Lot 82: GERT JAN KOCKEN (b.1971 Dutch)

GERT JAN KOCKEN (b.1971 Dutch)
Castelo de Paiva (Portugal), On March 4, 2001 a bridge over Douro River collapsed, dropping a crowded bus and two cars into raging waters, 74 people die in this accident from 'Disaster Areas', 2001
oversized chromogenic print, printed 2008
signed, titled, dated and numbered '5/5' in pencil on label on backing board
87 x 67in. (220 x 170cm.)

Take Five! Vijf jaar Huis Marseille [Huis Marseille Turns Five], Huis Marseille, Amsterdam, 2004, pp.100-101 (fig.J).

DISTINCTIVELY DUTCH
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.
This work is number 5 from the sold-out edition of 5 + 2 AP.

For his series Diaster Areas, begun in 1999, Kocken sought out various locations where catastrophic events had taken place then photographed those places -- not in the immediate aftermath of the events -- but at a later point in time when the press had moved on to other tragedies. The factual titles, which accompany each work, address the where, when and how of the incidents. Without these facts, the documented places appear ordinary. Kocken asks, 'Does our perception of the picture change once we are made aware of the facts surrounding the catastrophe?' (Artist statement, 2008) His large-format photographs are monumental, precise and charged with history.

Kocken was educated at K.A.B.K./Royal Academy of Art, The Hague. His works have been shown internationally, including the key group exhibitions Dutch Dare and Nature as Artifice, as well as a recent solo show at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. Kocken lives and works in Amsterdam.