Liz Johnson Artur

The Foam 3h exhibition is made possible by the Gieskes-Strijbis Fonds. 

The exhibition by Liz Johnson Artur is made possible by Fonds 21.

Foam is supported by the VriendenLoterij, Foam Members, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, the VandenEnde Foundation and the City of Amsterdam.

In 2021 Foam receives additional support from the Mondriaan Fund and Kickstart Cultuurfonds.

We are pleased to invite you to the opening of two new exhibitions at Foam: 

of life of love of sex of movement of hope

Foam 3h - 15 Years Talent from the Collection

Pink #1, from the series A Dalston Anatomy, 2013

Foam

Glasses  - Traces of the Familiar, 2014

Opening exhibitions Liz Johnson Artur and Foam 3h

Opening Liz Johnson Artur and Foam 3h

 by London-based photographer Liz Johnson Artur. The exhibition celebrates daily events and brings them together as a form of storytelling in an attempt to elevate human emotion.

Drawing from her expansive thirty-year-long Black Balloon Archive, Johnson Artur's work develops around photographs and their encounters with people. While capturing moments, her photography engages in a constant process of dialogue. Johnson Artur places the photographs into different contexts to explore new ways to see the surfaces and moments represented in a picture. The visually engaging work uses texture and sculptural elements to convey the spirit of movement in everyday life. The exhibition will be presented as various site-specific installations, uniquely developed for Foam.

Outside/In Akwasi, 2019

Doro's Leg - Legba's Dog A Curtly Thomas Performance

Liz Johnson Artur - of life of love of sex of movement of hope

Aby Fulani

"Every age has its great loss – for modernism, it was the coherence of the self; for postmodernism, the stability of master narratives – and now, in the 21st century, there is an increasing pressure on the notion of a shared reality."

Mugshots.com, N8, from the series Obscurity, 2016

Mugshots.com, N, from the series Obscurity, 2016

Mugshots.com, N2, from the series Obscurity, 2016

”There is a new way of understanding our times.. a new wave of realism, a new wave of artists who are engaged in political issues. “Evidential Realism” is the realism of today… “

Liz Johnson Artur - of life of love of sex of movement of hope, 2021

Paolo Cirio: Artist of the Post-Panopticon Era

Mooncake, Foam Café, Amsterdam

Spread from Chinees-Indisch Stickeralbum

Cahier for Benjamin Li's In Search of Perfect Orange - Chinese Version

Chinese version

In Search of Perfect Orange. About the work of Benjamin Li

See, through you, from the filmstrip series 36 Serendipities, 2021

Untitled, 2023

There are fairies by the lake, from the filmstrip series 36 Serendipities, 2021

Portrait with goats from the series Motherlands – three faithful things, 2021

Young Human. An interview with ShuShu Sieberns

Aspromonte - Guilty Grounds, 2023

The barrel – Guilty Grounds, 2023

Silent Chronicles. About the work of Steffi Reimers

A still from Wild Encounters, 2023

"At a certain point I lost track of you. 
They make a desolation and call it peace. 
when you left even the stones were buried: 
the defenceless would have no weapons." 

"When the ibex rubs itself against the rocks, 
who collects its fallen fleece from the slopes? 
O Weaver whose seems perfectly vanished, 
who weighs the hairs on the jeweller’s balance?"

"If only somehow you could have been mine, 
what would not have been possible in the world?" 

‘In the lake the arms of temples and mosques are locked in each other’s reflections.  
Have you soaked saffron to pour on them when they are found like this  
centuries later in this country  
I have stitched to your shadow?’ 

How to Love a Tree: Wild Encounter. About the work of Hira Nabi

Gigapedia: Haatsymboliek en Online Codetaal

Bereitschaft, 2024

Gigapedia: Exhibition Glossary. About the work of Jakob Ganslmeier and Ana Zibelnik

Louis Vuitton Jeff Koons Rubens Bag, 2020

"Had I been blessed with even limited access to my own mind there would have been no reason to write. I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear."

Contemporary Floral Arrangement - #144551 (1967) #2 The Relationship is a Matter of Style, 2023

"He told me if we had everything we need, we wouldn’t need language to ask for anything."

"I’m talking about the New Woman, and a pattern which was invisible to the subjects when they lived it."

Doll Index 1, 1779-1950, 2022

Doll Index 2, 1733-1950, 2022

"I’m only doing it if it makes me feel good. Which may include buying things."

"I just want the new. I want you to be new to me and me to be new to you."

Sahara from SSENSE.com 1-2-3, 2023

Western Costume Jacket (Cheerleader), Skirt (Cheerleader) Showgirl (Bra Top, Long Fringe), 2023

Pamela as Pamela, 2023

"Turn your face toward the past future. But don’t get too nostalgic about it."

Ideal House, 2023

"Yes, I’m looking for a short-cut through the complexity and conditions of the historicity of my own age."

Tracy in Camo, 2023

Images about images: the work of Sara Cwynar

Liz Johnson Artur - of life of love of sex of movement of hope © Foam. Photo: Christian van der Kooy.⁠

Opening Liz Johnson Artur & Foam 3H 

How to look at a photograph? 

One possible answer can be found in the performances by theatre collective LostProject—a multidisciplinary storytelling collective from Amsterdam Zuid-Oost. Four creative makers each respond in their own unique performative way to the works of Liz Johnson Artur.

Dance Performance by LostProjects

Screenshot of spoken word performance LostWords by Lavinia Aronson

Dialogue performance LostWords by Ryan Pinas and Georgiefa Boomdijk

Ways of Responding: Performance Art

We invited musician and producer Aby Fulani to create a playlist inspired by the works of Liz Johnson Artur. Offering a fresh way to experience the exhibition, music adds new dimensions to the essence of Liz's work, especially while museum doors are closed.

The different rooms were displayed like an assembly of different drummers and percussionists.

Heroínas de Tejucupapo (Tejucupapo Heroins, 2022)

How can art effect change? Foam curator Hinde Haest reflects on the exhibition Staging Resistance, alongside the methods and multiple dynamics within the work of Jonathas de Andrade. By collaborating with local communities, the artist questions the power relations that are at play in his native Brazil, and in the world at large. 

"The main subject of my projects is how human interactions deal with power relations and naturalise the idea of privilege and non-privilege."

ABC da cana (Sugarcane ABC), 2014

Installation of ABC da Cana (Sugarcane ABC, 2014) from Next Level: Jonathas de Andrade - Staging Resistance, 2022

Though photography has been a crucial means of exposing social inequality from the outset, the way De Andrade employs the medium to address such issues is entirely original.

1ª Corrida de Carroças do Centro do Recife / O Levante  (1st Horse-Drawn Cart Race of Downtown Recife/ The Uprising), 2012-201

Pamphlet of 1ª Corrida de Carroças do Centro do Recife / O Levante, 2012 - 2014

1ª Corrida de Carroças do Centro do Recife / O Levante  (1st Horse-Drawn Cart Race of Downtown Recife/ The Uprising), 2012-2014

The Uprising (excerpt)

"The writing of history is about editing. It’s about choosing a way. [...] How the personal stories can rewrite history through the power of images."

Jogos Dirigidos (Directed Games), 2019

Next Level: Jonathas de Andrade - Staging Resistance, 2022

The Power of Play within the work of Jonathas de Andrade

Haufi nyana? I’ve come to take you home

in a unique way. Foam Forward Tours are based on the expertise of young students, who will guide you through the exhibition with short interactive assignments.

The tour guides of Foam Forward all participated in a long-term educational project at Foam. The students have a big heart for Foam and feel it is important to take visitors through the exhibition in their own refreshing way.

Opening Lebohang Kganye, 2023

"Mohlokomedi wa Tora", Scene 2, 2018 

Foam Forward Tour Lebohang Kganye

 by Liz Johnson Artur, artist Curtly Thomas presents the performance 

The performance will be available online for 12 days, until 8 February 2022.

The performance consists of two parts that will be presented alongside each other. The first part intervenes Liz Johnson Artur’s photographic works through a bodily projection. The second presents an ambigious scenario inspired by the vodou deity Papa Legba and the fictional spirit Doro.

Doro's Leg - Legba's Dog, 2022

smallboydanger performance at South London Gallery, 2018/2021

 by Liz Johnson Artur through the eyes of one of our inspiring guests. In Modern Perspectives, we invite guest speakers to share their interpretations of the photography in the museum. Every speaker will give their interpretation of the term 'community', which has become a keyword of our times. The evening will be guided by photographer Coco Olakunle.

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Four Sisters

Queer Choir Amsterdam, 2021

Awakenings Party in Amsterdam Dance Alone, 2016

Modern Perspectives

Join the artist Lebohang Kganye on a tour through the exhibition 

 and explore how family photographs and oral stories have shaped her work and its understanding of South African history. The tour will be moderated by the show's curator, 

“Setshwantso le ngwanaka II” from “Ke Lefa Laka: Her-Story”, 2013

Artist Tour Lebohang Kganye

by Mous Lamrabat in a unique way. Based on the expertise of young students, they will guide you through the exhibition with short interactive assignments.

The tour guides of Foam Forward all participated in a long term educational project at Foam. The students have a big heart for Foam and feel it is important to take visitors through the exhibition in their own refreshing way.

Ana love you more than my life, 2021

Mashallah with extra cheese, 2021

Untitled, 2021

Foam Forward Tour Mous Lamrabat

in a unique way. Based on the expertise of young students, they will guide you through the exhibition with short interactive assignments.

The tour guides of Foam Forward all participated in a long term educational project at Foam. The students have a big heart for Foam and feel it is important to take visitors through the exhibition, in their own refreshing way.

liz-johnson-artur

Opening exhibitions Liz Johnson Artur and Foam 3h

Liz Johnson Artur
of life of love of sex of movement of hope

Paolo Cirio
Artist of the Post-Panopticon Era

In Search of Perfect Orange
About the work of Benjamin Li

Young Human
An interview with ShuShu Sieberns

Silent Chronicles
About the work of Steffi Reimers

How to Love a Tree: Wild Encounters
About the work of Hira Nabi

Gigapedia: Hate Symbols and Online Codes
Exhibition Glossary

Images about images: reflecting on the works of Sara Cwynar

Ways of Responding: Performance Art

Playlist by Aby Fulani: visualising the work of Liz Johnson Artur through sound

The Power of Play
within the work of
Jonathas de Andrade

Interactive tour: Lebohang Kganye Haufi nyana? I’ve come to take you home

Doro's Leg - Legba's Dog
A performance by Curtly Thomas

Modern Perspectives
Liz Johnson Artur of life of love of sex of movement of hope

Meet the artist + tour: Lebohang Kganye Haufi nyana? I’ve come to take you home

Interactive Tour:
Mous Lamrabat Blessings from Mousganistan

Foam Forward Tour
Ana Núñez Rodríguez Cooking Potato Stories

liz-johnson-artur

Opening exhibitions Liz Johnson Artur and Foam 3h

Liz Johnson Artur of life of love of sex of movement of hope

Paolo CirioArtist of the Post-Panopticon Era

In Search of Perfect OrangeAbout the work of Benjamin Li

Young HumanAn interview with ShuShu Sieberns

Silent ChroniclesAbout the work of Steffi Reimers

How to Love a Tree: Wild EncountersAbout the work of Hira Nabi

Gigapedia: Hate Symbols and Online CodesExhibition Glossary

Images about images: reflecting on the works of Sara Cwynar

Ways of Responding: Performance Art

Playlist by Aby Fulani: visualising the work of Liz Johnson Artur through sound

The Power of Playwithin the work ofJonathas de Andrade

Interactive tour: Lebohang Kganye Haufi nyana? I’ve come to take you home

Doro's Leg - Legba's DogA performance by Curtly Thomas

Modern PerspectivesLiz Johnson Artur of life of love of sex of movement of hope

Meet the artist + tour: Lebohang Kganye Haufi nyana? I’ve come to take you home

Interactive Tour: Mous Lamrabat Blessings from Mousganistan

Foam Forward TourAna Núñez Rodríguez Cooking Potato Stories

Liz Johnson Artur
of life of love of sex of movement of hope

Paolo Cirio
Artist of the Post-Panopticon Era

In Search of Perfect Orange
About the work of Benjamin Li

Young Human
An interview with ShuShu Sieberns

Silent Chronicles
About the work of Steffi Reimers

How to Love a Tree: Wild Encounters
About the work of Hira Nabi

Gigapedia: Hate Symbols and Online Codes
Exhibition Glossary

The Power of Play
within the work of
Jonathas de Andrade

Doro's Leg - Legba's Dog
A performance by Curtly Thomas

Modern Perspectives
Liz Johnson Artur of life of love of sex of movement of hope

Interactive Tour:
Mous Lamrabat Blessings from Mousganistan

Foam Forward Tour
Ana Núñez Rodríguez Cooking Potato Stories