GRID, The Bigger Picture Show

A spectacular exhibition of 32 thought-provoking works by Robert Smit

13|03|19 – 16|06|19
NDSM LOODS,  NDSM-Plein 85,  Amsterdam

The Bigger Picture Show is een aanvullend programma bestaande uit masterclasses door kunstcriticus Terry Barret, concerten van onder andere Egon Kracht, die voor de gelegenheid nieuwe muziek heeft gecomponeerd, performances en dans gerelateerd aan GRID.

GRID van Robert Smit, waaraan hij vijftien jaar in relatieve afzondering heeft gewerkt, is een reusachtige puzzel van beelden, associaties en schilderkunstige confrontaties.

Robert Smit: “Je moet weten wat regen is om van een mooie dag te genieten.” Tegenstellingen ten aanzien van alle aspecten van het dagelijks leven worden samen gehouden door het strenge patroon van 8 x 8 velden. GRID hangt aan de kopse kant van de 150 meter lange NDSM Loods. Hoogwerkers brengen je tot op 8 meter hoogte om het werk van dichtbij te bekijken waardoor je wordt ondergedompeld in het enorme werk. Tijdens de opening van de tentoonstelling door Beau van Erven Dorens wordt een catalogus met het werk van Robert Smit gepresenteerd, uitgegeven door LM Publishers. Het boek is te koop tijdens de expositie.

The Bigger Picture Show is een 4-daags programma dat het werk onderzoekt en interpreteert vanuit diverse disciplines. Masterclasses van de Amerikaanse hoogleraar en kunstcriticus Terry Barrett vormen het hart. Iedereen wordt uitgenodigd en vertrouwd gemaakt met het ervaren, denken en praten over hedendaagse kunst aan de hand van GRID en de thema’s die aan dit werk ten grondslag liggen. De tentoonstelling en performances zijn gratis toegankelijk, voor de masterclasses en concerten zijn toegangskaarten te koop via: robertsmit.eu/program-schedule

Praktische informatie:

Donderdag 13 tot en met zondag 16 juni 2019
Openingstijden: 10.00 tot en met 23.00 uur
Kijk voor het volledige programma en tickets op robertsmit.eu/program-schedule


Chasing dogs and a defenseless infant opposite an injured dog with caring owners; laughing SS officers in bathing suits on holiday from Auschwitz opposite an artist’s family group photo on the island of Corsica: the rich, colossal and dialectical images of Robert Smit never cease to make you think.

Smits works make you look at yourself in the mirror and ask: ‘What would I do?’ He makes us concentrate our minds on serious past, present and future issues such as the holocaust, bizarre scientific experiments, freedom, prostitution in Amsterdam, consumerism, fake news, fear of immigration and the relationship between nature and culture.

Without imposing any values and drawing on illustrious examples from Hieronymus Bosch to John Heartfield and Banksy, Robert Smit takes you into a tunnel of contradictory meanings and bizarre facts. Thirty-two of his unique diptychs are soon on display, firing uncomfortable ambiguity and unexpected interdependencies at the beholder.

Smits diptychs feel a bit like somewhere you could be drawn in for hours musing on the symbolism of each oppositional object.
Rob La Frenais – Independent curator and writer

Smit hoes, digs, and plants and mixes up our interpretations, horizontally and vertically. Together they provide a breeding ground for critical self-reflection as well as viewing pleasure.
Melvin Crone – Art historian, Amsterdam School of the Arts

Limited edition Catalogue

On the occasion of the exhibition “GRID” a first limited-edition catalogue will be released by LM Publishers. This comprehensive, fully illustrated, hard-cover book assembles Smit’s remarkable work for the first time, through 220+ pages full of color illustrations.

The Bigger Picture Show is a multidisciplinary program of masterclasses, workshops, concerts, performances and special diners developed in relation to GRID, accompanying the exhibition. For more details on GRID and The Bigger Picture Show, please see the new website: robertsmit.eu/news

The KVHOD, The Kitchen of the Unwanted Animal, will host small bites, lunches and diners during the exhibition, see: dekeukenvanhetongewenstdier.nl

Terry Barrett who formerly worked on a project with the Stedelijk Museum, will host masterclasses for 4 days and introduce visitors through his unique teaching method to discussing contemporary art in such a way as to activate and open up the responses of people who do not specifically encounter art and culture on a daily basis.

About Terry Barrett
Terry Barrett is an American art critic and professor of art education at the University of North Texas, USA. He is also Professor Emeritus at Ohio State University, with an honorary appointment to the Department of Art where he received a Distinguished Teaching Award for his educational practice. He has produced many books, anthology chapters and articles about photographic media, contemporary art, art criticism and aesthetics, and about the teaching of these subjects; this work has had a significant impact on the field. Barrett is the author of Why is That Art?, Criticizing Photographs, Criticizing Art, Talking about Student Art and Making Art. His most recent book Crits was published in 2018. Barrett is a visiting scholar, critic, juror, and educator at many universities and art museums in the US and internationally.
http://terrybarrettosu.com

About Robert Smit, GRID, other Artist and Program Schedule
https://robertsmit.eu