Middernacht & Alexander
BIO | SELECTED WORKS
Sofie Middernacht (BE, 1985) and Maarten Alexander (NL, 1990) know how to find a perfect balance between form and content. They came together to form an artistic duo in 2016, a union that allows them to transcend the boundaries of the medium of photography, combining content that remains consistent, while continuing to adopt and adapt a versatile range of different materials. Their work is situated at the crossroads of spatial installation, photography, and sculpture.
Installation view (video) ‘Vulnerable Dimensions’ at Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle (2018) for the Christies Auction garden party.
With a long-standing interest in the uncomfortable relationship between intimacy and voyeurism, Middernacht & Alexander are perfectly capable of investigating the psychological aspects of portrait photography. They reflect on how we look at ourselves, how we look at others, and how we look at works of art. The code word here is perception. Their innovations within the photographic medium and their constant search for new models of presentation result in conceptually and materially complex works of art with unique aesthetics. The final result, the exhibition, is a participatory experience. The works do not exist without an audience; they help create an interaction with spectators, a dialogue.
'Vulnerable Dimensions' (2017) is about choices and the challenges we face when making them. Arranged in a series of four, these portraits highlight the individuality of single subject, but each is slightly different from the next. When the viewer is presented with such similar option, working out which is 'best' is a task with no obvious solution. The process of judgement is further complicated here because each can only be viewed from a right angle, fading to black if seen from any other perspective. As an arrangement the series is an inverse panopticon, obscured in a way that underlines the fugitive nature in which choices often present themselves. The vehicle that makes this narrative of choice possible is a technical innovation on the medium. Multiple layers of clear high gloss UV epoxy resin and a final one of black acrylic gloss make the print visible only from a certain perspective. As viewer, you are forced to look the portrait right in the eye, resulting in a unique, bewildering viewing experience.
Installation view group show ‘Between A Rock And A Hard Place’ '(2019) w/ Middernacht & Alexander , Adriaan Verwée and Erlend Grytbakk Wold.
Their series ‘Like Today, But More Like Forever’ (2018) focuses on a personal theme, namely the presence of mental and psychological problems in their own lives and that of their loved ones. Middernacht and Alexander use scans of bottles of medication, used to treat the psychoses and schizophrenia of a close relative, collected over a period of five years. Their innovative technique of layering acetate and perspex are used to create the pieces, which resemble having your eyes tested at the ophthalmologist. The distance between the prints, make for an image that can only be seen from a right angle. The vertiginous sensation evoked by the nebulous look fits perfectly with the content of the series. A restrained silence that tells a whole story. (Based on a translation of a review by Sofie Crabbé published in Belgian contemporary art magazine HART)
The series “Am I Ready Now?” (2019) combines different techniques and materials and can be seen as a form of total installation. A multitude of mundane materials – including plastic, rubber, glass, and epoxy – form the starting point for works that resemble photography, but are also sometimes more like minimalist sculptures, or large-scale visual interventions in the space.
The core of the exhibition is formed by a series also titled ‘Am I Ready Now?’, in which the duo explores the idea of the ‘self’. The works consist of seven different prints featuring a single portrait of the same person, placed in layers, one on top of another.
CV
Sofie Middernacht
Born in 1985
Maarten Alexander
Born in 1990
They live and work in London, UK
Selected (group) shows
2023 PAD Paris with Boon Room
2023 Group show ‘In My Garden’ with Arthur Vanderburght, Ewoud Viane, Pierre Castignola, Vogel Studio at Atelier Ecru Gallery, Ghent Belgium.
2023 Group Show ‘Select:Deflect with Arnaud Eubelen, Nadia Naveau, Kathleen Vinck, Victor Verhelst, Sam Kerckaert, Dries Boutsen, Charlotte Jockheer, Ward Wijnant, Paola Siri Renard, Philip Metten and Bram Vanderbeke at Ontsteking, Ghent Belgium.
2023 Duo Show ‘Substitute Love’ with Jens Kothe at Barbe Urbain Gallery
2023 Group Show ‘In Medias Res’ with Adelheid De Witte, Nokukhanya Langa, Thomas Renwart, Stan Van Steendam, Charlie De Voet, Thomas Decuypere, Flexboj & LA, Willem Boel, Alice Vanderschoot, Carole Ebtinger at BARBÉ Gallery, Ghent Belgium.
2022 Group show ‘WKA Penthouse’ Bruno Spaas x Atelier Ecru Gallery
2022 `Group show ‘Everybody has a plan Until they Get Punched in The Mouth’ - Barbe Urbain Gallery, Ghent, Belgium with Carole Ebtinger, Nokukhanya Langa, Jens Kothe, Stan Van Steendam, Thomas Decuypere, Thomas Renwart, Willem, Charlie De Voet, Ellen Meers, Adelheid De Witte, Alice Vanderschoot, Flexboj & LA, Joost Pauwaert, Nelleke Cloosteran, Geert Marijnissen.
2022 Paris Design Week at Boon Room, Paris, France.
2022 Solo show at Magelan by Barbe Urbain Gallery at Knokken, Belgium.
2022 Groupshow ‘Magellan’ summer project initiated by Atelier Ecru Gallery and Barbé Urbain at Knokke, Belgium.
Adelheid De Witte, Charlie De Voet, Flexboj & LA, Joost Pauwaert, Stijn Ank, Thomas Renwart, Sybren Vanoverberghe, Middernacht & Alexander, Katrien Doms, Alex De Bruycker and by designers such as Linde Freya Tangelder, Pierre De Valck, Maria Scarpulla, BRUT Collective, Nathalie Van der Massen, Laurids Gallée, Adeline Halot, Domingos Tótora, Cedric Breisacher, Charlotte Jonckheer, Bram Vanderbeke, Delphine Cobbaert, Carine Boxy, Jojo Corväiá, Frédéric Saulou, Maison Armand Jonckers, Lucas Morten, Tim Vranken, ...
2022 Groupshow ‘Moving Traces’ Atelier Ecru Gallery presents work by 22 national and international designer-artists in a former ballet school in Antwerp
2021 Groupshow ‘Bienvenue Independent Art Fair’ Hotel La Louisiana with Katrien Doms, Pierre Devalck, Laurids Gallee at Paris, France.
2021 Groupshow ‘XXL’ at Barbé-Urbain Gallery with Adelheid De Witte, Charlie De Voet, Flexboj & LA, Joost Pauwaert, Manor Grunewald, MAx Kesteloot, Nokukhanya Langa, Ritsart Gobyn, Sharon Van Overmeiren, stan Van Steendam, Sybren Vanoverberghe, Wille, Boel
2021 ART ROTTERDAM - Duo show with Stan Van Steendam, Rotterdam The Netherlands - Barbe Urbain Gallery
2021 Group show ‘Santé Forever’ with Jos de Gruyter & Harald Thys, Kasper Bosmans, Benoit Plateus, Tessa Perutz, Leo Luccioni, Marlies De Clerck, Antoine Carbonne, Anastasia Bay, Antoinette d’Ansembourg, Brussels Belgium
2021 Group show ‘Moving Traces 05’ with Justin Morin, Roxane Lahidji, Wendy Andreu at Atelier Ecru, Ghent, Belgium
2021 Belgian Art & Design Fair Prelude
2020 Group show ‘Staycation’ with Benoit Plateus, Adriaan Verwée, Adelheid De Witte, Manor Grunewald, Charlie De Voet, Erlend Grytbakk Wold, Jens Kothe, Joost Pauwaert, Just Quist, Louise Delanghe, Marijke Vasey, Max Kesteloot, Natasja Mabesoone, Panamarenko, Roeland Tweelinckx, Simon Laureyns, Stan Van Steendam, Sybren Vanoverberghe, Tamara Van San, Xavier Mary, Xavier Robles de Medina, Ghent, Belgium.
2020 Solo ‘Am I Ready Now?’ at Barbé-Urbain Gallery, Ghent Belgium.
2019 Duo show ‘Between You And Me’ with Leo Gabin at Special Art unit, Victoria London, UK
2019 Biennale Van België III. Ghent, Belgium.
2019 Group show; ‘ZWRT’ with Stien Bekaart, Evy Bosman, Hugo Declercq, Benni Efrat, Manor Grunewald, Dieter Lannoo, Shinji Murakami, A.R. Penck, Xavier Robles De Medina, Gail Stoicheff, The Van Bergen, Stef Van Looveren, Simon Van Parys, Tamara Van San, Stan Van Steendam, Adriaan Verwee, Andy Wauman at Barbe-Urbain Gallery, Ghent, Belgium.
2019 ‘Open Studio’ with Colin Dodgson. London, United Kingdom.
2019 Group show ; ‘Cry Me A River' with Willem Boel, Manor Grunewald, Nick Proot, Matthieu Ronsse & Louise Delange, Cedric Van Parys. Lievegem, Belgium.
2018 Group show; ‘Between A Rock And A Hard Place’ with Adriaan Verwée and Erlend Wold at Barbé-Urbain, Ghent, Belgium
2018 Solo at Ingrid Deuss Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium
2018 Museum D’hondt-Dhaenens x Christies Auction, Deurle, Belgium
2017 Solo at Ingrid Deuss Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium
2017 Museum D’hondt-Dhaenens x Christies Auction, Deurle, Belgium
2017 FOAM Paul Huf nominees