semâ bekirović

The exhibition For Every Atom ... features recent and older work by Semâ Bekirović (1977, Amsterdam). Much of her work is made in collaboration with unsuspecting artists, including trees, the wind, animals, plants, time and other organisms and processes. Bekirović deals with the question of when something becomes a work of art, the status and position of the maker, and authorship.

In her work, Semâ Bekirović plays with the supposed contradictions between the world inside the museum and the world outside. She is particularly preoccupied with the creative process, in which not only the input of the artist is decisive, but also an endless amount of external conditions. Thus, the first part of the exhibition features work created in collaboration with artists such as coots and wild boars, but also, for example, with the wind and the magnetic north of our planet. The second part consists of a presentation curated by Bekirović with works by non-human artists that have used objects from the human domain as material for their art, such as a nest made from coat hangers or a buoy overgrown with barnacles. It is evident that it is not only humans who interpret nature, but that we too are subject to its interpretation. The exhibition is complemented by some works from the Fries Museum’s collection that have been transformed by time, animals and other processes. Jan-Pieter Karper is responsible for the graphic design of the exhibition and the accompanying guide.

Exhibition guide
The exhibition will be accompanied by an exhibition guide, which will be processed afterwards with forensic fingerprint powders to reveal traces of all the visitors who held the booklets. The used copies become unique ‘works of art’ that will be available in the museum shop and from there, will continue on their way into the wider world. The booklet thus functions not only as an exhibition guide, but also as a reference work.

About the artist
Semâ Bekirović studied at the Rietveld Academy and was a resident at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam, in 2005-2006. Her work has been exhibited in several venues, including at Rozenstraat - a rose is a rose is a rose (solo, 2023); The Hayward Gallery, (solo, 2010); The Stedelijk Museum (2007, 2013, 2015); Dutch Culture Institute, Shanghai (2010); MoMa PS1 (2012); Kunstfort Vijfhuizen (2016); Marres (2017); Nest (2018); GEM (2019); Garage Rotterdam (2020); Klub Solitaer, Chemnitz (solo, 2020); Into Nature Biennale; Paltz Biennale and the Bruges Triennale (all in 2021). The upcoming presentation at the Fries Museum is Bekirović’s first museum retrospective since her exhibition at Museum Jan Cunen in 2013.

This exhibition is made possible in part by the Mondriaan Fund, Fund 21, Niemeijer Fund Foundation and Jaap Harten Fund.

The Fries Museum is co-funded by Windpark Fryslân, the Province of Fryslân, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, the VriendenLoterij, Ir. Abe Bonnema Foundation and the Friends of the Fries Museum.