Dutch artists featured in “Stories of Almost Everyone” in Los Angeles from January 28 – May 6
From January 28 through May 6, 2018, Dutch artists Willem de Rooij and gerlach en koop are featured in the group exhibition “Stories of Almost Everyone” at The Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, CA. An exhibition about our willingness to believe the stories that are conveyed by works of contemporary art.
Exploring a dominant impulse in sculpture of the last decade, the exhibition highlights the work of artists who use found or readymade objects to convey social, political, and economic histories. Including over forty international artists, Stories of Almost Everyone is organized by Aram Moshayedi and is on view from January 28 through May 6, 2018.
“Stories of Almost Everyone explores our natural tendency to project stories onto inanimate objects, including works of contemporary art we encounter in museums. This exhibition highlights the work of an international group of young artists whose sculptural work demonstrates the importance of language—and narrative—even in today’s hyper-visual culture,” said Hammer Museum Director Ann Philbin.
Born in 1969 in Beverwijk, Netherlands, Willem de Rooij works in a variety of media including film and installation. From 1990-1995 he studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam, and from 1997-1998 at the Rijksakademie. He has served as Professor of Art at the Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main, Germany since 2006 and as a tutor at De Ateliers in Amsterdam since 2002.
The elusive sculptural and conceptual work of Gerlach en Koop involves modifying, displacing or copying ordinary objects with subtle, almost invisible gestures. This approach begins with their name (always in lowercase): the moniker actually denotes two Dutch artists who prefer to be called a ‘collective artist’ rather than an ‘artist duo’ in order to distance themselves from their individual identities.
The Hammer Museum at UCLA offers exhibitions and collections that span classic to contemporary art, as well as programs that spark meaningful encounters with art and ideas. Through a wide-ranging, international exhibition program and the biennial, Made in L.A., the Hammer highlights contemporary art since the 1960s, especially the work of emerging and under recognized artists. The exhibitions, permanent collections, and nearly 300 public programs annually—including film screenings, lectures, symposia, readings, music performances, and workshops for families—are all free to the public.