Reality Check – Museum MORE, The Netherlands

Available from February 16, 2025

Museum MORE will be ten years old in 2025. We celebrate this anniversary with Reality Check | 10 years MORE, 10 years of realism . With this exhibition, MORE shows the very latest realism from the Netherlands. In Reality Check, MORE presents work by more than 50 contemporary artists . From young to old, from established to recently graduated and working in the most diverse media: painting, photography, video, installation, sculpture, drawing and graphics. The most important criterion: the work was made in the Netherlands in the ten years that Museum MORE has existed.

Realism lives!

Anyone who follows contemporary developments in art already knows: realism is alive! Contemporary artists increasingly opt for figuration to explore reality. Because that reality is what realism is all about. But what exactly is reality? That question has been important since the beginning of realism in art, and in the current era it is perhaps more relevant than ever. Our time is characterized by a multitude of images and information. Fact-checking is of great importance. Artificial intelligence shows us an artificial reality, but even outside of that, ‘alternative truths’, photoshopped images and Instagram filters fly around our ears. The demand for authenticity has rarely been so great. Our time calls for a reality check and the contemporary realist tries to provide that.

Authenticity and completeness

Every artist has his own way of dealing with, mirroring and questioning reality. Artists like Wolfgang Messing , Caja Boogers and Daniela Schwabe do this by reflecting on contemporary visual culture. In a time when gigantic amounts of images flash past us and their authenticity can no longer be guaranteed, realism can offer an escape: a possibility to reflect on what is real.

Artists like Esiri-Erheriene Essi , Anya Janssen , Kaili Smith and Dion Rosina challenge reality in a very different way. With their art, they bring stories to light that have often been ignored in the past: perspectives from the LGBTQIA+ community or cultural histories, for example. By showing their personal perspectives, these artists challenge reality: does it tell the whole story? Isn’t there a question of multiple, personal realities, and are they all represented?

Viewing reality

For years, realism has held up a mirror to ‘real life’ and its own time. In a recognizable, straightforward visual language, the realist considers the real world. The less attractive aspects of reality are also part of this. For example, Ronald Ophuis paints international violence and conflict on a monumental scale to draw attention to it. Rosa Everts made a pencil drawing every day during the COVID pandemic to visualize changing human behavior and Domenique Himmelsbach de Vries gives people without a residence permit a face with his Paper Monument for the Paperless.

Progress and tradition

To capture contemporary reality, the realist sometimes chooses progressive means. For example, Reality Check shows a digital painting by Sidi El Karchi and a 3D-printed sculpture by Telmo Pieper .

Often, traditional means are chosen: oil paint on canvas, ceramics (for example by Koos Buster and Kira Fröse ) and textiles ( Joyce Overheul , Leonie Schneider ) are strongly represented in contemporary art. Also by using these media, the realist of today reflects on contemporary reality: in a hasty and fleeting time, the handmade, unique work of art offers a welcome resting point.

Book

The exhibition will be accompanied by a richly illustrated catalogue with an essay by curator Sito Rozema. In his essay, Sito describes contemporary Dutch realism using artists in the exhibition and places this in historical perspective. In addition, the more than 50 artists in this art book explain their view of realism. The book will be published in English/Dutch by Uitgeverij Waanders and is available in our museum shop in Gorssel.

Artists

The film is about a series of short films about the life of a woman who has been living in a country for a long time. … Reerds, Dion Rosina, Marjolein Rothman, Leonie Schneider, Daniela Schwabe, Kaili Smith, Robin Speijer, Leon Stoffelen, TINKEBELL, Tom van Veen, Sam Werkhoven, Ina van Zyl