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Rineke Dijkstra, Still from The Krazy House, Liverpool, UK, 2008-2009, 4 channel video HD installation, color, sound, 32 minutes, loop. All images courtesy of Marian Goodman Gallery.
Currently on view at Marian Goodman Gallery, New York is a solo exhibition of recent works by Dutch artist, Rineke Dijkstra. Three video installations and a number of photographs are on display. Dijikstra frequently takes adolescents and teenagers as her subject, and these works are no exception. Her emphasis on youth never feels exploitative or overly voyeuristic, rather it invites the viewer to recall the feelings associated with nascent adulthood – a mindset focused on escapism, self-consciousness, and a burgeoning sense of identity.
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Still from The Krazy House, Liverpool, UK, 2008-2009.
More text and images after the jump…
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Still from I See a Woman Crying (Weeping Woman), Tate Liverpool, 2009, 3 channel video HD installation, color, sound, 12 minutes, loop.
The North Gallery contains I See a Woman Crying (Weeping Woman), a three channel installation following a school group’s discussion of a Picasso painting titled, Weeping Woman. The school children’s gazes are directed towards the camera as they examine the painting and propose various possibilities to explain the Weeping Woman’s distressed emotional state. While some children take a passive role in the debate, offering only a few quiet insights, others dominate and direct the flow of ideas. In addition to reflecting the fascinating dynamic of such classroom interactions, the film offers insight into the way these children look and think about art. While shapes, color, and form are duly acknowledged, the creation of a narrative is what drives the discussion.
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Still from I See a Woman Crying (Weeping Woman), Tate Liverpool, 2009.
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Still from I See a Woman Crying (Weeping Woman), Tate Liverpool, 2009.
Ruth Drawing Picasso again focuses on the interaction of school children with a Picasso painting; however, here there is just one student and the only noise comes from the sound of her pencil moving on paper. While seated on the floor, Ruth switches her attention in between observing the painting and creating her own drawing. Although her drawing remains beyond view, the scratch-scratching of her pencil provides an auditory experience which supersedes the visual.
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Still from Ruth Drawing Picasso, Tate Liverpool, 2009, 1 channel video HD installation, color, sound, 6 minutes, 36 sec., loop.
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Still from The Krazy House, Liverpool, UK, 2008-2009.
The Krazy House, Liverpool UK (Megan, Simon, Nicky, Philip, Dee) is located in the South Gallery and consists of four individual screens, of which only one is projected on at a time. Like its predecessor, Dijkstra’s The Buzzclub, Liverpooil, UK/Mysteryworld, Zaandam, NL (1996-97), The Krazy House was created by filming several teenagers dancing at a Liverpool nightclub. In this piece each dancer moves solo against a solid white background while his or her favorite song plays.
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Still from The Krazy House, Liverpool, UK, 2008-2009.
For the most part, these teenagers move with abandon and ease. Nevertheless, moments of self-consciousness surface at intervals. Although Nicky comes across with a degree of confidence and self-assurance, the awkwardness of youth is revealed in the way she occasionally pulls her dress down and fidgets with her hair. The long hair rocker, who head bangs his way through an angry System of a Down song, seems completely lost in himself and the music – until the very end when he sheepishly grins at camera. The presence of the camera does not appear to be the motivating factor in these moments, rather they seem to be behaviors just as likely observed on the actual dance floor of a club. These moments therefore make The Krazy House a particularly compelling picture of adolescence.
Still from The Krazy House, Liverpool, UK, 2008-2009.
Still from The Krazy House, Liverpool, UK, 2008-2009.
Rineke Dijkstra was born in 1959 in Sittard, Netherlands and studied photography at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam during the 1980s. Dijkstra is well known for her single portraits of youth as well as individuals in moments of transition. Her Beaches (1992-1995) series, photos of adolescents on beaches in American and Europe, was a particularly pivotal moment in the development of career. New Dutch mothers, Israeli soldiers, Bosnian refugees, and bullfighters have also been the focus of Dijkstra’s lens. In recent years the artist has turned her attention to video. In addition to having exhibited widely Dijkstra has been the recipient of numerous photography awards. She currently lives and works in Amsterdam.
-S. Zabrodski
Related Links:
Exhibition Site [Marian Goodman Gallery]
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Just Looking: Dijkstra on the Dance Floor [New York Times Magazine Blog]
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Rineke Dijkstra’s Kids Kid You Not [Village Voice]
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Rineke Dijkstra [Frieze Magazine]
