
Moca, Beijing, CN, 2008
Tape installation on 2 walls, measuring 25 meters in length
International groupshow 'Confronting the Image' curated by Qin Jian at Moca in Beijing.
Aam Solleveld draws spaces. Early drawings refer to the rooms of houses where the artist has lived or stayed in. They not only refer to the concrete living space, a chair, a table or a bed, but also the intangible, to large, unnameable feelings which cleave to the walls and adhere everyday objects. A black mass as well as a gaping abyss. Strange and at the same time self-evident.
The drawings are made with graphite pencil. They are austere lines and cold black shading on the white paper. Maximum contrast. In 2003/2004 Solleveld made a series of drawings of media spaces in the same style. Decors built in studios for radio or television recordings. Spaces in which discussions, political debates or interviews could take place.
Solleveld started to make life size sello tape drawings directly to the walls of spaces.The artist created two of these installations during a working period in China, in the Chinese European Art Center in Xiamen. Cupboards, a gate, a bar. An Archetypal Chinese street. Architecture alternating with everyday objects and media elements. Matter, then emptiness. The drawings are flat and spatial at the same time. With minimal means and a limited number of lines, Solleveld produces an architectural space which is just as present as the space itself. A space within a space.
Text by Qin Jian