The Show Must Ego On is the new publication of Rotterdam based Erik Van Lieshout made on the occasion of his solo show at Wiels, Brussels. The book’s visual backbone consists of numerous stills drawn from his recent film Die Insel (2016), supporting three newly commissioned texts by Nienke Terpsma & Rob Hamelijnck (Fucking Good Art), Adrian Searle (critic, The Guardian), and Zoë Gray (curator, Wiels). These variously reflect on the nature of collaborative work, artistic ambition and its (at times catastrophic) collision with reality, and the contradictory desire to be both politically engaged and to withdraw from society into the pure autonomy of art. Graphic design is by Experimental Jetset.
Die Insel takes the busy Phoenix-See lake in Dortmund as its starting point. During his first tours of the Emscher region, van Lisehout was immediately fascinated by the lake and its locale. Immersing himself it’s microcosm, he spent four months living and working in the district. Every day he rowed from the mainland to an island at the "heart of the lake". There he spent most of his time in self-imposed isolation - away from the hustle and bustle of the region, and far from the routine of work in his Rotterdam studio. His camera went into his luggage, part of a path of artistic self-discovery.
The event will feature the first Rotterdam screening of Die Insel introduced by van Lieshout, followed by a book signing.
The launch coincides with two exhibition readings at Witte de With:
6 - 7 pm: Exhibition Reading In the Belly of the Whale: Nicoline van Harskamp (artist)
7 - 8 pm: Exhibtion Reading Decorations: On Asger Jorn by Hilde de Bruijn (Senior Curator, CoBrA Museum)
Joining these exhibtion readings is free, but please make a reservation.
On our weekly Kunstavond on Fridays, we're open late between 6 and 9 pm (free entrance).