PRESS RELEASE
Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art Tue Greenfort EXHIBITION 24 Jun – 6 Aug 2006 Witte de With, Center for Contemporary Art, presents the first major solo exhibition of Berlin-based artist Tue Greenfort. Adopting a cross-disciplinary (at times quasi-scientific) approach, Greenfort works with diverse materials to explore ideas about the environment and recycling. He situates his practice on the blurry boundary between ‘nature’ and ‘culture’ and investigates the ways in which the natural world manifests itself in today’s highly urbanized cities. With gentle humor, Greenfort uses seemingly simple objects and interventions to reveal the many structures shaping our environment. On several occasions, he has included animals in his work – a pathway for ants leading to a specially-prepared meal (Social Organism, 2001), or a camera triggered by sausages left for foxes (Daimlerstr. 38, 2001) – displaying their ability to act as a metaphor for human society. Recent projects have explored the way that supposedly public natural resources are commodified and sold. One such example is his Chaudfontaine Condensation Cube (2006), after a work by Hans Haacke, in which Greenfort employs bottled water sold by the Coca Cola company in place of the more neutral tap water used in Haacke’s original. This work reveals the way in which he combines ecological concerns with notions of conceptual art history. In his focus on the flow of materials in the world, and his insistence on working on a small scale while keeping sight of the larger repercussions of our actions, Greenfort’s practice could be seen within the tradition of artists such as Chicago-based Dan Peterman or his English contemporary Simon Starling. Prior to the opening of his exhibition, Greenfort is spending a month in Rotterdam to create new works inspired by the city and its ecosystems. His research includes a hunt for foreign plants in the industrial harbor under the guidance of the city’s Natural History Museum, discussions with ENECO about switching Witte de With to ‘green’ energy and talks with Roteb about recycling in Rotterdam. The exhibition is curated by Florian Waldvogel and Zoë Gray and will occupy the entire second floor of Witte de With. It is accompanied by the book Tue Greenfort co-published by WdW Publishers and Lukas & Sternberg. Greenfort (b. 1973, Holbäk, Denmark) lives and works in Berlin. Recent solo exhibitions include Kunstverein Arnsberg, Palais für Aktuelle Kunst in Glückstadt and Johann König gallery in Berlin (all 2005). This year his work is presented in the group show Don Quijote at Witte de With, in Apocalypse Focus Group at ALP galleri Peter Bergman (Stockholm), in 4 at Anna Helwing Gallery (L.A.) and in the forthcoming Momentum, Nordic Festival of contemporary art (Norway). He recently completed an ISP residency in Oslo and will soon carry out a commission with London’s RSA Art & Ecology program. Friday 23 June 2006 3 p.m. Press preview of exhibition. 5 p.m. Panel discussion: crossovers between art and ecology, with Tue Greenfort, Raimar Stange (art critic, Berlin) and Remko Andeweg (City Ecology Bureau, Rotterdam). Chaired by Florian Waldvogel (curator of the exhibition). English spoken. Free entry. 6 p.m. Opening of the exhibition to the public. Reception with drinks, all welcome. 7 p.m. Introductory speech by Nicolaus Schafhausen (director). Press information For more information and images, please consult the website www.wdw.nl, or contact press@wdw.nl Telephone +31 (0)10411011 Fax +31 (0)10 4117924