The Oude Kerk presents 'A Veil as a Glaze,' an exhibition featuring glass sculptures by Ecuadorian artist Ana Navas. The exhibition explores the complexity of perception, symbolizing how our view of the world is influenced by personal history, time, and environment through works technically akin to painted glass.
The Oude Kerk in Amsterdam is hosting 'A Veil as a Glaze,' an exhibition running from May 25 to August 25, featuring the glass sculptures of Ana Navas. This exhibition marks the beginning of a new program line in the church's side spaces and uses the veil as a metaphor for the complexities of human perception, illustrating how our vision is perpetually shaped by our personal history, temporal context, and surroundings. Navas's artistic practice is characterized by a fascination with details and motifs from visual culture that fluidly move between disciplines like art and design, as well as between genres and historical eras. Her sculptures employ techniques related to the enameling of glass, drawing colors and forms from details found in clothing and objects within well-known and lesser-known portraits by artists such as Rembrandt, Matisse, and Picasso. Additionally, she incorporates elements inspired by the floral motifs on the wallpaper in the Spiegelkamer of the Oude Kerk. These works foster new connections between images, experiences, ideas, times, and places, harmonizing with the Oude Kerk's interior, which visibly reflects ongoing processes of change across eras. The artworks encourage visitors to discover specific details within and beyond the Oude Kerk, unveiling the symbolic worlds, personal associations, and new meanings hidden behind them.