A selection of pieces

At the far end of the first corridor, we catch sight of a large white cloud advancing toward us, casting its shadow on the walls. Berndnaut Smilde’s work presents and anticipates one of the symbolic anchors that will accompany us throughout the exhibition: the cloud – an ethereal element that gives us the impression, taken to an extreme as a metaphor for digitalisation, of being a mere form without material support.

It is one of the most recognisable elements in the childlike imagination and in magic, because it immediately connects with a space of dreaming, of disconnection between formal imagination and the material reality that sustains it.

The exhibition departs, in a way, from the premise that, despite having crossed the reality principle required by adulthood, somewhere deep down we still want to see clouds. Any glimmer, any projection that leads us toward that image will enchant us and produce a certain effect of fascination. Yet at the same time, guided by the reality principle that permeates our thinking, we tend to assume that the cloud is not truly there. The game proposed by Smilde’s work – literally introducing clouds into museum spaces – is that today, accustomed as we are to digital trickery and visual manipulation, we tend to believe we are looking at a photographic composite. And yet this is not the case: through a complex and refined technique, the artist truly introduces clouds into these spaces, endowing the images with a powerful hypnotic force.

Credits

Nimbus Atlas
Video, 2016

Nimbus Diocleziano Aula V, Museo Nazionale Romano, Roma
Photograph, 2018

Nimbus MdbK, Museum der bildenden Künste, Leipzig
Photograph, 2021

Nimbus Kunstmuseum Hal, Kunstmuseum Den Haag, La Haia
Photograph, 2021

Nimbus MAXXI, Museo Nazionale delle Arti del XXI Seculo, Roma
Photograph, 2018

Nimbus Kunstmuseum Erezaal, Kunstmuseum Den Haag, La Haia
Photograph, 2021

Berndnaut Smilde

Berndnaut Smilde lives and works in Amsterdam. Born in Groningen in 1978, he began his studies at the Minerva Art Academy and later at the Frank Mohr Institute in Groningen. Smilde has participated in numerous exhibitions and art fairs in various countries, including the Saatchi Gallery in London; Expo 2020, Dubai; Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam; and the LIAN Contemporary Art Space, Shanghai, among other prominent art institutions. He has also been honoured with several awards and recognitions from various international organisations.

www.berndnaut.nl