Modern©ité

Opening hours Wednesday - Sunday, 12-5 pm

‘Modern©ité' is an exhibition presenting poetic and critical views of the modern urban environment. The exhibition features sculptures, video works, photographs and installations by five internationally renowned artists: Francis Alÿs (Belgium/Mexico), Pedro Cabrita Reis (Portugal), Marcelo Cidade (Brazil), Jordi Colomer (Spain) and Anita Molinero (France).

The five artists share a vision of modernity which is closely tied to the character of cities, particularly those in Southern Europe or Latin America. The city is the space in which their different artistic trajectories meet, marked as much by Samuel Beckett, Kasimir Malevich, Gordon Matta-Clark, Hélio Oiticica as by Luis Buñuel. Using and appropriating the material that cities offer - not only physical objects, but for example also the traditions and habits of residents and passing visitors - they construct their personal visions of the urban environment. Focal point is the current issue how the ideological foundation of modernist architecture and city planning can be reconciled with the elusive character of a constantly changing society.

‘Modern©ité' holds up a mirror. In The Netherlands several urban areas are in the midst of redevelopment. One example is the area of The Hague South West, where the modernist ideals of the architect Dudok are often at odds with the complexity of daily life.