WHAT REMAINS:

From 13 September to 29 November 1998 the Groninger Museum presents WHAT REMAINS, a show featuring three-dimensional work by artists from America, Canada, France, Poland and the Netherlands. The focus in this exhibition is on experiences relating to the human condition, such as death, decay, loss and memory.

Hurma, a work by Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz (b. 1930), comprises 210 life-size faceless figures. Each individual piece's monumentality gives the whole group a sense of the overwhelming. The figures are without faces and mute. Two- and three-dimensional textiles by the artist were shown by the Groninger Museum in 1969.
The latest work by French artist Jean-Charles Blais (b. 1956) is noticeable for the incorporation of the formal idiom of the fashion world. Various elements of clothing, such as the sleeve, trouser leg and bodice are carefully assembled by Blais to create a new composition.
Robert Gober (b. 1954) of America has been called a neo-conceptual artist. In his art he uses everyday objects such as urinals and washbasins, which he then reshapes. The washbasins have round holes that look like eyes.
Dirt Heads, an installation by American artist Rona Pondick (b. 1952), comprises heads made of 'dirt', a kind of clay. The 'heads' have wide-open or closed mouths, full of teeth. Heaped in a large pile, the installation conjures up horrific images of murder and mutilation. Work by this artist was shown last year at the Johannesburg Biennale.
Lying stretched out on the ground is a dead wolf with red eyes by American artist Zoe Leonard (b. 1961). Work by her featured at Documenta IX and in the exhibition Black & Blue (1996, Groninger Museum).
Jackie Winsor (b. 1941) of Canada is known for her clear geometric figures. Officially her place is among the post-minimalists. Rope Trick and Small Circle, presented here, date from the late 1960s. In her work, Jackie Winsor harks back to classical sculpture such as that of Constantin Brancusi.
Finally, the museum presents sculpture by the young Dutch artist Merijn Bolink.

Funeral and cremation association Algemeen Belang U.A. of Groningen is chief sponsor of the exhibition. The meeting with Algemeen Belang, which celebrates its 65th anniversary this year, inspired and prompted this exhibition. Curator Mark Wilson created a designer mourning suite for the life insurance company. The sponsor has been given an unconventional place within the exhibition layout, an expression of Groninger Museum's new vision and approach to sponsoring.