Witte de With presents the first solo exhibition in the Netherlands of Chloe Piene (Stamford, USA, 1972).
Chloe Piene is known for her intense and powerful work. Since the late 1990s, she has been making charcoal drawings, executed on delicate paper, showing the ambiguous physical boundaries between men and women, people and animals.
In her videos, Piene twists the cinematic power of sound, voice and narrative. Through the use of simple techniques like the slowing down of the sound and the image, she forces the viewer to engage at a subversive and dark level. Extreme states such as isolation and fear are enhanced by strong chiaroscuro images, intense soundtracks and solitary performances.
Chloe Piene is part of a generation of young artists investigating new representations of radical otherness. Instead of emphasizing a familiar loss of the self, Piene provokes the viewer to cut loose from any possible illusionary state of mind. In this way, she succeeds in a subtle engagement in the plight of both victim and hero, viewer and protagonist.
Publication
Due to unforeseen events the publication accompanying Chloe Piene’s exhibition has been cancelled.
Foundation Bern; The Burger Collection; The Cran-ford Collection, London; Collection of James and Maureen Dorment, New Jer-sey; Klemens Gasser & Tanja Grunert, Inc., New York; Collection Hauser & Wirth; Sammlung Hoffmann, Berlin; Piet Moget, Lieu d’art Con-temporain, Sigean; Olbricht Collection, Essen; Sandroni Rey Gallery, Los Angeles; Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, Salzburg.