PAYSAGE EXOTIQUE
June 26–July 31, 2016
Opening Sunday June 26, 6:00–8:00 PM
Vanessa Disler
Jacob Dwyer
Emily Hill
Mike Pratt
The air was thick, things moved slow not quick
Sucked up syllables
Soaked in syntax
Sentences became like boneless structures, slipped out of mouth like marbles *
The constant clicking of cabin luggage rolling against tiled floors. Neuhaus Chocolates, Leonidas, Godiva—where is the Pierre Marcolini? Air conditioning half on, “Euro style.” Will all the doors on Fifth Avenue be wide open, pumping subzero air into the street? Men in hard hats, disappearing behind boarded-up walls. Shelves upon shelves of Cognac, whiskies and French wines (Bordeaux, Sancerres, Champagnes). In the refrigerated section: foie gras, pâté, terrine, as well as hard and soft Belgian and French cheeses (Le Rustique, Château d'Arville, Beauvoorde) sweating and emitting pungent aromas that simultaneously seduce and repel; projecting you into nightmarish visions of picking up your baggage, beginning the hour-long cab ride into Manhattan, and finally arriving at your host’s apartment emitting that glorious ripe scent.
Raw dairy... fat, that extra 5 pounds that came out of nowhere after a romantic holiday gone wrong.
Zaventem airport. Starbucks. An Air Ethiopia 747 lounges on the tarmac like a lazy white goose. Cube vans rush past the glass floor-to-ceiling wall. Construction bins line the entrance way. The faux Seattle-style coffee shop lounge, identical in decor to all the thousands like it around the world, is full except for a few single chairs awkwardly placed between tightly seated groups. An “international” traveler safe zone, for young American tourists during their first trip to Europe, international government types and their interns, diplomats, guttural Flemish, and young and fit English bankers. BREXIT. Half a dozen euro business men sit chatting. All are clad in European casual wear (v-neck sweaters in navy or charcoal with textured or patterned linen scarfs, that by North America standards would be considered “classy” or “very European.” Only when I was in my mid-teens, did I realize that a large portion of North American males consider wearing scarfs effeminate. I am not sure how this association is formed, as scarfs are a key part of most European closets—everyone from toddlers to the elderly wear them year round. Taking baths and eating chocolate (all which my Swiss expatriate father loved) are seen in a similar way by many North American men. Maybe this has to do with North American notions of masculinity being formed in opposition to old world customs.
The men wear horn-rimmed glasses and talk of trading rates and discounts on units sold. Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds are all mentioned—inconclusive snippets of information. The sour smell of perspiration sneaks out of hand-washed silk. The terror rating is on level 3. Attack probable and likely. Rumor has it that a van exploded two days ago on Avenue du Roi just blocks from my apartment. When I asked the police what was going on as they taped off the roads, they replied that someone had just been taken to the hospital. Who? Shepherds swept the street but no military police. A murder on one of the more posh avenues of Forest wouldn't be out of the question. Everything in the city is tinged with a layer of soot, backroom dealings, politics, money, and dysfunction. Getting off the tram at Gare du Midi, all the refuse bins have been broken and duct-taped back together. Humidity levels are creeping... The average beer consumption has tripled in the past three days. Lavender grey smog hangs in the sky.
* Quotation: Jacob Dwyer, Donovan Garcia (2016)
Vanessa Disler (b. 1987, Vancouver, Canada) is currently based in Brussels, where she is completing a residency at Wiels Centre for Contemporary Art. Recent exhibitions include: JTT, New York (currently on view, as Feminist Land Art Retreat); Evelyn Yard, London; Kunsthaus Bregenz, Bregenz; The Willows, Brooklyn; Künstlerhaus Bremen, Bremen; Studio for Propositional Cinema, Dusseldorf; Galerie Juliette Jongma, Amsterdam. From 2013–2015 she was a resident at De Ateliers, Amsterdam.
Jacob Dwyer (b. 1988, London, UK) lives and works in Amsterdam after completing a two-year residency at De Ateliers, Amsterdam. Screenings and exhibitions include: Herrmann Germann Contemporary, Zurich; Kino der Kunst, Munich; Juliette Jongma Gallery, Amsterdam; and the British Film Institute, London. Dwyer recently completed a three-month residency with Deltaworkers, a nomadic artistic production and residence program based in New Orleans, where he shot Donovan Garcia. This residency was supported by the Mondriaan Fund.
Emily Hill (b.1987, Vancouver, Canada) Lives and works in Montreal. She studied textiles at Capilano University and holds a BFA from Emily Carr University of Art and Design. Recent solo exhibitions include: Campbell River Public Art Gallery, Campbell River (upcoming); and Macaulay & Co. Fine Art, Vancouver. Recent group exhibitions include: Model, Vancouver; Macaulay & Co. Fine Art, Vancouver; VSA Gallery, Vancouver; and Concourse Gallery, Vancouver.
Mike Pratt (b. 1987, Seaham, UK) currently lives and works in Amsterdam. He studied at Northumbria University and in 2014 he completed a two-year postgraduate program at De Ateliers, Amsterdam. Recent solo exhibitions include: Workplace Gallery, Newcastle and London; Galerie Juliette Jongma, Amsterdam; Extraspazio, Rome; Satellite, Newcastle; and B.M.W, Edinburgh. Recent group exhibitions include: Manifesta Foundation, Amsterdam; Juliette Jongma, Amsterdam; Torrance Art Museum, Los Angeles; and The Royal Standard, Liverpool.