General information
Imago: fin de siècle in Dutch contemporary art was a traveling exhibition funded by Rijksdienst Beeldende Kunst (nowadays the ICN, The Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage) and organized by Montevideo, what nowadays is known as the Netherlands Institute of Media Art. Opening in Amsterdam during the 6 th edition of KunstRai Imago exposed thirteen Dutch artworks ranging from mediative video installations to computer-driven systems. From the early 1990 till the late 1993, the exhibition visited nine countries in Europe and Asia. This site contains information about the locations the exhibition visited, the artists and their artworks exhibited, providing at the same time access to other related documents like floorplans, the exhibition catalogue, pictures of the artworks and international press responses about this event.
The main idea behind Imago's concept was to introduce to a wider public the different ways in which artists in the Netherlands incorporate new technological advances. The fin de siècle part of the title refers to the closing years of the previous century in which Rene Coelho, the curator of this exhibition, saw the emerging of more technological oriented art forms. The selection of artworks which were finally exhibited reflects clearly this view.
During the pre-selection of the thirteen artworks for this exhibition many changes took place. Jeffrey Shaw's Heaven's Gate was eventually replaced by Revolution while Lydia Schouten's A Civilization Without Secrets by A Virus of Sadness. Both of them along with Bill Spinhoven's Albert's Ark were composed especially for the Imago exhibition. Eventually, the following artworks appeared in every location: Panta Rhei (1988) by Ricardo Fuglistahler , Pompei (1989) by Boris Gerrets, Radiant, a personal observatory (1988/89) by Madelon Hooykaas and Elsa Stansfield, Palinuro (1989) by Nol de Koning, The Fire (1988) by Rene Reitzema, A Virus of Sadness (1990) by Lydia Schouten, Mill x Mollen (1982) by Bert Schutter, I am Stuck Between The Millstones (1989) by Servaas , Revolution (1989) by Jeffrey Shaw, Albert's Ark (1990) by Bill Spinhoven, Forma Lucis vi (1989) by Roos Theuws, Nature Morte (1988) by Giny Vos, and Venuus Nee/ Praecox (1988) by Peter Zegveld. The official catalogue of the exhibition was published by Mediamatic in cooperation with Rijksdienst Beeldende Kunst in 1990 and can be viewed as a PDF document through this website. After the end of Imago's four year in 1993 tour the artworks were stored at the collection of the Rijksdienst Beeldende Kunst
