their common focus on building abstractions as objects, but is also related to other notions of abstraction used in other fields such as (wall) art.

Sergio Gómez / srger

Sergio Gómez / srger is a Spanish artist working in Seville and part of the movement of contemporary artists who are more interested in contradiction and in asking questions than giving answers. In his wall work, he combines recognizable elements with pure abstraction, revealing cynical dissident forms, reflected in his visual discourse based on failure/success/correctness, stemming from incompleteness. His work shows unconventional means that embrace imperfection and question everything that exists, as a sign of identity. In this way, Sergio presents imperfection as a necessary condition for existence.

Jelmer Noordeman

Through experimentation with different rhythms, a new coherence emerges in which movement and stillness systematically interweave. Information becomes fragmented and is then methodically reorganised into a unified whole. The sheer quantity of information clouds comprehension and seems to merge the entirety in a dissonant manner.

Our perception tends to lead us towards making classifications as a means of gaining a sense of control. In this work, you will find a rational composition, creating new compositions within. The focal point shifts between the properties of one or more bars with various contrasts, composition groups, and the whole.

How the work is composed:

– The space consists of 4 columns and 3 ereas.
– For the underlying grid, I initially divided the columns widthwise two times, creating three separate 'states' that repeat until the end of the painting. On this underlying grid, I distributed four different fields, each expressing itself in three different widths, which influences their presence.
– On top of that, there is a separate counting that blacks out every fifth bar, creating groups of four bars in between, each with its own order and composition. This principle has only been used on the front view of the wall and columns; therefore, the sides of the columns are white and grey.

Annamaria Pizak / Nnamari

Nnamari has drawn inspiration from scientific concepts many times.
There is an intriguing parallel between the ordered structure of elements in the periodic table and the expressive, sometimes unpredictable forms in abstract artworks. Just as elements have a specific number of protons that defines their identity, abstract art often explores new shapes and structures that challenge traditional artistic norms. The proton number, as a fundamental characteristic of elements, reflects the quest for essence, while abstract art represents a similar pursuit of essence in visual expression.

Annamaria Pizak / Nnamari is een Hongaarse kunstenaar die sinds 2010 in Rotterdam woont en werkt. Haar muurschilderingen worden gekenmerkt door rechte lijnen en geometrische vormen. Geïnspireerd door moderne en industriële architectuur, post-graffiti, pictogrammen, op-art, sci-fi, tribale symbolen en wetenschap, wordt Nnamari's werk monumentaal uitgevoerd binnen haar eigen strikte spelregels.

Andrey Berger

The whole universe consists of energy irregularly distributed in space. Each chemical element of this universe has a certain set of chemical properties, and only the atomic number of its particles determines the properties of the element. The work is about the weight of things, about the life of things and about what happens inside them and between them.

Andrey Berger is een van de meest actieve en innovatieve kunstenaars uit Rusland, momenteel gevestigd in Parijs. Hij werd in 1986 geboren in Siberië, Rusland. In 1999 ging hij aan de slag met straatkunst, geïnspireerd door de hiphopcultuur in het Rusland van de jaren 90. In 2002 ging Andrey naar de universiteit waar hij Architectural Environment Design studeerde. Andrey Berger is een vertegenwoordiger van de 'street wave' beweging. In zijn muurschilderingen experimenteert hij met verschillende expressieve vormen. Hij vindt zijn inspiratie in de stedelijke omgeving en binnen sociale, culturele, landschappelijke, politieke en logistieke systemen. Terwijl hij de interactie van deze elementen observeert, verbeeldt zijn werk de ontwikkeling van de stad en de kenmerken van de integratie van menselijke activiteit binnen deze stedelijke omgeving.

Tijdens de opening presenteerde Jelmer Noordeman in samenwerking met Acidic Male* de audiovisuele performance ‘Irregular Parting‘.

De afgelopen eeuw heeft abstractie een grote vlucht genomen. Moderne technologieën en nieuwe materialen hebben de mogelijkheden voor abstracte kunst vergroot. Dit heeft geleid tot een grotere variatie in de vormen en presentaties van abstracte kunst, waaronder audiovisuele performances. Het duo Acidic Male (Puck Schot en Jelmer Noordeman) begon hun samenwerking begin dit jaar op initiatief van Klankvorm en is al vertoond op Fiber festival en Conflux festival. Hun performance is een combinatie van ruwe geluidsstructuren, hypnotiserende beats en analoge videotechnologie. Door de combinatie van audio en visuele elementen kunnen drumcomputers en synthesizers een totaalervaring creëren voor zowel het gehoor en het gezichtsvermogen. Abstracte kunst kan zich vaak richten op het overbrengen van emotie, stemming en concepten die moeilijk in woorden uit te drukken zijn. Het samenspel van geluid en visuele beelden biedt een multidimensionale ervaring, waarbij de kijker/luisteraar zich volledig kan onderdompelen in de abstracte kunstvorm.

* Acidic Male (Puck Schot) was helaas ziek, Jelmer heeft de performance alleen kunnen volbrengen.

As Acidic Male (Puck Schot) and I began a collaboration last year initiated by 'klankvorm' we combined her delightful raw sound structures, hypnotic beats with my cascading abstract video passages.

Ever since I started experimenting with video, various elements have simultaneously found their way into my paintings. It's an endless source of inspiration where anything can happen. So it was great to have the opportunity to show this AV performance to the audience of the opening of this mural exhibition. Sadly Acidic male had to be missed as Covid got in the way, so to let this thing go trough, she nailed an audio recording shortly before the event, which I integrated live into the performance.