Christian Ouwens Gallery
Eendrachtsweg 20 3012 LB Rotterdam
Sat 11.00 - 17.30
and by appointment
Website Christian Ouwens Gallery @ Donner
Coolsingel 129 (entrance Binnenwegplein) 3012 KA
Thu–Sat 9.30–18.00 & Sun 12.00–18.00
and by appointment
24 May-30 Jun
‘Tussen Licht en Lijn’ – Jeroen Henneman, solo exhibition
5 Jul–2 Aug
Armando, solo exhibition
The gallery’s new, second space @ Donner Bookstore in Rotterdam:
Changing display of works by Armando, Klaas Gubbels, Kamagurka, James Aldridge, Thé Tjong-Khing, Eugène Brands and Micha Patiniott. A permanent design collection including Piet Hein Eek, Maarten Baas, Jean Prouvé, Finn Juhl and Charles and Ray Eames. Books published by Christian Owens and limited editions of a broad selection of the exhibiting artists are also available.
12 Jul–6 Aug
Christian Ouwens Gallery @ Donner: Stang Gubbels
Stang Gubbels, at the Christian Ouwens Gallery on the ground floor in Donner. A series of 14 silkscreen prints that Stang conceived in Portugal, where he spent a month, was inspired by the deep blue he saw around him. The barking dogs, cats, fish, his own creaking body, and even the woman are all present.
The signed silkscreen prints are available for purchase in frames and can be taken home immediately.
Opening hours: Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 9.30 to 18.00 and Sunday from 12.00 to 16.00.
30 Jul–6 Sep
'Nature After Dark' - Armando, Quentin Blake, Piet Hein Eek, Micha Patiniott, Sjoerd Buisman, James Aldridge, Karel Appel, Eugène Brands, and Carel Visser.
There are exhibitions you see, and there are exhibitions that happen to you—like a gust of wind through an open window, an unexpected confession in a letter, or the snapping of a branch deep in the forest when you were sure you were alone.
Nature After Dark, now on view at the Christian Ouwens Gallery in Rotterdam, undeniably belongs to the latter category. For what is nature when humans close their eyes? What lurks around when light—that age-old ally of reason—finally recedes?
This exhibition, a kaleidoscopic night flight along the fringes of dream and darkness, brings together artists who, at first glance, seem to speak no common language. And therein lies their strength. Armando has previously explored the theme of tragedy in the landscape. Quentin Blake, whose delicate lines give darkness a childlike face. Piet Hein Eek, who lets the rough wood breathe the silence of the night. Micha Patiniott, Sjoerd Buisman, James Aldridge, Karel Appel, Eugène Brands, and Carel Visser—all composers of the unknown, the vibrant, the vegetal discomfort that blossoms in moonlight.
It's an exhibition like a forest where you orient yourself by sound, scent, and intuition, where materials whisper. Where seemingly innocent objects begin to exude something unsettling as your gaze wanders. Nature, but without the reassuring guide of daylight.
And as always at Christian Ouwens Gallery, there's also room for the unexpected. The rugged versus the fragile. Simplicity alongside the excessive. Nothing is fully revealed—and that's precisely the point.
Nature After Dark isn't an answer, but a seduction.
You've been warned.
