ShadowDance

The works on display differ in content and form. The common denominator is the use of shadow as a crucial visual tool; and in particular, shadow in movement. The artists use shadow as a metaphor for a range of - sometimes heavy - themes: time - alter-ego - evil - death. But the phenomenon of shadow is also a source of inspiration for lighter work, creating illusions and shadow "play.

In 'ShadowDance,' the electric light goes out for a moment and you are carried - with an imaginary flickering candle in your hand - into the sometimes dark but also playful worlds evoked by the artworks. 'ShadowDance' is the first major exhibition in the Netherlands on the use of shadow in art.

Thirty-six international artists
Vito Acconci (USA), Charles Atlas (USA), Dirck van Baburen († NL), Aram Bartholl (DE), Christian Boltanski (FR), Jim Campbell (USA), David Claerbout (BE), Haim Elmoznino (IL), Mounir Fatmi (MA), Ellis Gallagher (USA), Hanna von Goeler (DE), Samuel van Hoogstraten († NL), Mella Jaarsma (NL), William Kentridge (ZA), Ralph Kistler (DE), Germaine Kruip (NL), Couzijn van Leeuwen (NL), Gabriel Lester (NL), Zilla Leutenegger (CH), Mark Lewis (UK), Rafael Lozano-Hemmer (MX), Wolfgang Munch & Kiyoshi Furukawa (DE & JP), Serge Onnen (FR/ NL), Lotte Reiniger († DE), Viviane Sassen (NL), Tomas Schats (NL), Hyo-Jung Seo (KR), Teresa Serrano (MX), Conrad Shawcross (UK), Sam Taylor-Wood (UK), The One Minutes (NL), Dimitri Vangrunderbeek (BE), Kara Walker (USA), Andy Warhol († USA), Diet Wiegman (NL).

Shadowtraces by Ellis Gallagher throughout Amersfoort
Brooklyn artist Ellis Gallagher will create so-called shadow traces throughout the city of Amersfoort during the week leading up to the opening. These chalk drawings of the shadows of bikes, lampposts, trees and fences, among other things, aim to excite the viewer and make them pause and observe, engage in conversations and thereby experience their surroundings in a renewed, positive, way.
A workshop led by the artist will be organized for students of the Utrecht School of the Arts (HKU).

Catalog
A catalog has been specially compiled for this exhibition, containing the essay 'The Hole of the Shadow' by Edzard Mik. A quote from the essay: "Shadows speak to us. They excite our imagination, play on our fears and desires. They walk behind us, with us and in front of us. They imitate, persiflate and disfigure. They frighten, obscure, make us all but disappear, sometimes willingly, other times unwillingly, hinting in more frivolous moments at another, extremely fleeting existence, in which nothing seems to be of any importance anymore than the shape they happen to have taken." The catalog also includes a flipbook animation by Tomas Schats and an anthology of quotes and text excerpts about shadow, from Plato to Peter Schlemihl and from Peter Pan to Lucky Luke.

Film program ShadowDance
On Thursday, October 28, Kunsthal KAdE, in collaboration with Theater Film Café De Lieve Vrouw, is organizing a film evening about shadow in film and architectural film. Jan Salden will use various fragments to show the ways in which shadow plays a role in films. To open the evening, the film "Play" by visual artist Martine Stig, which she shot in New York in 2010, will be screened. The film begins at 7:30 p.m. and runs until 9:30 p.m. Location: Theater Film Café De Lieve Vrouw, Lieve Vrouwestraat 13, Amersfoort. Additionally, on Tuesday, December 14, the silent drama film "Schatten - Eine nächtliche Halluzination (Warning Shadows)" from 1932, by director Arthur Robison will be shown and for children the Disney film "Peter Pan" will be shown on Wednesday afternoon, November 24: The Boy Who Loses His Shadow... A continuous film program will be shown in KAdE's Auditorium, including the film Father and Daughter, a 2000 animated film by Michael Dudok de Wit, advertising films by Sandeman and (an excerpt from) Carl Theodor Dreyer's 1932 German horror film Vampyr.

Performance Chamber Choir Saudade
On Sunday, Oct. 3, the Utrecht chamber choir Saudade will perform in the Auditorium of Kunsthal KAdE. Saudade is a vocal choir with a repertoire consisting mainly of a cappella music, from Renaissance and Baroque to contemporary music. Conductor Vincent Doek takes inspiration from "ShadowDance" for this performance, which is free to attend, and selects the music based on the works in the exhibition.