Kunsthuis SYB

Nina Wijnmaalen has played in short films for many years making fun, in a lovable way of her everyday obnoxious fellow man. She detests man’s bad traits and magnifies them with her ‘characters’. Simultaneously she is aware that she is making a self-portrait.

With her photographs Wijnmaalen is searching for the representation of a very different world, one where people – often together – are who they are, without words, without ego and without judgment in a thrill of ultimate togetherness, precisely because of their oddness and differentness.

For a few years now the artist has delivered this battle. She makes remorseless tongue in cheek video work while her photos speak of a deep longing for a place without shame or blame.

In SYB Wijnmaalen will strive for a breakthrough, by finally making that place which addresses her ideal as closely as possible. She will cover up all the windows in Kunsthuis SYB and cover the inside with cloth. With the aid of the sound artist Maciej Sarna (Brzeg Dolny, Poland, 1981) she will try and set a tone where good and bad are irrelevant; a condition that Wijnmaalen would always like to be in, day and night.

And for that costumes are needed. During the last few weeks Wijnmaalen has been making and collecting oddities and props. A sheep’s head with mittens, a sweater with a penis, a war prosthesis, billy goat’s hooves and fake guns. During nocturnal photo sessions she will  tempt actors into a shared rapture.

At the end of February the artists will present the results of this residency.

Nina Wijnmaalen (Groningen, 1980) has received different theater and performance schooling and graduated in 2007 from the Art academy Minerva in Groningen.Since then she has taken part in group projects, among which include the VPRO ledenwerf campagne, a sideline exhibition from the World Press Photo, The CLASH Jonge Harten festival and CBK loaned treasures.

Residency from January 21 to March 1 2009

Open every Saturday and Sunday from 13:00 to 17:00

Presentation Saturday February 21 at 16:00

This project was made possible by the Mondriaan Foundation.