Source: KIT

A Düsseldorf exhibition curated by Jurriaan Benschop features 2019 M.F.A. graduate Catherine Mulligan. The show, in the Kunst im Tunnel exhibition space, runs from November 2019 until January 2020. The show is titled “Taking Root” and explores the importance of location in the life of the artist. The exhibition features eleven internationally based artists from ten countries including Catherine who contributed five paintings to the show.

More about the show:
The eleven artists have been selected for this show not because their work is about roots, but rather because their work has roots. They have displayed an interest in grounding themselves in the present through finding anchor points in tradition or in their visual environment, and finding out what is valuable or inescapable for their work as artists in the early 21st century. In times when God is declared dead, terrorists have hijacked Allah, and political leaders can be clowns and fakes, the question is where to find understanding and beliefs, where to find the confidence and context from which to act? The answer goes inside. Into the imagination and reflection of the artists. In the ability to focus and stay committed to a quest or vocation.

The artists in this show do not usually find their artistic incentives in the daily news or politics. Their knowledge is more indirect, coming from stones, walks, landscapes, icons, paintings, children – from all possible sources. There are many situations that can guide us, often in more convincing ways than the people who call themselves guides want us to believe. The artists presented do not preach a particular  belief. They make their work; that is enough of a statement. They believe in material culture, in art, and in meaningful labor –  a daily discipline. You can sense in their work that they know something.

Even though art is not necessarily sacred territory, it offers stretches of land where a different world is possible – not corrupted, and not adrift. It can offer an environment where you actually want to spend time, a place that is nurturing for the mind, body, and soul. The Kunst im Tunnel offers a good shelter, with solid walls, to create some distance to the real and mental traffic around, to the hustle of city life, to the problems of our times. The generous tunnel space filled with the works of eleven contemporary artists allows a time out – and offers itself as a place to reconnect and take root.

Jurriaan Benschop

With Nikos Aslanidis, Maria Capelo, Béatrice Dreux, Eiko Gröschl, Nona Inescu, Ida Lindgren, Catherine Mulligan, Katrina Neiburga, Liesbeth Piena, Natascha Schmitten, Rubica von Streng

Curated by Jurriaan Benschop