I’m delighted to announce that, as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Sculptors, I have been awarded the Thread Residency in Senegal.

Thread Residency

Thread is a cultural center and artist’s residency program in Sinthian, a remote village in eastern Senegal near the Gambia River and the border with Mali. In close collaboration with the Josef & Anni Albers Foundation and the non-profit organization Le Korsa, it enables artists from around the world to advance their work in an exceptional setting, and serves as a platform for people from throughout the Tambacounda region to share their own stories with a wide audience that extends internationally.

Thread’s imaginative building by Toshiko Mori has a remarkable impact. Besides being an uplifting space in which artists work on their own projects, it serves the local people as a base for agricultural programs, language and health classes, markets, parties, music performances, and sports. At the same time, it helps the local population in practical ways; the roof collects and retains rainwater, creating a viable source for 40% of the village’s domestic water needs, and it even provides electrical outlets where villagers charge their cellphones and a small library that attracts lots of visitors. Thread was designed to be a flexible and evolving public space, and the local population uses it in a variety of ways: it has become home to music and dance festivals, soccer tournaments, daily study halls, and village meetings.

Designed pro-bono by Toshiko Mori Architect, and built by a local team of contractors, Thread combines local materials and building customs with an innovative design and specific geometry. It won an AIA National Honors award, was short-listed for the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, selected for the 2014 Venice Biennale, won two Architizer awards, and was named as one of the best buildings and projects of 2015 by many notable journals, including Architectural Record, WIRED Magazine, among others.

Thread posits that art, culture, and architecture should be supported in tandem with agriculture, education, and health, and that all of these sectors support one another.

Text © Thread

This year I will show the sculptures Magnified no.3 & 4 at the Amsterdam Sculpture Biennale, ARTZUID. The event will start on 21st May and will end on the 21st of September.

For the 9th edition of the sculpture festival, curator Ralph Keuning has invited 60 artists to participate. This year’s exhibition marks the 750th anniversary of Amsterdam, celebrating the city’s enduring spirit of freedom and tolerance. A blend of figurative and abstract sculptures and installations will transform the green lanes of Berlage in Amsterdam Zuid into a surreal urban landscape. Over the course of four months, visitors can explore over 70 striking sculptures, free of charge. The ARTZUID Information Pavilion is located at Minervalaan 1.

Participating artists:

Arlene Shechet (USA), Art van Triest (NL), Atelier van Lieshout (NL), Alicja Kwade (PL), Armando (NL), Bart Lunenburg (NL), Bastienne Kramer (NL), Britte Koolen (NL), Carin Scholten (NL), Chris Peterson (NL), Cristobal Gabarron (ES), David Bade (CW), David van der Kop (NL), David Nash (GB), Erik Buijs (NL), Eiji Watanabe (JPN), Esther Jiskoot (NL), Fiona Römpp (NL), Gavin Turk (GB), Helen Vergouwen (NL), Herbert Nouwens (NL) Henk Visch (NL), Hieke Luik (NL), Huub en Adelheid Kortekaas (NL), Isa van Lier (NL), Ilse Oelbers (NL), Iris Le Rütte (NL), Ivan Cremer (NL), Jaume Plensa (ES), Jean-Marie Appriou (FR), Katleen Vinck (BE), Klaas Gubbels (NL), Laura Schurink (NL), Leilah Babirye (USA), Lina Iris Victor (USA), Leiko Ikemura (JPN), Lotta Blokker (NL), Louise Schouwenberg (NL), Maja van Hall (NL), Marcel Pinas (SR), Maen Florin (BE), Magdalena Abakanowicz (PL), Marte Röling (NL), Marieke Bolhuis (NL), Margot Berkman (NL), Marion Verboom (FR), Mickey Hoogendijk (NL), Nadia Naveau (BE), Natasja Alers (NL), Nel van Lith (NL), Nelson Carrilho (NL), Neo Rauch (DE), Paloma Varga Weisz (DE), Paul Goede (NL), Rachel Harrison (USA), Rob Schreefel (NL), Rob Voerman (NL), Ronald Westerhuis (NL),Ruud Kuijer (NL), Shinkichi Tajiri (USA), Sjef Voets (NL), Sokari Douglas Camp (GB), Stefan Rinck (DE), Tirzo Martha (CW), Tschabalala Self (USA), Tal R (DEN), Tony Cragg (GB), Wjm Kok (NL), Wouter van der Giessen (NL), Xavier Veilhan (FR), Yoshitomo Nara (JPN)

More info on: www.artzuid.nl

Chris will head to India later this year to make two large-scale sculptures, one of which is titled ‘Fragmented Reality’ and will be made in stainless steel to be sited at ITM University in Gwalior and the other sculpture will be made for the campus in Vadodara. The circular shape opens up and closes, depending on the position of the viewer. This sculpture will reflect the dynamics of the ITM University campus. Both sculptures evoke a sense of curiosity and appeal to one’s explorative nature.

The other sculpture to be made in India, will be sculptural space titled ‘A monument to those memories lost’. It’s a sculptural space that invites the viewer to enter this defined stage, and experience the work in a more contemplative fashion. More news and images will be shared on a later date.