This spring, for the first of edition of Kunsthal Light, American artist Ben Merris will be making a specially designed ‘Cave Painting' on the white wall of Kunsthal Rotterdam's display window. From 14 April, people at street level will be able to watch Merris through the display window as he applies vibrant colours and pulsing patterns to the enormous mural.
Kunsthal Light
The Kunsthal Rotterdam is developing a new programme entitled Kunsthal Light. This programme will focus on creating opportunities for talented emerging and mid-career artists with international and/or double-national backgrounds. Kunsthal Light will be putting the spotlight in particular on ‘modern muralists', and urban, graffiti and comic artists.
Three times a year for a period of eight weeks, the Kunsthal will be making the display window along the museum's front slope available to an artist who is free to adorn the area as he or she wishes. The glass wall of the display window will allow the general public to view the artists' work from outside the museum, with no admission fee to form a potential obstacle. The Kunsthal will also present a limited edition publication that the artist can compile and publish himself/herself with the help of a professional publisher. The publication will be sold in the Kunsthal Bookshop. The exhibition and publications will enable participating artists to present themselves to the public.
Ben Merris
Ben Merris (1978) was born in Boise, Idaho and lives in New York. Merris' geometric abstract paintings and installations are dynamic and colourful, and emanate a vibrancy that draws the viewer into the painting. The graphic panels of colour radiating speed and energy intermingle with mathematically derived yet playful patterns and establish a relationship with the architecture of the building forming a harmonious whole.
