Job Koelewijn & Olafur Eliasson "Job Koelewijn & Olafur Eliasson"

‘When the work of two artists is presented within a single exhibition period, it usually results in comparisons. And indeed, there is a great deal in common between the work of Olafur Eliasson and Job Koelewijn. Yet the decision was made in consultation with the artists (who have been in regular contact during the past few months) to display their work in combination and not to divide it in two solo presentations on two floors. In this way the works creates a stronger evocation of experience, and the viewer is less likely to become preoccupied with the artist's particular identity. A leap on a trampoline into a dark hole full of earth, a walk that leads through a curtain of water, a blinding wall of light and across a gravel floor - these consecutive physical events signify more than their material appearance alone. Thus for Job Koelewijn, materials such as baby powder, bouillon extract or eucalyptus salve refer to the healing, energy-producing qualities that he associates with them. And the leap to the surface of earth could be called both a leap into a black hole and a resurrection. The natural materials used by Olafur Eliasson are not as symbolically charged. He shows water in its various natural states: as a whirlpool, in the form of ice, or as a curtain of water. Even when he works with electrical or stroboscopic light, he focuses mainly on the perception of phenomena, Îreuniting' their visual power with their physical origins. Both artists use the rooms as liquid spaces, not so much as containers for objects but as sites for experiences, with the works of art serving as aids for individual experience.’ (Invitation De Appel) Catalogues: Olafur Eliasson. My now is your surroundings, 2001. Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Leipzig, Kunstverein Wolfsburg e.V., De Appel, The Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Cologne. Editing Jan Winkelmann. Design Olafur Eliasson, Philip Arnold. 156 pp. 41 b.w. 27 f.c. 22 x 22 cm. Soft cover. ISBN 3 88375 464 1. € 22,-. Job Koelewijn. The Road Not Taken, 2000. De Appel, Gallery Fons Welters, Amsterdam. A limited edition of 123 copies, incl. bookmark and odour English. Hardcover. 720 pp. 15.5 x 20 x 6 cm. Numbered and signed by the artist. Design Job Koelewijn & Irma Boom. € 134,-.