Wilfried Lentz Rotterdam

Wilfried Lentz is pleased to present Works 2008-2012, by artist and activist Patricia Kaersenhout (b. 1966, lives and works in Amsterdam). It will be the artist’s third solo exhibition at the gallery, shown in two consecutive parts

Kaersenhout, herself of Surinamese heritage, researches hidden and forgotten stories, in a body of work that unfolds as an artistic search for the meaning of invisibility resulting from the African diaspora and colonialism. Her work embodies the paradox of wanting to visualize the unseen and to allow the undefinable.
At the moment the reception of her work coincides with a political wave of emancipation among younger activists and artists of color worldwide, and where the response is more and more one of recognition. She is a forerunner in The Netherlands and neighboring countries and one of the main protagonists of this movement.

As a consequence of being a forerunner her earlier work is underexposed, never been shown or – only recently – in bits and pieces. In retrospective were the years 2008-2012 an artistic condensation of her extensive research and articulated in a large body of work which formed also the foundation for the years to come. We will show a selection of this period – in two parts – with many highlights.

The first part can be summarized under the moniker: “The politics of the Black female body” which shows two work series which depict the objectification and stereotyping of the black female body, while historically almost ignored. The exhibition consists of the work series The politics of the Black female body, 2011, Black ladies, 2011 and Your History Makes me so Horny also from 2011. The second theme is called The Poetry of Invisibility. Shown is a series of smaller works titled Invisible Men inspired by Ralph Ellison’s novel and three large drawings titled The Poetry of Invisibility all from 2008 (click on the titles for more documentation).

Patricia Kaersenhout has exhibited and performed widely, for example in 2020 at Bonnefantenmuseum Maastricht (NL), Kunstverein Braunschweig (DE), Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz (DE); in 2019 at De Appel, Amsterdam (NL) and The National Art Gallery of the Bahama’s; in 2017-2018 Manifesta 12 in Palermo (IT), Prospect 4, New Orleans (US), Savvy Contemporary Berlin (DE) and Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (NL); 2014 Biennale of Dakar (SN). In 2021 she will show again at Savvy, New Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow (RU) and Palais de Tokyo, Paris (FR).