Soup is the substance that brings us together and therefore an ongoing experiment. It stands for never-ending stories and a polyphony of connections and possible scenarios. At this moment Soup sticks 6 of us together at Kruisplein 23b in Rotterdam, in a temporary space about to be demolished. Although we do many different things (some paint, some code, some mould and sculpt, while others write), our work often emphasizes the process instead of the final product. Soup takes time.
soupstantial@gmail.com @soupstantial
1 Avital Barkai
2 Xaver Könneker (b.1996) is a visual artist, teacher, and researcher who intertwines cultural theory with photographic practice. His work often reflects on the relationship between mortality, identity, structures and visual culture. The quote by Lucian Freud: “The longer you look at an object, the more abstract it becomes, and, ironically, the more real.” strongly resonates with the way he thinks and works. Intimately related to this, his work investigates the socially conditioned modality of looking, probing into how our social, professional, and political backgrounds frame perception and perceivability.
www.xaverkonneker.com
3 Nicolas Garin Odriozola (1993, Uruguay) is an architect.
4 Rosa Zangenberg (1995, Denmark) The face, what a horror. A combination of holes and bulges that our minds cannot resist - the strongest communication tool we have. In my paintings, I scrutinise these holes and bulges and I fold them out like a topographic map on an arbitrary canvas. I aim to emphasize the absurdity of distinguishing between portraiture and the landscape in the painting, as the face, in essence, is a lunar landscape. This facial constellation of holes’ powerful presence, whether for the good or for the bad, should not be taken for granted. Often starting from my own face, my exploration is never-ending.
www.rosazangenberg.com
5Anna Sandri is a visual artist and graphic designer based in Rotterdam whose work crosses different media including games, illustration, creative coding and writing. She often investigates systems of belief, myths and storytellings in order to expose and play with their hidden functioning.
www.annasandri.com
6 Damianos Zisimou (1994, Nicosia) is a visual artist and researcher based in Rotterdam (NL) and Nicosia(CY). He holds a BFA from the Art Academy in Rome (IT) and a MA in Cultural Sociology from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam (NL). His main research interests are centered around the topics of decolonial thinking, museology and archives, while his artistic practice visually explores how the past is documented, classified and interpreted in the present.
www.damianoszisimou.com
Avital Barkai
Xaver Könneker (b.1996) is a visual artist, teacher, and researcher who intertwines cultural theory with photographic practice. His work often reflects on the relationship between mortality, identity, structures and visual culture. The quote by Lucian Freud: “The longer you look at an object, the more abstract it becomes, and, ironically, the more real.” strongly resonates with the way he thinks and works. Intimately related to this, his work investigates the socially conditioned modality of looking, probing into how our social, professional, and political backgrounds frame perception and perceivability.
www.xaverkonneker.com
Rosa Zangenberg (1995, Denmark) The face, what a horror. A combination of holes and bulges that our minds cannot resist - the strongest communication tool we have. In my paintings, I scrutinise these holes and bulges and I fold them out like a topographic map on an arbitrary canvas. I aim to emphasize the absurdity of distinguishing between portraiture and the landscape in the painting, as the face, in essence, is a lunar landscape. This facial constellation of holes’ powerful presence, whether for the good or for the bad, should not be taken for granted. Often starting from my own face, my exploration is never-ending.
www.rosazangenberg.com
Nicolas Garin Odriozola (1993, Uruguay) is an architect, sadly...
Anna Sandri is a visual artist interested in iconographic and narrative patterns. Her current practice focuses on representations of faith, despair and redemption drawn from art history and visual culture to present visual narratives in the current age of economic crisis and environmental disaster. She uses moving image, drawing and DIY prototyping to explore how we relate to these images.
www.annasandri.com
Damianos Zisimou (1994, Nicosia) is a visual artist and researcher based in Rotterdam (NL) and Nicosia(CY). He holds a BFA from the Art Academy in Rome (IT) and a MA in Cultural Sociology from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam (NL). His main research interests are centered around the topics of decolonial thinking, museology and archives, while his artistic practice visually explores how the past is documented, classified and interpreted in the present.
www.damianoszisimou.com
Coming up
to be announced
Past events
1, 2, 3 December 2023
*p.s.
Our studio space transforms once again into a stage for the exhibition *P.S.
*P.S. unfolds as a ‘post-scriptum’, a follow-up to the initial concept that brought Soup together three years ago.
--> Soup is the substance that brings us all together and therefore an ongoing experiment. It stands for never-ending stories and a polyphony of connections and possible scenarios. At this moment Soup sticks 6 of us together at Kruisplein 23b in Rotterdam, in a temporary space about to be demolished*. Although we do many different things (some paint, some code, some mould and sculpt, while others write), our work often emphasises the process instead of the final product.
*P.S
It’s been over 3 years and we are still here!
*P.P.S
We still don’t know for how long…
*P.P.P.S
Embracing our continuous limbo, we invite you to this 3-day exhibition showing our uninterrupted process.
Opening: Friday, December 1st at 7.30 pm
Saturday, December 2nd - From 2pm to 7pm
Sunday, December 3rd - From 2pm to 7pm
Participating artists: Avital Barkai, Nicolas Garin Odriozola, Xaver Könneker, Anna Sandri, Rosa Zangenberg and Damianos Zisimou.
16, 17 September 2023
GRAW23 Open Studio day
Soup opened its doors for visitors on the 16th and 17th of September 2022 as part of the Groot Rotterdam Atelier Weekend. On display, we had the work of Anna Sandri, Avital Barkai, Damianos Zisimou, Rosa Zangenberg, Xaver Könneker and Nicolas Garin Odriozola.
www.grootrotterdamsatelierweekend.nl
17th December 2022
before me floats an image,
Soup presents ‘before me floats an image,’, an exhibition featuring the works of 3 artists, who reflect visually on religious acts and the accompanying imagery.
The idea for the exhibition was sparked due to a lost postcard from a mum to her son, which appeared mysteriously at the doorstep of Soup and initiated our conservations about spirituality and its visual presence in our society.
Exhibition opening from 17pm
Participating artists: Damianos Zisimou, Anna Sandri, Nicolas Garin Odriozola, Darly
24, 25 September 2022
GRAW22 Open Studio day
Soup will be opening its doors for visitors on the 24th and 25th of September 2022 as part of the Groot Rotterdam Atelier Weekend. On display, we will have the work of Darly Benneker, Martin George, Anna Sandri and Damianos Zisimou. Doors open from 11 to 17.
www.grootrotterdamsatelierweekend.nl
11 June 2022
Doughmaking at Soup
Soup hosted a hands-on workshop focused on pasta-making.
4 March 2022 - 25 March 2022
Materie
Darly Benneker
1 skin /'skIn/ noun. 1. The installation examines the relationship we have with our skin; The artist is fascinated by the skin in its plasticity and fragility; the way it morphs in all shapes and sizes; the way it grows with us and the way it disappears, with us. While it allows us to morph and forces us to change, it also teaches us to feel and collects our feelings within. 4. Get under (someone's) skin; 1. To irritate or stimulate; provoke; 2. To preoccupy someone; become an obsession. 5. Under the skin; Beneath the surface; fundamentally: enemies who are really brothers under the skin. Nevertheless, skin is not an empty canvas, skin stays political, the skin carries histories, and past experiences inscribed in it, while it continues to condition future actions.1.lo bruise, cut, or injure the skin or surface of She skinned her knee.
3 July 2021 - 20 July 2021
I don’t know what am I myself, It is so very difficult to explain.
Damianos Zisimou
An exhibition where the artist visually explores the archaeological past of his native Cyprus. Documents, lists, representations and photographs from archaeological archives about the island are revisited by the artist. Re-entering the taken-for-granted and forgotten, the artist created a visual narrative that challenges the dominant interpretations of history and makes spaces for alternative reasoning.
20 February 2021
The Rythm of Dimensions
Darly Benneker and Mart Koenen
A performance examining the relationship between our bodies and the objects around us. It coordinates the change of experiences, movement and the boundaries of shapes that are transformed into its opposites: the absence and the wait.
29 January 2021 - 26 February 2021
My body is a landscape
Darly Benneker
Through researching the aesthetics of bodies, landscapes and memories, Darly constructs and reconstructs material in a contemporary, poetic and dreamlike environment to expose the elusiveness of human beings.
Avital Barkai
Xaver Könneker
Nicolas Garin Odriozola
Rosa Zangenberg
Anna Sandri
Damianos Zisimou