Laftmonk Solo Exhibition CTRL+S

Laftmonk, detail Ctrl+S, 2020

CTRL+S Laftmonk Solo Exhibition

SCHIEDAM -From Saturday October 24 to December 6, you are most welcome to visit our new solo exhibition CTRL + S during our walk-in afternoon between 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm and meet the artist Laftmonk. The exhibition with recent paintings, textile works and an installation shows the world according to Laftmonk (France / US), visual artist, designer and social art practitioner.

During a walk-in afternoon you can view the exhibition and our permanent collection at a safe distance via one-way traffic while enjoying a snack and a drink. Based on previous experience, we expect to have sufficient capacity available with the current 450 m2 exhibition space to properly manage the walk-in via badges. The exhibition will run until December 6.

In CTRL + S, Laftmonk plays with the different techniques and styles that she has mastered over the years. Complex geometric textile weaving techniques merge with painting, photography and collage, resulting in subdued surrealist psychological portraits with influences from Francis Bacon, among others, but also more colorful abstract images with street art influences, whether or not in combination with intriguing textile sculptures and a central installation, Base for a Red Vine, 2020 accomplished during her time in lockdown.

With all of this she seamlessly builds a synthesis of the ideas and concepts in her oeuvre, which revolve around the new world that is continuously unfolding itself. This world is fragile and disintegrated, in constant transformation, with an urgent need for a new balance, a safe haven. A world seen through the eyes of people or insects with alienated fragments of reality, hidden in veiled layers. Laftmonk's world is populated with displaced people, shifting identities, endangered exotic species. All struggle to find their balance, with each other and with a threatened environment. But it is also a world of beauty in all its layered fragility, precious and full of hope to save and be saved.

Laftmonk was born and raised in France, of Algerian descent and educated in France and the USA. Her work has been exhibited internationally in renowned museums and galleries, including the Museum of Art and Industry André-Diligent in France; Cheongju Art Center, Korea; The Cordova Museum, Massachusetts; Santa Fe Art Institute, New Mexico; Blue Star Contemporary, Texas, The Old Mint, San Francisco CA and ST-ART Strasbourg. Her work can be found internationally in private collections, including in Los Angeles, Washington, New York, San Francisco, London and Paris.

OpenArtExchange is an independent international art gallery, which aims to stimulate and connect promising contemporary visual artists from non-Western countries (especially Africa, South America and Asia) with the Western art and culture world. We do this through our online platform, participation in international art fairs and festivals, collaboration with partners and our international residences, exhibitions and other activities in our local art center in the museum quarter of Schiedam (Rotterdam region).

Regular opening hours:

Wednesday to Saturday: 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM, Sunday: 1:00 PM - 6:00 PM

By appointment: email info@openartexchange.com

OpenArtExchange

Hoogstraat 85

3111 HC Schiedam

www.openartexchange.com