Finissage Open Studio: On Process and Practice

We would like to welcome you to the finissage of the Open Studio: On Process and Practice. We invite you to meet the artists, and see their works one last time before the Open Studio is closed. Have some drinks, get a tour, and join the dialogue around the developments they have made in the Open Studio. 

More information on Open Studio: On Process and Practice

The Open Studio presents a selection of works in progress by 10 emerging artists—the participants of FOTODOK’s talent program Lighthouse 2021/2022: Chris Becher, Marvel Harris, Lena Holzer, Daniël Lokerse, Sana Mulay, Nastassja Nefjodov, Peter Pflügler, Katharina Siegel, Rens de Vries and Mirre Korevaar-Wijnja.

How does a photographic body of work or a series emerge and develop? What unforeseeable and numerous intermediate steps are occurring from an initial idea and a work you’d call finished? What does it mean to engage with the photographic medium in today’s pluralistic world?

FOTODOK and the 10 participants invite you to this rare and different opportunity to engage with works in process in the FOTODOK space. We are creating a setting for a curious audience and artists to share ongoing works at different stages of production. We open up a vulnerable space where methods, plans, and doubts are exposed and where the artists themselves are present and available for dialogue.

The presented works will not necessarily comply with expectations of framed fine art prints hanging in a clean white cube, nor will these works offer a final answer—they will rather be a spark. Stimulating an audience, keen to engage with emerging image-makers, to open up an exchange about and with new work, and allow a glimpse behind the curtains.

Preceded by listening and a long-term dialogic process, Chris Becher’s portraiture-based practice interweaves images and text. At the same time, it delves into how individual histories and grander social narratives shape identity. Stemming from a personal craving to connect with the world around him, the autobiographical story of Marvel Harris, where photography and life entwine and merge, invites others to participate in his vulnerability, offering them an insight into his mind. Through words, images, and natural materials, Lena Holzer examines the relations between social constructions and the individual. Her work revolves around themes of intimacy, subjectivity, and desire. In a multimedia installation, Daniël Lokerse questions the linearity of a grieving process. By reflecting on the suicide of his father, he examines how we deal with grief as a society. Sana Mulay’s work focuses on migration and identity, rethinking the past and shaping the future. Nastassja Nefjodov tells her family’s stories in which she discusses the emotional traces of war, the influence of politics on the personal and issues of identity. Peter Pflügler’s work centers around the dynamics of secrets, trauma, and the role of silence in transferring it from one generation to the next. Katharina Siegel will explore the boundaries of her inner world and escapism; a tendency present to escape reality for the comfort and safety of an imaginary world. Rens de Vries is investigating if the camera itself can hold authorship on the image it produces, and does this make the photographer obsolete? Mirre Korevaar-Wijnja’s recent work is about home and belonging within a post-conflict nation, and includes research on how photography can contribute to a process of reconciliation.

Please join us, and let’s get together!

Curator: Team Lighthouse
Design: Team Lighthouse
Production: Olga Victorie & team Lighthouse
With the generous support of: Gemeente Utrecht & Mondriaan Fund

FOTODOK & the Lighthouse participants are looking forward to welcoming you to our Open Studio.