| | | | | | | | Untitled work from the family archive
© photographer unknown / courtesy of the artist. | | | Benjamin Li » In Search of Perfect Orange | | | | 30 August – 1 December 2024 | | | | Opening: Thursday 29 August 17:30 | | | | | | | ... until 8 September 2024 | | | Photography through the lens of AI | | | | Missing Mirror | | | | | | | ... until 11 September 2024 | | | | | | | ... until 27 September 2024 | | | | | | Foam Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam Keizersgracht 609 . 1017 DS Amsterdam
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | Spread from Chinees-Indisch Restaurant Stickeralbum by Benjamin Li
with untitled work from family archive © photographer unknown / courtesy of the artist. | | | Benjamin Li » In Search of Perfect Orange | | | | 30 August – 1 December 2024 | | | Opening: Thursday 29 August 17:30
Foam 3h presents In Search of Perfect Orange, a playful exhibition by Rotterdam-based conceptual artist Benjamin Li. Through his work, Li explores themes like identity, belonging, labour and cultural heritage, using food as a lens through which to delve into these complex subjects. The exhibition setup takes inspiration from the 'Chinese-Indisch' restaurant, a culinary genre partially shaped by the colonial history of the Netherlands. | | | | | | | | | Nr.25 Tjap Tjoy met Cha Sieuw, Azië, Boxmeer, 2022
© Benjamin Li. | | | | | | Since 2014, Li has visited over 1,000 'Chinese-Indisch' restaurants across the Netherlands, creating an archive of menus, tableware, and personal stories. Through photography, video, sculptures, and puzzles featuring images of 'Chinese-Indisch' dishes, he explores the richness, variety and charm of these restaurants. However, for Li the restaurants represent more than just culinary enjoyment; they symbolize his family's resilience and a broader journey towards integration for the Asian diaspora within Dutch society. Many of his relatives, including his parents, have worked in restaurants to build a life in their new homeland. Through his art, Li honors these establishments, though often misunderstood, highlighting their cultural and historical significance. In doing so, his work challenges stereotypes and prejudices faced by Asians in the Netherlands, focusing on identity, representation, displacement, foodways and a sense of home.
His recent publication, the Chinese-Indisch Restaurant Stickeralbum which will be part of the exhibition, invites the public to engage with this heritage in an interactive way, encouraging the collection and exchange of stickers that celebrate it. The exhibition centers a large round table featuring a rotating art piece inspired by halma, which is commonly known best as Chinese checkers. The pawns of the game resemble roses carved from carrots, paying tribute to a practice by Li’s father. Through this immersive setup, Li's work navigates the delicate balance between exposing the absurdity of certain stereotypes and fostering a reappraisal for the beauty and heritage of the 'Chinese-Indisch' restaurant. | | | | | | | | | Spread from Chinees-Indisch Restaurant Stickeralbum by Benjamin Li
with untitled work from family archive © photographer unknown / courtesy of the artist. | | | | | | Benjamin Li (1985) is a conceptual artist based in Rotterdam. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Photography and a master’s degree in Media Design and Communication and completed a two-year residency at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam. His work has been exhibited in LAM Museum, Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, Noordbrabants Museum, among others, and is included in various museum and corporate collections such as SPACES Art Collection and AkzoNobel Art Foundation. In 2018 he was nominated for the Volkskrant Visual Arts Prize and received a grant from the Mondriaan Fund.
Foam 3h is a project space in the museum where recently graduated artists and photographers are invited to present their first solo museum exhibition. For this space, Foam selects national and international artists who are challenged to experiment, surprise and push the limits of photography. | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | Andre 3000, New York City, 2003
© Janette Beckman | | | | | | | ... until 8 September 2024 | | | Foam is proud to present the first large scale retrospective of the iconic punk and hip-hop photographer Janette Beckman. With a photographic career stretching over four decades, she documented pivotal underground movements from the early stages of the punk and hip-hop scene to recent movements like Black Lives Matter.
Rebels: An Ode to Subversives, Revolutionaries and Provocateurs sheds light on themes such as social justice, political activism, and youth culture.
Beckman is considered one of the most prominent photographers of the London punk scene during the 1970s and ‘80s. Her portraits of legendary groups such as The Clash, The Sex Pistols, and The Jam were often featured in influential magazines such as The Face and Melody Maker. In the early 1980s Beckman moved to New York, where she documented the rising hip-hop scene and its pioneers such as Salt-N-Pepa, Slick Rick and LL Cool J. Her photographs capture the raw energy and essence of the artists and have shaped the way we see these music cultures today. | | | | | | | | | Sade, New York City, 1983
© Janette Beckman | | | | | | Beyond her contribution to music cultures, the exhibition pays homage to rebels who challenge social and political norms, showcasing her photographs of recent movements such as Black Lives Matter, Anti-Trump protests, and peace demonstrations for Gaza. Beckman’s commitment to capture the subversives, revolutionaries and provocateurs highlights the broader social impact of her work. Furthermore, the exhibition explores how Beckman’s photographs have influenced brands, highlighting her campaigns for renowned brands such as Dior, Kangol and the shoot for Gucci x Dapper Dan.
The exhibition, Rebels, serves as a tribute to some of the most important social movements and subcultures of recent decades and includes a mix of images, contact sheets, and vinyl covers. | | | | | | | | | Salt-n-Pepa, New York City, 1987
© Janette Beckman | | | | | | | Janette Beckman (b. 1959) is a British American photographer, currently residing in New York, known for her work on subcultures. Over the years, her work has received international recognition and has even entered the permanent collection of prestigious institutions such as the British National Portrait Gallery. In her early career Beckman worked for influential music magazines, capturing the biggest artists of that time. More recently she has photographed for big clients, such as the Gucci x Dapper Dan shoot for Interview Magazine, whilst at the same time continuing her work by documenting today’s emerging subcultures. | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | A self-portrait of an algorithm no.89, 2023 © Maria Mavropoulou, AI-generated image. | | | Photography through the lens of AI | | | Foam is thrilled to announce a manifestation on Photography Through the Lens of AI, zooming in on the latest developments on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in photography. In recent years AI has started to make a big impact in the world of photography, changing the way we make and see images. The multidimensional project consists of a group exhibition Missing Mirror which is accompanied by the solo exhibition of Paolo Cirio – AI Attacks (part of Foam’s recurring Next Level series), a thematic issue of Foam Magazine (#66: Missing Mirror), along with a digital presentation on Foam’s online platform Explore.
Since its inception in the 19th century, photography has undergone a constant technological evolution. From traditional darkroom techniques to the transformative potential of software such as Photoshop, image manipulation has remained a key part of the medium. The latest advancement however, AI, has set off a new era in photography, enabling the creation of images that exhibit astonishing realism while being fundamentally divorced from reality. In Photography Through the Lens of AI,
Foam explores the intersection between art, technology, and society, highlighting how the recent advancements in AI impact our relationship with images, ourselves and our perception of reality. This focus on technological development in photography has been integral to Foam’s programming, in past exhibitions and in the magazine, and Foam will continue to do so going forward. | | | | | | | | | Vistas #22, 2020
© Brea Souders. | | | | Missing Mirror | | | | | | | ... until 11 September 2024 | | | | | | | | | Eye 4 detect perceive explore, 2023
© Milo Poelman / text Davinci 003 | | | | | | | Through four distinct themes the exhibition invites the visitor to look beyond the surface of AI. In chapter one, Missing Body, artists give shape to a physical appearance of AI. The second chapter, Missing Person, reflects on AI's capacity to become a substitute for humans — not necessarily in physical form, but rather by expressing the immaterial essence, such as the existence of an AI personality or identity. In Missing Camera, chapter three, AI fills the position of the camera for events that never took place or could never have been photographed. Lastly, in chapter four, Missing Viewer, artists reflect on one of the most threatening developments, the absence of people: AI functions and perceives on its own, without the need of humans. The exhibition showcases the work of international artists who reflect on the danger and potential of AI. | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | Mugshots.com, N1, from the series Obscurity, 2016
© Paolo Cirio | | | | | | | ... until 27 September 2024 | | | Besides the group exhibition, there will be a solo exhibition of Paolo Cirio. The exhibition AI Attacks focuses on the social implications of AI systems, machine learning AI models, and the use of data. Cirio sees AI as a form of automated violence, expressed through surveillance, discrimination, and disinformation. With his work, he challenges power structures by exploring AI for his counterattacks. This Next Level solo exhibition builds upon the thematic group exhibition Missing Mirror, new work will premiere in his solo exhibition.
With the support of Ammodo, Foam has been organising the exhibition series Next Level since 2015. The series aims to introduce a broad public to innovative art created by mid-career visual makers who make ground-breaking use of the medium of photography. Foam has invited Paolo Cirio for the Next Level exhibition in 2024. He has been commissioned to create new work that will be premiered in the exhibition. | | | | | | unsubscribe here
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