Maarten Rots (1982) is a Dutch artist working with photography, based in Amsterdam. He graduated from the audio-visual department VAV of the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam in 2010.
In his photographic work, he amplifies poetic quality in everyday situations. He sources reality for his photographic and video works, without staging situations. His interest in reflections, transparency and textures elevate everyday situations to reach a level of abstraction. The resulting images have a layered quality showing a blend of realities, reminiscent of multiple exposures, but actually achieved by a single click of the shutter.
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About ‘This side up’:
Strolling through the Ludwig Museum in Cologne, visual artist Maarten Rots (1982-) bumped into a museum employee busy on a ladder with a level against the wall. Next to the man was a trolley with Pollock’s Black and White no. 15 from 1951, a painting that led to the painter’s distinctive action painting technique. It made him wonder if the backside would have an indication of the top of the painting.
With this in mind, Rots has taken a fresh look at his recent photographs and made decisions doing exactly that: deciding which side is ‘up’. The result is an extraordinary solo exhibition in which abstraction found within the play between light and architecture takes on a lead role. Characterized by a degree of abstraction in which his love for graphic shapes often shows, the photographs in his current show were printed on various scales, strikingly juxtaposed at the gallery walls.
This Side Up is on display at gallery Qlick Editions in Amsterdam, from October 22 until December 3 2016.
