Januari 22nd, 2006 marks the opening of Elsewhere/Elders, an installation by Spanish visual artist Javier Marchán in the Wall House, John Hejduk’s masterpiece in Groningen, the Netherlands. Marchán lived in the house for a period of three months, October till January 2005 and was the first visual artist to stay in the house as part of the artist in residency programme of the Wall House foundation. The installation can be visited until March 12, 2006.
 
During his stay in the Wall House, Marchán became fascinated with the tension Hejduk summons up between the two and three dimensionality, a tension referred to by Marchán as the fourth dimension. Fascinating though the spatiality in the Wall House is, Marchán maintains that the building in essence is a two dimensional image, a still life. This tension, the fourth dimension, is what Marchán regards as the principal concept for his work in Elsewhere/Elders, together with the strong sense of symbolism Hejduk invokes in his work. Marchán has produced a set of twelve silk screens and a spatial installation.

Javier Marchán was born in Barcelona in 1967. He studied fine art and contemporary critical theory at Goldsmiths College, University of London. His career as a visual artist was launched in 1996 at the New Contemporaries, Tate Gallery, confirming to the critics a new voice in contemporary visual culture. His artworks are fictional, delicate, and elusive, asking the viewer to look further than their own materiality for their meaning. Sometimes a product of solitude, sometimes a product of impressive multiple collaborations; his practice masters a visual language that is unmistakably its own — at the crossroads of philosophy, media and science.

Marchán’s works have their origin in the creative tension between the objective world of surfaces and the inner workings of one’s always drifting consciousness. He favours a visual practice where the representative nature of meaning — bounding together what we call ‘reality’ — gets emptied out momentarily. This methodology is done in order to get a more profound relation to art and to the perception of reality.

The Wall House #2, designed by the American architect John Quentin Hejduk, built in 2001 on the shores of the lake Hoornse Meer bordering the city of Groningen. This unique building is widely regarded as a highlight of twentieth-century architecture. For a long time, since its conception in 1972, the house only existed as an idea. It was the second in a series of three Wall House designs, and the only one to be built. The idea travelled across the entire world, serving as a source of inspiration for several generations of architects and artists. Since 2005 the house functions as an artist in residency.

Information: Olof van de Wal
e info@wallhouse.nl
t +31-50-5250980
m +31-6-15052513
f +31-842202466
 
Javier Marchán 1967 born in Barcelona, Spain
Lives and works in London and Vienna

Education
- BTEC in Art and Design, Kingsway College, London;
- UK BA (First Class Honours) Fine Art and Contemporary Critical Theory, Goldsmiths College University of London, UK
- Advanced Research and Production in Fine Art & Theory, Jan van Eyck Academie, Maastricht, The Netherlands

Solo Exhibitions
- 2006 ‘ELSEWHERE’ WallHouse#2, the WallHouse#2 Foundation, Groningen, The Netherlands; Curated by Olof van de Wal in the spirit of John Hejduk.
- 2004 'SoftSoftSoft – Study of Aesthetics' 'Cuts, Folds, Abstractions (of Softness)' 'ColumboSoftColumbo' from the SoftSoftSoft Series MAK -Österreichisches Museum für angewandte Kunst, Vienna, Austria 
- MAK/Centre for Art and Architecture, Los Angeles MAK Art Society; Curated by Heidemarie Caltik 'SoftSoftSoft' – from the SoftSoftSoft Series
- CCAS Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Australia; Curated by Lisa Byrne 'SoftSoftSoft' – from the SoftSoftSoft Series Jan van Eyck Academie, Netherlands; Curated by Koen Brams
- 1997 'NoSub- Stance (Being, Trying, Having, Nothing)’ Andrew Mummery Gallery, London, United Kingdom; Curated by Andrew Mummery and Carolina Grau

Group Exhibitions
- 2005 ‘SoftSoftSoft’ – from the SoftSoftSoft Series 'Square2’ City Gallery Wellington – Te Whare Toi, Wellignton New Zealand; curator: Emma Bugden
- 2004 'SoftSoftSoft' - from the SoftSoftSoft Series ‘Interactive Futures’ Victoria Open Art Space, Canada; Curated by Steve Gibson
- 2003 ‘Liste 03 – The Young Art Fair’ Werkraum Warteck, Basel, Switzerland; Curated by Thomas Peutz
- 2001 ‘Still Living’ SMART Project Space, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Curated by Thomas Peutz
- 1998 ‘How to Star – Art on Television’ Amsterdam Arts Channel A1, The Netherlands; Curated by Thomas Peutz
- 1997 ‘Thoughts’ City Racing, London, United Kingdom; Curated by Carolina Grau
- 1997 ‘Soundproofs’ MOI - Museum of Installation, London, United Kingdom; Curated by David Clegg
- 1996 ‘NewContemporaries’ with the support of the Nigel Moores Family Charitable Foundation, TATE Liverpool, United Kingdom; Curated by Maria de Corral, Richard Shone and Mark Wallinger
- 1996 ‘NewContemporaries’ with the support of the Nigel Moores Family Charitable Foundation, Camden Arts Centre, London, United Kingdom; Curated by Maria de Corral, Richard Shone and Mark Wallinger