Jeroen de Rijke | Willem de Rooij

The Mandarin Ducks \n\nSince the start of their collaboration in 1994 Jeroen de Rijke (1970-2006) and Willem de Rooij (*1969) have realized a select corpus of 35mm and 16mm films, photographs, objects, installations, and printed matters. Their collaborative work analysis the conventions of presentation and representation, and explores the areas of tension between socio-political and autonomous image production. \n\nThe exhibition at K21 is conceived as the counterpart to twin exhibition in Mambo, Bologna, scheduled for April 2008. Each of these two exhibitions shows a different selection of de Rijke / de Rooij's work, contextualized by documentation and source material, and accompanied by a comprehensive overview of the both work in a new exhibition catalogue. By partial reconstruction of previous exhibitions within both exhibitions a complex web of cross-references is developed, making for a deeper understanding of de Rijke / de Rooij's artistic and programmatic concerns. \n\nThe exhibition at K21 centers on two of the most important films and a slide installation: Mandarin Ducks (2005)-first screened at the Dutch Pavilion at the 51st Venice Biennale-as well as The Point of Departure (2002) and Orange (2004). Mandarin Ducks is a highly stylized conversation piece, in which several people negotiate physical and emotional space within a modernist domestic interior. The monologues and dialogues intersperse private and public topics in a style that is both icy and dramatic. In The Point of Departure the eye of the camera systematically explores the internal and external structures of an Oriental carpet. As striking and visually precise as this investigation is, it ultimately runs up against the limits of the possibility of understanding this exotic object. Finally, Orange is nothing more than a projection of various monochromatic hues of orange. At the same time, however, this abstract, almost hallucinatory modulation of a single color triggers associations with the pure ideology of Dutch national color. \n\nIn two partial reconstructions of previous shows works by amongst others Kurt Schwitters, Gerrit Rietveld, James Ensor, and Pier Paolo Pasolini are presented next to documentation material. De Rijke / de Rooij's focus on exhibition design, and thus on the control over the contextualization of their own pieces becomes apparent. Like a russian doll, these exhibitions should be ?opened up? several times for the entire ?picture? to be seen.