Opening reception: Thursday, September 6, 6 – 8pm
Luhring Augustine is pleased to announce the opening of two solo exhibitions by Dutch artist Guido van der Werve: Nummer veertien, home, an exhibition of two new works at Luhring Augustine’s Chelsea location, and Works 2003 - 2009, a selection of eight earlier films by van der Werve, at Luhring Augustine Bushwick.
The exhibition in Chelsea will debut van der Werve’s most recent film, Nummer veertien, home, a multilayered and complex film, the structure of which is based on that of a classical Requiem: three movements and twelve acts. The film poetically interweaves tales of Alexander the Great, the death of Frédéric Chopin, and van der Werve’s own personal narrative. When Chopin died in Paris, his sister vowed to fulfill the composer’s wish of bringing his heart back to his native land of Poland; she succeeded in smuggling his heart out of France and carried it to Warsaw where it was interred in the Church of the Holy Cross. For Nummer veertien, home, Van der Werve performed a 1,000-mile triathlon (swimming, biking, and running) from Warsaw to Paris – seven times the length of the Ironman Triathlon – retracing the path that Chopin’s heart travelled to its final burial place. Nummer veertien, home explores themes common to van der Werve’s work, such as physical endurance, man’s struggle with nature, the crossover between history and geography, melancholy and the solitary – all presented in van der Werve’s surreal and deadpan sensibility. Also included in the Chelsea exhibition will be Nummer dertien: emotional poverty (2010-11), a work in three parts, including photographs, text, a slide projection, and a 12-hour HD film.
In Bushwick, the gallery will present eight earlier films by van der Werve: Nummer twee (2003), Nummer drie (2004), Nummer vier (2005), Nummer zes (2006), Nummer zeven (2006), Nummer acht (2007), Nummer negen (2008), and Nummer twaalf (2009). Luhring Augustine Bushwick gallery hours are Fridays 10 am – 6 pm, and Saturdays and Sundays 12 pm – 6 pm.
In conjunction with these exhibitions will be two additional events:
On Saturday, September 8, van der Werve will perform the Third Annual Running to Rachmaninoff Run, in which Van der Werve invites runners to join him on a 30-mile run to Sergei Rachmaninoff’s grave. The run begins at Luhring Augustine and ends at the Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, NY, the location of Rachmaninoff’s burial place.
On Sunday, October 7, van der Werve will perform his full requiem for Nummer veertien, home in a one-time performance with the American Symphony Orchestra in the MoMA PS1 Performance Dome, as part of the museum’s “Sunday Sessions” series.
Van der Werve was born in Papendrecht, the Netherlands in 1977. Previous solo exhibitions of his work have been presented at The Model in Sligo, Ireland, Hayward Gallery in London, the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington D.C., de Hallen Haarlem in the Netherlands, and the Kunsthalle Basel in Switzerland. He was the recipient of the 2012 Charlotte Kohler Prize for Visual Art as well as Le Prix International d’Art Contemporain, Fondation Prince Pierre de Monaco in 2011. Van der Werve is also a classically trained concert pianist and composer, as well as an avid triathlete.
