Inspired by museum and historical site visits in Europe and Egypt, Dina Danish and Jean-Baptiste
Maitre started a research about displays in relation to their artefacts. The tension between the neutrality of a museum display in relation to the pricelessness of its object came into focus.

In their first duo exhibition 'The Admirer and The Admired', Danish and Maitre ask: What if the the object's background was no longer neutral and if the artefact was of less value? What if the background and the artefact were like an 'admirer to an admired one'?

Mimicking a museum grid for displaying slabs of ancient scripts, a multi-layered and multi-colored
(inspired by digital 3D colors) mesh structure displays climbing plants. Taking away the creative hand and replacing it with the accidental composition of the natural growth of the plants, the hierarchy between the object and its background interweave and affect each other.

Ceramic slabs quoting texts from the YouTube comment section of random videos are exhibited one
above another. They shift the attention from the original video to the quote, in the same way a
museum artefact would be made invisible to only leave on the wall its explanative label.

Additional to their collaborative works Maitre and Danish have each placed one of their personal
works that relates to their common interest. A carpet hung on the wall and a multi-colored rope
demonstrate the use of accidental and ephemeral compositions. The carpet shows a trace made by
stroking with the hand against the grain of the carpet fibers. The rope randomly thrown on the floor
creates a momentary color composition.

This exhibition displays the first collaborative works made between Jean-Baptiste Maitre and Dina Danish.

On the artists:

Jean-Baptiste Maitre (1978, France) studied Art History and Fine Art in Paris (ENSB-A) and Amsterdam (Rijksakademie v. B. K.). Maitre produces paintings that are scanned and processed into silent video animations. Recent shows include: FLUID CARRYING THE HOPE OF SHIPS IN DISTRESS at Rita Urso, Milan; MANDALA RÉPUBLIQUE at Martin van Zomeren, Amsterdam; CODEX, Wattis Institute for contemporary Arts, San Francisco;  IT AIN’T WATCHA WRITE, IT’S THE WAY ATCHA WRITE IT, Manifesta Foundation, Amsterdam; STRIPE PAINTINGS, La Salle De Bains art center, Lyon; THIS IS WHAT I MEANT at P/////AKT, Amsterdam; and POST-SCULPTURE with Bruce McClean, Galerie 1m3, Lausanne. Maitre is represented by Martin van Zomeren, Amsterdam, and Rita Urso, Milan.

Triggered by the need for understanding even the banalest of things, Dina Danish’s usually humorous work is motivated by various subjects including linguistic structures, forgotten historical events, pinball machines, chewing gum and tongue-twisters.

Most recently she has had solo exhibitions at Stigter van Doesburg, Amsterdam; SpazioA, Italy and at De Nederlandsche Bank, Amsterdam, NL.

Group exhibitions with her work have included Project Arts Centre in Dublin, Kunsthall Oslo, de Appel Arts Center in Amsterdam, Beirut and CIC in Cairo, and the Wattis Institute in San Francisco. She also performed at the Kunstverein in Amsterdam; with de Appel Arts Center at the Stedelijk Museum.

Dina Danish has been nominated for the various awards including most recently the Abraaj Priz in Dubai, the Volkskrant award and the Prix de Rome in the Netherlands, and has received awards including the Illy Present Future and Celeste Prize.

Danish studied in both Cairo and San Francisco and has taken part in various artist residencies including the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam, Spinola Banna in Italy; PiST/// in Istanbul and AIR Dubai.

She currently resides in Amsterdam.