When Dutch artist Juul Kraijer (1970) looks at a snake, she sees beauty, elegance and the perfect balance between body and strength. She does not see the fear of snakes that many people harbour, but she does see the threat the animal could pose.
It is that combination of attraction and peril that has made the snake such an important player as a bearer of magical significance in a number of ritual practices and religions across the globe. In Kraijer’s practice, which has, since her graduation from the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam, been defined by gossamer surrealist drawings and photography, the snake has grown into one of the main sources of inspiration for all of these reasons.
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At De Ketelfactory, Juul Kraijer is currently composing solo exhibition ’S’, using drawings, staged photographs, ritual objects, brand new collages and a large video thriptych installation, never yet shown to the public. Kraijer’s protagonists – human and snake – move across each of De Ketelfactory’s floors. Everything in the exceptionally beautiful, near-surrealist and yet modest solo exhibition ’S’ is centred around the snake and the human existing outside of time, outside of individuality, outside our cognisable culture.
video portrait
publication
The exhibition is accompanied by the publication S, with text by Wouter Welling and interviews about the snake sessions with Ferry Torrez and the models. The publication is bilingual (NL and EN) and is available via the webshop.
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press
persbericht (in Dutch)
interview with Juul Kraijer and Winnie Teschmacher, programme ‘Chris Natuurlijk’ at Radio Rijnmond, 13 March 2020 (in Dutch)
interview with Winnie Teschmacher, SCHIE FM, 13 March 2020 (in Dutch)
interview with Cilia Batenburg, Programme ‘Onder Ogen’ at SCHIE TV, 10 March 2021 (in Dutch)
Medusa komt tot leven – Paolo van de Velde in De Telegraaf, 15 March 2021 (in Dutch)
Een albinoslang is geel – Toef Jaeger in NRC, 18 March 2021 (in Dutch)
‘S’, Fotoexpositie.nl, 24 March 2021 (in Dutch)
Slangenmens – Stefan Kuiper in de Volkskrant, 26 March 2021 (in Dutch)
Ode aan de slang – Maaike Abma for Museumtijdschrift.nl, 7 April 2021 (in Dutch)
registration of your visit
In order to give as many visitors as possible the opportunity to visit the ‘corona proof’ exhibition, the opening hours have been extended for the time being to Tuesday to Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Registration for a time slot of 45 minutes is mandatory. You can make your choice HERE after which you will receive a confirmation by e-mail. One ticket is valid for one person, with a maximum of 4 people per time slot.
In the unlikely event that you are unable to attend, you are kindly requested to cancel your reservation, either via EventBrite or by sending an e-mail to info@deketelfactory.nl, so that other people also get the chance to visit the exhibition.