26. (reprise)
Johann Arens + Alex Reynolds
Syndicate at F451
Catskill, New York US
6 to 22 December
Images / Text
Fahrenheit 451 House
451 Main Street
Catskill, New York 12414
fahrenheit451house.com
Opening Friday 6 December, 4–7 PM
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Nine years following their dual exhibition ‘The Deceptive Eye’ at the Institute of Continuation, Stockholm, (reprise) brings together recent films from Johann Arens and Alex Reynolds to the F451 house to step into the potentials of filmic space – relationships, language, and narrative – beyond what’s possible in corporeality.
‘Moulding Exclusivities’ exists as part of Arens’ larger suite of sculptures and installations employing leftover materials from manufacturing corrective spinal prosthetics. Tying together classical sculpture and medicine, then merging virtual and physical spaces, Arens dissects the afterlife of artifacts, conceptualizing their eventual meaning when devoid of a ritualistic or scientific purpose.
Reynolds’ film ‘Esta puerta, esta ventana’ (This door, this window) sets up a collaborative act between choreographer Alma Söderberg and percussionist Nilo Gallego in a rehearsal room in Brussels. The two performers listen and respond to one another’s rhythms as they go – however, they never occupied the room simultaneously, only meeting within the filmic environment possible through Reynolds’ editing intervention.
Johann Arens (b. 1981, Aachen DE) is an artist living in London and Amsterdam whose work tests the impact of technology on human interactions, here specifically the use of haptic interfaces to navigate the relationship between physical and digital realms.
Recent exhibitions include Pump House Gallery in London, P/////AKT in Amsterdam, Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin, the 2018 Rotterdam Film Festival, and Chapter Arts in Cardiff. He also contributed to shows at Fondazione Fotografia Modena; Jerwood Space, London; and Paradise Row, London. Arens received his MFA in Fine Arts at Goldsmiths College in London, and was later awarded fellowships at the British School in Rome, Fondazione Antonio Ratti in Italy, Space London, and the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam. In 2016, he received the Neuer Aachener Kunstverein’s Young Art Prize.
Alex Reynolds (b 1978, Bilbao ES) is an artist and filmmaker living in Brussels and Berlin, who consistently tests the foundational structures of cinema. Joining portraiture and fiction, her films delicately walk the line between tenderness and violence to explore point of view, empathy, and rhythm.
Reynolds previously collaborated with Syndicate for projects in Antwerp, Brussels, Athens, Cologne, and Düsseldorf. Other past exhibitions include Hollybush Gardens (London UK), Centro Botín (Santander ES), CAC Vilnius (LT), Estrany-de la Mota (Barcelona ES), Galeria Marta Cervera (Madrid ES), Komplot (Brussels BE), and Bonniers Konsthall (Stockholm SE). She received a 2016 Fundacion Botín international visual arts prize and a 2014 fellowship at the Akademie Schloss Solitude (Stuttgart DE). Reynolds is a lecturer at Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten (KASK) in Ghent.
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Also opening 6 December
Alex Morrison
The Poisonous Charm of Vernacular
Levy Delval (Brussels) at F451