The Approach is pleased to present Two Circles, Mirrored, an exhibition of new works by Germaine Kruip in the Annexe.
Untitled Circle Stainless Steel, 2024 explores the interplay between a geometric form and its reflection. This mirror-polished stainless steel ellipse, positioned on the floor, casts a perfect circle of light onto the wall. As frequently observed in Kruip’s body of work, the shape is simple, mirroring the straightforward gesture that transforms it. It is within this lightness and playful interaction that the artwork’s power is found.
This work serves as a reactivation of Untitled Circle, 2013 that initially employed a simple mirror. The new version emerged serendipitously when the artist, while carrying a reflective ellipse in her studio, inadvertently projected its reflection onto the wall with a spotlight. The desire to replicate that magical moment—entailing a journey to pinpoint the precise spotlight, material, angle, and distance—lies at the core of this installation. Kruip believes that such a simple phenomenon belongs to everyone. She sees her role as an artist as one of enhancing a viewer’s ability to observe and perceive, subtly inviting them to notice: “Look at this, see what happens.”
In contemplating this presentation for the Annexe, Kruip imagined a reversed version of the artwork titled Untitled Circle Stainless Steel, Phantom, 2024. Both works are made from the same stainless steel plate polished to a mirror finish. Although both circles are static, one evokes the presence of a spotlight while the other signifies its absence.
In her work, Kruip often employs pulsating light movements and optical illusions that seamlessly transition between light and shadow, evoking traditions from theatre and cinema. Here, facing each other, both artworks enter a dialogue and embody the artist’s deep fascination with time, light, and geometry, offering viewers a moment of reflection—a resting point.
Germaine Kruip (b. 1970, Castricum, NL) lives and works between Amsterdam and Brussels. She studied scenography at HKU (Utrecht, NL), then pursued a Master’s in advanced research in theatre and dance studies at DasArts (Amsterdam, NL), before enrolling in another Master’s program in Visual Arts at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten (Amsterdam, NL). Recent solo and two person exhibitions include: The Mirrored: Laura Grisi | Germaine Kruip, The Approach, London, UK (2023); Rehearsal, Axel Vervoordt Gallery, Wijnegem, Belgium (2022); Screenplay, Axel Vervoordt Gallery, Hong Kong (2021); AFTER IMAGE, Gallery Baton, Seoul, Korea (2021). Recent group exhibitions include: Artefact 2024: At the still point of the turning world, STUK, Leuven, Belgium (2024); Re-Inventing Piet. Mondrian and the Consequences, Kunstmuseum, Wolfsburg, Germany, and Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Ludwigshafen, Germany (2023); Mondriaan Moves, Kunstmuseum Den Haag, Netherlands (2022).