A.I. is pleased to present a group exhibition featuring three artists: Kent Chan (b.1984 Singapore, living in Amsterdam), Fiona Ones (b.1986 Germany, living in Munich) and Motohiro Takeda (b.1982 Japan, living in NYC). The Sun was Eaten acknowledges the joyous multiplicity of beliefs, rituals and ways of life under the Sun - the central star in our universe and source of energy abundance.
Evoking imagery of a transformed landscape and in the moment of the current climate emergency, Kent Chan’s video work, Solar Orders, is rooted in ancient and mythical beliefs concerning eclipses across cultures via the narration of three protagonists. The artist draws parallels between the Inca’s reverence for the Sun god Inti amongst other beliefs including Chinese traditions, whereby a solar eclipse is perceived as a celestial dragon devouring the sun - as evidenced by the term for eclipse, which literally translates as "to eat”. DJ collaborator, Gatasanta, performs a set in the final act reminiscent of shamanistic rituals with the means to drive away mystical threats and safeguard the Sun. The artist questions the apocalyptic vision of the future and encourages the re-imagination of shaping philosophies amidst our collective apprehension.
Whilst Chan posits the role of music in connecting the celestial to the terrestrial, we delve into Fiona Ones’ untitled graphite drawings and a language of abstraction in her depiction of simple geometric forms which often explore the same motif in many different configurations. The linear marks on brown paper radiate from an almost invisible underlying grid; each intersecting and almost tremulous. Often, the artist deploys a section of needle drawing pricking up the fibres of the paper. This ritual-like practice conveys a gentle hypnotic sensation; making you doubt what you are seeing, or if you are seeing anything whilst alluding to transcendence.
In contrast to the life-giving Sun, Motohiro Takeda’s nebular sculpture serves as a metaphor for a vacuum symbolising the fragility of nature and the inevitable cycle of life. The use of charred wood references both regenerative energy as a result of ecological forest fires as well as the Japanese tradition of Shou Sugi Ban. Accompanying the ash sculpture are rectangular grid-format photographs composed of expired gelatin silver contact prints. The non-colour field embodies timelessness and form -minimal. Each sliver of pigment distils the artist’s contemplation of the universal dualities - light and darkness, creation and destruction, calm and wildness.
About the artists
KENT CHAN (b. 1984, Singapore) is an artist, curator and filmmaker based in Netherlands and Singapore. His practice revolves around our encounters with art, fiction and cinema that form a triumvirate of practices porous in form, content and context. He holds particular interest in the tropical imaginary, the past and future relationships between heat and art, and contestations to the legacies of modernity as the epistemology par excellence. The works and practices of others often form the locus of his works, which have taken the form of film, text, conversations and exhibitions.
Recent selected exhibitions and screenings include: 12th Seoul Mediacity Biennale 2023, Seoul Museum of Art; 22nd Biennal Sesc VideoBrasil; Liverpool Biennale 2023 uMoya - The Sacred Return of Lost Things; Future Tropics, Gasworks, London (2023); VIDEONALLE. 19, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany (2023); Encounters over Several Plants, Tate Modern, London (2022). Chan has also attended several residencies including, Gasworks, England and the Institutum Singapore (2023) and Het Kilmaatmuseum, Fort Island Pampus, Netherlands (2020).
Public collections include: Kadist Foundation, USA; Rijkscollectie, Netherlands; Bonnefanten Museum, Netherlands; Hartwig Art Production Collection Fund, Netherlands.
FIONA ONES (b.1986, Germany) primary interest lies within the shifting boundaries within the photographic medium.
The artist is also concerned with exploring the parallel between photography and drawing. Using experimental techniques, her practice has evolved to challenge the engagement with surface, light, negative and positive and the trace; the sense of an invisible ‘apparatus’ (the camera, pen or needle).
Recent exhibitions and fairs include Kunstverein Munich (2023), by a thread at A.I. (2022), Unseen Photo Amsterdam (2018), PhotoLondon, CameraWorks Berlin (2015).
MOTOHIRO TAKEDA (b. 1982, Japan) is an artist working between photography, ceramics and sculpture. He creates site-responsive installations. Takeda uses abstraction and materiality to explore themes such as time, memory, life and death.
The artist was awarded the Tierney Fellowship in 2008 and was an artist in residence at Baxter St. CCNY in 2011. Recent exhibitions and fairs include New York Photo Festival, The Center for Fine Art Photography, Colorado and Unseen Photo Festival, Amsterdam.
