Ellen Rodenberg

Sois belle et tais-toi (Be Pretty and Shut Up) No.4

Artist in Residence Creation location: Arteventura Area: Sierra de Aracena, Andalucia, España 2023 On 14.10.23 while drawing, I listened to Femke van de Laan's interview with artist Diana Scherer. Dutch Podcast: Nooit Meer Slapen 10.10.23

Location: A.I.R. Arteventura, Spain

I had started the drawing while listening to stories about witches from history and the present. Then I decided to listen to this music by Yoko ono. After this, something not entirely unexpected happened. Storm Babet raged across the sierra of Arteventura.

Drawn on the back of a weathered sheet of paper while listening to an interview by Femke van der Laan with Arnon Grunberg

(women-souls-language) DH. Series: Whence No.1 #psycho_sensory_explorations_erf

#scene_seen_in_a_landscape

The paintings of SCRIPT are part of the installation WORMHOLEwhich the collective EX-MÊKH ( Ellen Rodenberg, Maarten Schepers, Kees Koomen) made for the independend Art Fair Platforms Project in Athens

A site-specific work for Hybrid_Arte in Madrid, situated in a hotelroom.

#scene_seen_in_a_landscape series: Character, scenes

For the online Platforms project, Athens of 2021 we made an internship with EX-MÊKH where we worked for a week by constantly adding work. The whole process was captured on video. Performance and work in progress intertwine. The photo shows the result of the actions. The video can be seen on Platforms' site.

This year’s theme, A Femmes City, deals with the feminine view of various aspects of the city. How does urban space appear from a women’s perspective, what potential is overlooked, and what development possibilities are held in public space? Who does the city belong to? “ A Femmes City. I interpret the invitation of A trans as a challenge. When do we talk of a female gaze and of a female approach? What does it look like? I decided to engage the men of the EX-MÊKH-collective in this project in order to be able to hold the development of my work against the light of a male/female concept. Two shop windows next to each other, organized with work based on the male/female concept. I had discussions with Maarten Schepers and Kees Koomen about the difference in strategies, upbringing, social behavior and networking. When do we talk about expressing oneself with personal character and where do we observe the influence of gender? To try and make this visible I decided to install one shop window myself, as a woman. I asked the two men to install the second shop window with their work: one female, two men, two painters, one sculptor! The title FeMaler is an apt translation of this mix. For my personal presentation I developed a procedure of applying paint with big strokes on white cardboard resulting in color forms. It is a method with which I leak diluted acrylic paint through cotton sheets. After it dries the sheets are removed and whimsical shapes appear. The results have a watercolor-like character. I think of gardens for the imagination. I think of all the possible associations one single form can already evoke, I think of the mental space being created by this approach. Imagine the memories in the future. Imagine the questions in the future. Imagine the possibilities of the female approach in the future. The cardboard pieces will be installed in a precise manner but the result will look casual. The display in the shop-window must tempt for timelessness and thus create space, the incomprehensibilities will be helpful with this. What is it you see? A curious garden full of life? Or are you „Lost in Paradise”? The second shop window will be of a totally different nature. Maarten Schepers and Kees Koomen have been discussing the installation to be shown. Maarten Schepers has created an over-all design which we can associate with phenomena like show-box, diorama or bijou-box. Kees Koomen will add to this with work based on the muses and the story of Actaeon.