Johan van der Keuken – Tegen het licht: An Innovative Exhibition at Eye Filmmuseum

This exhibition at Eye Filmmuseum explored the work of Johan van der Keuken, a filmmaker and photographer known for his dual talents. It delved into his unique method of juxtaposing contrasting images and observing a constantly changing world, showcasing his artistic and socially engaged oeuvre.

Johan van der Keuken (1938-2001) was a remarkable dual talent, filming with a photographic eye and photographing with a cinematic gaze. Eye presented his films and a significant number of photographic works, offering insight into his creative process. Van der Keuken built an artistically compelling and socially engaged oeuvre that demonstrated clear similarities in form and content across his work. He frequently employed geographical differences, blending observations from Africa, Asia, or Latin America with comparable or diametrically opposed images or situations. The exhibition highlighted how Van der Keuken brought together different sequences within a single film and how he created contrasts between various images. The exhibition 'Johan van der Keuken – Tegen het licht' (Against the Light), which ran from March 30 to June 9, 2013, focused on the distinctive manner in which Van der Keuken combined contrasting images in his films and observed the world in continuous flux. His working method, evident even in early portraits from the 1960s of artists like Lucebert and Tajiri, possessed a bold visual and artistic character. The exhibition also demonstrated Van der Keuken's pioneering efforts to translate cinematic time into space, with the simultaneity of images serving as a foundational principle. He presented events from daily life from multiple perspectives, acknowledging that a single image cannot capture the entirety of reality. Towards the end of his life, he became increasingly interested in the spatial presentation of his films and photographs, a concept that the exhibition in Eye extended.

This exhibition took place from March 30 to June 9, 2013. Information regarding ticketing or admission is not available for past exhibitions on this page. Visitors are encouraged to check the Eye Filmmuseum website for current exhibition details and ticketing information.