Matthijs Hannink
Amsterdam 1996
Multimedia Artist, works and lives in Utrecht, The Netherlands
Education:
- HKU Fine Art bachelor 2015-2019
- ArtEZ Zwolle orientation course 2012-2013
Internships:
- Assistant to Stefan Ruitenbeek KEEPING IT REAL ART CRITICS (KIRAC) 2019
- Assistant to artist Willum Geerts 2018-2019
- Assistant to curator Imke Ruigrok (Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterdam / Dudok Museum, Hilversum) 2018
Artist statement 2019/2020:
Matthijs Hannink has a background in the Gothic music scene, a scene well known for its appropriation and excessive use of symbols. The artist translates this visual language to his sculptural practice, casting several iconic symbols in concrete. The Facebook logo, the hammer and sickle, a star-shaped polygon and several less recognizable forms are cast and composed in stacks in the style of gravestones, on top of which is projected a newsfeed showing the viewer snippets of news reports from various sources such as CNN. The symbols Hannink presents to us are sometimes so familiar that we can no longer recognize their broader meanings. The stacks seem to suggest that all icons will eventually lose their capability to generate new meanings, ending up in a graveyard of worn out ideologies.
text by Yoeri Guepin