photo by scott gorman

all other images by benjamin schoones

The exhibition Dull Skull by artists Jeroen Schrijver and Benjamin Schoones presents a space filled with contrast and interplay. Two monumental cartoon figures dominate the walls, forming an abandoned backdrop in which various installations and found objects uneasily inhabit the space. In this duo exhibition, the work of two artists comes together through a shared fascination with experiences of alienation and decay. Everyday objects and materials are torn from their original context and forced into an awkward coexistence.

Jeroen Schrijver’s once cheerful comic characters now seep quietly down the walls, compelled to cling to canvases where they do not naturally belong. The familiar figures appear resigned, almost mournful. Their once clean, confident lines have become messy and hurried.

The industrial installations by Benjamin Schoones that occupy the space are far removed from their stable origins. Crumpled or half alive, materials that were once solid now appear as shadows of their former selves. Steel constructions verge on burnout: an arm is half-heartedly raised, but trust drains away into the cracks of the room. Clamping structures seem to surrender to their own fatigue.

Together, the works confront the visitor with a noisy silence. Cartoon-like characters and mechanised objects appear lost and purposeless. Within this wandering context, the artists deliberately slow down time and invite us to look longer. Detached or displaced, the everyday objects and figures take on human qualities. Their sense of being lost offers recognition and a strange sense of calm.

The cartoonesque may verge on the absurd, yet it offers more than that. On the one hand, the exhibition warns of the dangers of crash-out and exhaustion. On the other, banality softens the sharp edges of reality. Dull Skull raises questions about how far we should go in meeting the demands of performance and overconsumption—and, perhaps most importantly, when it is acceptable to give in to the ordinary and the cartoonesque. Sometimes, curling up in a fetus position is all that can be done.