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Beautiful Distress presenteert met trots de nieuwe Waan-zin-geving groepstentoonstelling, met werken van Coen van Rooij, Norbert de Jong en Raf de Wit. Samen met deze kunstenaars onderzoekt Beautiful Distress hoe kunst hoop en zingeving kan bieden.
Beautiful Distress House presenteert de solotentoonstelling Being Moved Things Around van Stephan Blumenschein. In deze tentoonstelling presenteert kunstenaar Stephan een nieuwe installatie die voortkomt uit zijn onderzoek naar angst, architectuur en de verlengde medische blik.
Beautiful Distress House presenteert de groepstentoonstelling Onzichtbaar Verlies, over kunst en epilepsie.
Beautiful Distress House presenteert de solotentoonstelling Being Moved Things Around van Stephan Blumenschein. In deze tentoonstelling presenteert kunstenaar Stephan een nieuwe installatie die voortkomt uit zijn onderzoek naar angst, architectuur en de verlengde medische blik.
De laatste weken van de groepstentoonstelling Mind The Gap zijn aangebroken. Voor het slotweekend hebben we een aantal evenementen op een rij waarbij je allen van harte welkom bent!
Ten midden van de tentoonstelling MiND THE GAP van stichting Beautiful Distress wordt het gesprek van mentaal welzijn binnen de Arabische queer gemeenschap besproken. De avond is besloten en intiem. Aanmelden gaat door te mailen naar: esther@beautifuldistress.org
Ten midden van de tentoonstelling MiND THE GAP van stichting Beautiful Distress wordt het gesprek van mentaal welzijn binnen de Perzische queer gemeenschap besproken. De avond is besloten en intiem. Aanmelden gaat door te mailen naar: esther@beautifuldistress.org
Beautiful Distress House presenteert de groepstentoonstelling IMiNDTHEGAP waarin mentale gezondheid in de LHBTQIA+ community centraal staat. In Nederland, beschouwd als een van de meest tolerante landen en koploper op het gebied van homorechten, bestaat namelijk een beeld van de onbezorgde happy queer. Maar klopt dat beeld wel? Middels portretten, audiovisuele werken en installaties wordt het verhaal verteld van queer migranten, gender non-conformisten en transactivisten.
Temidden van de tentoonstelling van There Is No Better Me van Nina Glockner en Sachi Miyachi zullen Ezra van Beautiful Distress en Bregt van Over het IJ in gesprek gaan met drie gasten over kunst als zelfhulpboek. Kan kunst fungeren als zelfhulpboek? Is dat wenselijk? Of dient kunst enkel om bijvoorbeeld psychische kwetsbaarheid zichtbaar te maken? En als dat zo is - welke rol speelt esthetiek hierin?
In de tentoonstelling There is no Better Me brengen Nina Glockner en Sachi Miyachi Japanse memorabilia, culturele artefacten, persoonlijke anekdotes en architecturale fragmenten samen uit hun Artist-in-residence periode in het Fukuroda Psychiatrisch Ziekenhuis in 2019. De titel fungeert niet alleen als een 'note to self', maar ook als een provocatie, die ons imperatief tot zelfverbetering problematiseert en de manieren waarop gedragingen die weigeren daaraan te voldoen, worden gepathologiseerd. Tegelijkertijd werkt There is no Better Me als een herinnering om jezelf in het heden te gronden in plaats van vast te houden aan een nostalgisch verleden of een geïdealiseerde toekomst.
In de tentoonstelling There is no Better Me brengen Nina Glockner en Sachi Miyachi Japanse memorabilia, culturele artefacten, persoonlijke anekdotes en architecturale fragmenten samen uit hun Artist-in-residence periode in het Fukuroda Psychiatrisch Ziekenhuis in 2019. De titel fungeert niet alleen als een 'note to self', maar ook als een provocatie, die ons imperatief tot zelfverbetering problematiseert en de manieren waarop gedragingen die weigeren daaraan te voldoen, worden gepathologiseerd. Tegelijkertijd werkt There is no Better Me als een herinnering om jezelf in het heden te gronden in plaats van vast te houden aan een nostalgisch verleden of een geïdealiseerde toekomst.
Alker is from San Francisco and holds a BA in Theatre from Pomona College and an MA in Performance Studies from New York University. Luyten is originally from Belgium where she earned a teaching degree; she later moved to France and then the United States to pursue studies in movement-based theatre.
Holt is a US artist living in Hyattsville, MD. She is Co-director of Red Dirt Studio, a warehouse artist studio in Mt. Rainier, MD and also teaches art to adults with mental health conditions and developmental disabilities in communities around Washington, DC. Holt exhibits her work widely and is represented by David Lusk Gallery in Memphis, TN.
Eclectische groepsexpositie van het IJ KUNST COLLECTIEF in Beautiful Distress en Nieuw Dakota op de NDSM-werf.
Op zaterdag 20 en zondag 21 augustus 2022 presenteert het IJ KUNST COLLECTIEF (IJKC) voor de zesde keer een brede groepsexpositie in Beautiful Distress en Nieuw Dakota op de NDSM-werf. Op deze locatie laten veertig kunstenaars hun nieuwe werken zien. Dit initiatief van kunstliefhebber en curator Edwin van den Hoek belooft ook dit jaar weer een uitdagend alternatief te worden voor liefhebbers en verzamelaars van beeldende kunst en design.
With the project Fountain of Wellbeing (Walls Don't Clear Water), Rik Dijkhuizen has created a series of new works in which he reflects on institutionalised care, collective embodiment and water, and brought them together in an immersive installation consisting of a fountain, an isolation cell, various visual reflections, sculptures, photography, video and text.
Solo expositie van vrij 4 feb. t/m vrij 1 apr. 2022
in Beautiful Distress House
Curator: Hanne Hagenaars
Beautiful Distress wishes you a happy, healthy and inspiring 2022!
Illustration by Anneke Reijnders
Naast de reguliere expositie organiseren de kunstenaars Mirthe Berentsen en Martin La Roche samen met curator Inez Piso verschillende (gratis) interactieve workshops, rondleidingen en lezingen. Iedereen is welkom en inschrijven is niet nodig. Mocht u een prive rondleiding willen organiseren dan kunt u ons mailen via info@beautifuldistress.com
II Remember
by Mirthe Berentsen & Martin La Roche Contreras
curated by: Inez Piso
Beautiful Distress House, Ms. van Riemsdijkweg 41A, 1033 RC, Amsterdam-Noord
2 October until 28 November, 2021
Opening Saturday, 2 October, 5–8 pm
Beautiful Distress proudly presents I Remember, a duo exhibition by Martin la Roche and Mirthe Berentsen. Both artists depart from their experiences as artists-in-residence at the psychiatric department of Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn to create new works that deal with the value of memory, grief and constructability of language.
Martin La Roche shows work that emerged from the workshops he gave at Kings County Hospital. There, he asked participants to share their experiences, traumas and thoughts through constrained writing and visual exercises. One of them was the renaming of different paint samples with personal associations. Some of these relabelled monochromes are presented in a larger format on the wall of the exhibition. He also exhibits objects he gathered during his time at the hospital within a constellation of the many different collections dominating his practice.
With a background in writing, this is the first time Mirthe Berentsen has translated her practice to physical artworks. Using her personal memories of clearing out her parent’s house after their deaths as a point of departure, she photographed the process of throwing away the domestic residues of a life. All the while, questioning the value of the objects we choose as companions during life. The redacted pictures are presented together with replicas of objects she threw away at the time, executed in ceramics and felt, with the help of ROADS, an organisation dedicated to the societal inclusion of people with psychiatric challenges.
Their shared experiences were a starting point for this exhibition, in which the personal memories and subjective associations of the artists become a collective experience. This translation into the collective domain takes place in a sandbox where visitors are welcome to sit down and play with the artworks in the sand. This installation is a free interpretation of the Jungian sandplay therapy developed by psychoanalyst Dora Kalff in the 1950s. During this therapy objects are freely placed in a sandbox to create new narratives and overcome trauma, especially when it seems impossible to translate emotions into words.
During the exhibition the sandbox will be the arena for many gatherings, events, talks and workshops with archaeologists, writers, translators, psychiatrists, artists and mental health professionals.
* To meet the needs of all our visitors, we offer a reduced sensory stimulated experience, weighted objects and earplugs, (sign language) interpreters can be requested and the space is barrier free.
This project is made possible with the generous support of the Mondriaan Fonds, Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst and collaborations with ROADS, Studio Zoë Claire Miller and graphics by Doungyoung Lee.
On Saterday 24th July, there will be an Artist Talk between Leslie Holt en Beautiful Distress Chairman Wilco Tuinebreijer.
Time: Jul 24, 2021 01:00 PM Eastern Time (US) = 19.00 uur Amsterdam time
The Sheeptown Project
Alexandra Broeder
Sat July 10 to Tue 13, 2021
In her work, theater maker Alexandra Broeder connects the domains of art and psychiatry with each other. In The Sheeptown Project, the audience is sucked into a parallel universe where the doors open onto another reality. In the Beautiful Distress House on the NDSM Wharf, this summer a temple will rise where the audience attends a ceremony led by children. The service is held to honor the mysterious Sheepchild.
The Sheepchild is a symbol for all the children and young people who Broeder has recently been able to meet in the Dutch mental health services (GGZ). The same behavior that in our society causes these children to fall through the cracks in the system is approached in The Sheeptown Project as a spiritual power that via a ritual ceremony gives us access to our own vulnerability.
This program by Alexandra Broeder is in collaboration with Beautiful Distress and is part of the Over het IJ Festival.
Premieres on Saturday July 10 at Beautiful Distress House.
Tickets available here.
De Dolende Mens
Rianne Meboer
Sat July 17 & Sun 18
Theater maker Rianne Meboer investigates how we deal with confused behavior in Amsterdam-Noord. With what words do you speak with integrity on this subject? Who or what does the (temporarily) wandering person encounter? And what about the environment?
In her research process, Meboer spoke to various experts, psychotherapists and district police officers, joined the Salvation Army and followed a course on Mental Health First Aid. In the end her own work experience in health care and her personal experience with mental health turned out to play a bigger role than she had expected.
Eventually she combined the results of her research in a theatrical, humorous presentation and a dialogue (Deep Democracy) with the audience and those involved. Her research will continue during Over het IJ Festival.
Sat July 17 & Sun 18, 2021 at Beautiful Distress House.
Tickets available here.
Neuro Blooms
Leslie Holt
Tuesday July 20 - Aug 31 in Mentrum
Friday July 23 - Aug 20 in Beautiful Distress House
From Friday July 23 visual artist Leslie Holt presents her project Neuro Blooms in Beautiful Distress House, an exhibition of Leslie Holt’s Brain Stain and Unspeakable series. The exhibit addresses contemporary and historical views of mental health conditions and treatments.
Opening and artist talk at Beautiful Distress House: Friday, July 23, 5:30-7:00 pm
Neuro Blooms
Neuro Blooms harnesses the power of art to make mental health conditions visible and beautiful. Neuro Blooms imagery is based on PET scans of people with mental health conditions which reveal unique maps of brain activity and function. Holt’s work probes the visual beauty of PET scans, as well as their power to convey the brain’s role in mental illness. As a series within a body of work exploring mental illness and our beautiful brains, this work is rooted in Holt’s experience with depression as well as her mother’s struggle with bipolar disorder. Neuro Blooms imagery has catalyzed partnerships with organizations in the US and UK to help shape creative mental health campaigns.
Leslie Holt is a US artist living in Hyattsville, MD. Holt will also be one of our next artists in residence at the Kings County Hospital starting next year (after Covid forced its cancellation this year).
Mentrum - Mental Health Centre
Concurrent to the exhibit, large Neuro Bloom graphics will cover the windows of the Mentrum Mental Health Centre in Amsterdam. There will be an opening and reception at the Mentrum Mental Health Centre
on Tuesday, July 20, from 5:00 - 6:30 pm.
Address: Eerste Constantijn Huygenstraat 38, Amsterdam.
This exhibition was created in collaboration with Beautiful Distress and Mentrum.
Untitled is a theater performance and video installation created by Jan Hoek and Eva Knibbe presented at the Beautiful Distress House. Untitled is a production of de Toneelmakerij, Theatergroep LeBelle (Cordaan) and Outsider Wear.
Untitled is about the last people with Down syndrome. It examines how we look at people with a mental disability now and through time. From demigod to devil child, clown, teddy bear or creative genius. Words determine how we look and what we see. Can you look at someone with Down without the word 'Down' in your head?
In 2021 the Nipt will make it possible to detect Down in an early stage of the pregnancy. In many cases this leads to a termination of the pregnancy, fewer and fewer people are born with Down.
What do the actors with Down think of this development? And their family members?
Actors Anne Gehring, Els Volmuller and Moos Kwist - mothers and brother of children with Down - share how beautiful and difficult it was for them to have a family member with Down. The actors with Down respond and advise.
The performance at the Beautiful Distress House can be seen at various time slots from July 9 through July 13, 2021 at the Beautiful Distress House.
Tickets on sale through the Toneelmakerij.
Photographer Annaleen Louwes does not like being photographed. She suspects this has to do with a negative self-image. Before she can work on the LGBTQI+ group exhibition later this year in the Beautiful Distress House, she must first search for the origin of this negative self-image that she suspects of sabotaging her work.
During this preliminary study on the work she avoids making, she transforms the Beautiful Distress House into a film set. With a film crew, castings for the role of herself and through various audio layers, conversations with her therapist, mother and daughter can be heard.
She films the process toward making a selfie or self-portrait, and whether it succeeds remains the question. She films the avoidance of confrontation with herself and begins this quest with the x-ray scan of her skull. What is hidden there that she has no control over?
Annaleen Louwes was the first artist-in-residence at King's County Hospital Center (Brooklyn) and made the publication You can't nail a pudding to a wall as a result of her residency period.
Annaleen Louwes - Dismantling the self or the making of a selfie
May 24 - May 31, 2021 at the Beautiful Distress House.
Martine Derks is a visual artist, graduated from the Rietveld Academy in 2008 and is now training to be a spiritual counselor at the VU in Amsterdam. She is currently doing an internship at GGz Centraal, Zon en Schild in Amersfoort, where she is given the opportunity to integrate art making into spiritual care.
During her open studio in the Beautiful Distress House she works together with different people she met in Zon en Schild, among other places. She creates a space where everyone can participate, regardless of their background: patient, visitor, local resident, artist or art lover. Spiritual counselors guide people through life's questions and usually do so in the form of conversations. But how can art be used to do this?
Martine Derks creates opportunities to look at everyday things in a different way. The "Sunset Saloon" presents and continues some of her collaborations:
Noortje van Kamer works in the Zon en Schild supermarket, creating sculptures from the products on the shelves and then writing poems about them. Nina van Sterkenburg is a model and can pose as Botticelli's Venus in creations made of aluminum foil. Duco Crop is working on his constellation around Beethoven taking over the walls of the Beautiful Distress House. There are also drawings by Annet Busé on display and inspiring stories by Sytske Bruning and Anouk Neskens, among others.
Making art creates a freedom that is disconnected from existing structures, which leads to new insights that reach beyond a regular conversation. Martine Derks advocates not only the beauty of this, but also the necessity.
1- 21 Mei open by appointment via info@beautifuldistress.org all days from 11:00 until 18:00
Michael van Oostende
Participant in the WOK (Waanzin Ontmoet Kunst) project in 2019 and 2020. Michael van Oostende's book of his street photography will be published in April. He will present his book at the Beautiful Distress House with an online book launch on April 14 at 5pm, where his photos will be on view until May 1st.
April 15 - May 1 @Beautiful Distress House
Inspired by his own history and his father who disappeared in a psychotic state in the streets of Istanbul, artist Michaël Bloos creates, together with Stichting Nieuwe Helden, other artists, experts and partners from the museum world and the mental health care services, his Universum van de Waanzin. A long-term investigation into the meaning of delusion. Within this project he uses theater, film, installation and audio and organizes research evenings.
Work in progress @Beautiful Distress: installation Echoes of Istanbul
At the moment Bloos is working with visual artist, instrument builder and musician Lucas Kramer on the installation Echoes of Istanbul. They are experimenting with an audio and experiential installation about psychosis and what it does to its surroundings. In form, sound, light and shadow, a story and a world of feelings will soon unfold. It is a search for how the audience itself can wander through the story of a father who loses everything including himself during his trip in Istanbul. Enter a palace of mirrors full of clean lines, undulating water and changing perspectives.
This installation will open mid-October in Museum Dr. Guislain in Ghent and then travel on to the Netherlands and the Beautiful Distress House. Michaël Bloos is also part of the thematic exhibition of Beautiful Distress on LGBTQI+ rights planned for 2022.
Make an appointment by writing us at info@beautifuldistress.org en visit us!
21 march - 12 april @Beautiful Distress House
Beautiful Distress is proud to present the new Waan-zin-geving group exhibition, featuring works by Coen van Rooij, Norbert de Jong and Raf de Wit. Together with these artists, Beautiful Distress explores how art can offer hope and meaning.