Exhibited on the Cranium:
Impressions (2017)
Visual artist Kevin van Braak traced the role of his Indonesian grandfather in the Dutch colonial military action – known in The Netherlands as police actions and in Indonesia as Dutch military aggressions – and his subsequent imprisonment by the Japanese during the Second World War. After extensive archival research and interviews with survivors and their relatives, Van Braak traveled in the footsteps of his grandfather to Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia. One of the works that resulted from this is Impressions, a series of batiks – a traditional Indonesian technique – on silk and paper.
History is made of different shades of gray (2009-present)
History is made of different shades of grey plays with feelings and associations we get from being confronted with loaded objects. Kevin van Braak reconstructed eight desks once owned by notorious world leaders: Stalin, Tito, Mussolini, Franco, Hitler, Mao, Nixon and Suharto. The works are covered in a grey rubber coating, giving them a uniform appearance. The desks featured in this exhibition resemble the ones that once belonged to Franco, Mussolini, Stalin and Tito.
Once the realization dawns as to whom these objects originally belonged, they are no longer neutral - instead becoming intrinsically linked to the actions of their owners.
The globe from lead and metal is based on the original in Hitler’s office in the New Reich Chancellery. This globe gained notoriety when Charlie Chaplin famously used it in The Great Dictator (1940), turning it into a giant beach ball to mock Hitler’s pursuit of world domination.
Rivoluzione Fascista (2010-2025)
The nineteen letters of Rivoluzione Fascista are part of a series by Kevin van Braak exploring fascist architecture in Italy. They derive from the longer phrase Mostra della Rivoluzione Fascista, which appeared on the façade of a 1932 exhibition celebrating Mussolini’s so-called fascist revolution. The dictator frequently constructed decors for propaganda purposes. Van Braak’s wooden letters replicate the typographic style used in the 1930s. Positioned within Disco Inferno, these letters stand ready to be mobilized should fascism re-emerge. The work suggests a hidden threat, waiting on the edges of the world stage—one that could return sooner than we might expect.
Impressions (2017)
Visual artist Kevin van Braak traced the role of his Indonesian grandfather in the Dutch colonial military action – known in The Netherlands as police actions and in Indonesia as Dutch military aggressions – and his subsequent imprisonment by the Japanese during the Second World War. After extensive archival research and interviews with survivors and their relatives, Van Braak traveled in the footsteps of his grandfather to Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia. One of the works that resulted from this is Impressions, a series of batiks – a traditional Indonesian technique – on silk and paper.
History is made of different shades of gray (2009-present)
History is made of different shades of grey plays with feelings and associations we get from being confronted with loaded objects. Kevin van Braak reconstructed eight desks once owned by notorious world leaders: Stalin, Tito, Mussolini, Franco, Hitler, Mao, Nixon and Suharto. The works are covered in a grey rubber coating, giving them a uniform appearance. The desks featured in this exhibition resemble the ones that once belonged to Franco, Mussolini, Stalin and Tito.
Once the realization dawns as to whom these objects originally belonged, they are no longer neutral - instead becoming intrinsically linked to the actions of their owners.
The globe from lead and metal is based on the original in Hitler’s office in the New Reich Chancellery. This globe gained notoriety when Charlie Chaplin famously used it in The Great Dictator (1940), turning it into a giant beach ball to mock Hitler’s pursuit of world domination.
Rivoluzione Fascista (2010-2025)
The nineteen letters of Rivoluzione Fascista are part of a series by Kevin van Braak exploring fascist architecture in Italy. They derive from the longer phrase Mostra della Rivoluzione Fascista, which appeared on the façade of a 1932 exhibition celebrating Mussolini’s so-called fascist revolution. The dictator frequently constructed decors for propaganda purposes. Van Braak’s wooden letters replicate the typographic style used in the 1930s. Positioned within Disco Inferno, these letters stand ready to be mobilized should fascism re-emerge. The work suggests a hidden threat, waiting on the edges of the world stage—one that could return sooner than we might expect.