AMVK in Shanghai

How things relate to each other
by Lies Coppens

After finishing her one-year-residency in Berlin, renowned Belgian artist Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven (1951), hardly had time to unpack her suitcases before having to leave again, this time to Shanghai. After participating in an art project in Xiamen in 2005, AMVK returns to China once more, being invited by 1918ArtSPACE as their 2007 residency artist. Working and wa(o)ndering in Shanghai, AMVK will be in town during the month of June, exhibiting some of her work during the female group show 'Girls just wanna have fun' showing at the 1918 Warehouse from July 1th till August 8th.

Having worked as an artist for the past 30 years, AMVK has been active in different fields. Performing with her NOISEband, making computer-based drawings back in the days when a computer was still a rare and strange machine to many and her interest in science, philosophy and mysticism make her a very diverse artist. All those years of experience haven't made her stop looking for new challenges and different visual areas to explore. Working in China is a great opportunity to investigate the local iconography and to dig deeper into Chinese spirituality and the various belief systems.

Looking for structures and patterns that can be exposed and unraveled, she uses magazine photos, philosophical texts, advertisements and all kinds of everyday images that strike her, to search for ancient knowledge. She links these visual and mental impressions to new media, by digitally altering films and photographs, mixing hand-made drawings with computer-based ones and inviting people to take part in interactive installations. Systems that define our reality, good and bad, right and wrong are being analyzed and used as a possible source for study and contemplation.

In nowadays' society people are often lost and have no clear overview anymore. Scraps and pieces of knowledge and information are being thrown at us with amazing speed. As an artist AMVK uses and re-uses these old and scattered connotations to give things a new meaning. Like a nurse she reassures people by revealing the connection between everything. She sees herself as a contemporary mystic who tries to transform the so called-vulgarity and constant repetition in modern society into art, her work being the natural result from an all-consuming love for everything that exists.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
		How things relate to each other by Lies Coppens After finishing her one-year-residency in Berlin, renowned Belgian artist Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven (1951), hardly had time to unpack her suitcases before having to leave again, this time to Shanghai. After participating in an art project in Xiamen in 2005, AMVK returns to China once more, being invited by 1918ArtSPACE as their 2007 residency artist. Working and wa(o)ndering in Shanghai, AMVK will be in town during the month of June, exhibiting some of her work during the female group show 'Girls just wanna have fun' showing at the 1918 Warehouse from July 1th till August 8th. Having worked as an artist for the past 30 years, AMVK has been active in different fields. Performing with her NOISEband, making computer-based drawings back in the days when a computer was still a rare and strange machine to many and her interest in science, philosophy and mysticism make her a very diverse artist. All those years of experience haven't made her stop looking for new challenges and different visual areas to explore. Working in China is a great opportunity to investigate the local iconography and to dig deeper into Chinese spirituality and the various belief systems. Looking for structures and patterns that can be exposed and unraveled, she uses magazine photos, philosophical texts, advertisements and all kinds of everyday images that strike her, to search for ancient knowledge. She links these visual and mental impressions to new media, by digitally altering films and photographs, mixing hand-made drawings with computer-based ones and inviting people to take part in interactive installations. Systems that define our reality, good and bad, right and wrong are being analyzed and used as a possible source for study and contemplation. In nowadays' society people are often lost and have no clear overview anymore. Scraps and pieces of knowledge and information are being thrown at us with amazing speed. As an artist AMVK uses and re-uses these old and scattered connotations to give things a new meaning. Like a nurse she reassures people by revealing the connection between everything. She sees herself as a contemporary mystic who tries to transform the so called-vulgarity and constant repetition in modern society into art, her work being the natural result from an all-consuming love for everything that exists.
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