Two men in black and blue stripes.
A men-sized plant, a table top that could be either mirror or ocean.
Two men and their reflections.
A third person whose point of view is relevant only as a spectator.

For this exhibition, I think, it would be good to have a feeling, some kind of sentiment to accompany you on your way here, so you get the most out of it and will not be sidetracked into unhelpful expectations.
Imagine looking up at night at the towering facades of one financial district or other. Faced with the brightly-lit office scenes framed by the glass architecture, there is no doubt that you are meant to see. Trust is the highest commodity in a world built on the investments of people to be persuaded that their banks, managers and consultants are unerringly competent and reliable. Having an entire bank by your side is a very personal decision, after all.

Nuno Beijinho aptly negotiates the codes of seeing, and being seen in a semi-transparent world of high stakes in his room-filling installation at the people gallery. Converted from white cube to high-class office interior, the exhibition space presents a look behind the deliberate, shiny facades and the presumptions of calm, elegant proficiency built into them. The spec- tator faces inside, the people inside never face out. Wouldn’t do to be caught caring too much about what people see in them.

Two men shaking hands.
Closing a deal, sharing some small talk, sharing a moment, talking business, talking shop, talking dirty… This is a picture only if someone is watching. Otherwise it’s only two men in expensive clothes.
It’s too dark to make out the details, but if I were to costume-design, the colour palette would be white and black and blues – soft blue shirts, navy blue jackets, night-blue skies, blue pens on white paper, blue collar against white skin, blue college logos on heather-grey sweats in the occasional gym bag: Oxford blue, Cambridge blue, Yale blue. Against all the glass and the sky and the chrome, blue is barely even a colour, merely a variation on the interior design. A very typical and forgettable look is perfect.

Two men in a too-bright glasshouse.
The scene is set on a smoking hot summer day. Do not let the cool colours fool you. Looks are deceiving and these two are professionals, never showing their true colours.

the people announces {the aim of the press release} was never to be completely transparent about what’s actually going on.
For this exhibition, I think it would be good to have a bit of juicy rumor, some insightful gossip about what happens behind closed doors.

Text written by Johanna Schäfer.


Download press release.
Download exhibition leaflet.

Print advertisement in the art auction catalogue Works from the Collection of Holly van Houten.