Willem de Rooij — Birds

About

Throughout March 2009, Cubitt Gallery welcomes a specially commissioned installation by renowned Dutch artist Willem de Rooij (1969), entitled Birds. De Rooij's eloquent research on the cultural resonance of artifacts and the afterlife of visual mass-distribution have lead to successful solo projects and collaborations (as part of artist-duo DeRijkeDeRooij), along with acclaimed exhibitions at international institutions, such as Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, K21 Düsseldorf and MAMBo museum for Modern Art, Bologna. This particular installation of Birds at Cubitt marks the end of a triptych of temporary installations, constructed by De Rooij over a period of two years at galleries in Paris (Chantal Crousel, The Floating Feather, 2006) and Cologne (Gallerie Buchholz, Birds in a Park, 2007). All three projects are inspired by the 17th century Dutch still-life painter Melchior d'Hondecoeter (1636-1695). In this recent production by De Rooij, d'Hondecoeter 's paintings are the starting point for different spatial compositions that each utilize a variety of contemporary artistic practices and historical artifacts: resulting in a compelling series of temporal groupings that express a personal account of the distribution of cultural identity and memory, collecting and display.