Childhood, love and money
Vincent Verhoef, Ulises Carrión, Christina Li, Martin La Roche

Of emperor Nero dressed in green
it is said
that he watched the chariot races
through an emerald
to protect his eyes
against the sun.
Of medieval scribes centuries later
it is said
that they rested their eyes
from copying their manuscripts
by staring at an emerald.

Childhood, love and money features works by the historical conceptual artist Ulises Carrión, curator and writer Christina Li, and artists Martin La Roche and Vincent Verhoef. The exhibition’s title draws upon associations with the colour green. Over the centuries the colour green has been linked to various transient aspects of life: childhood, love, hope, luck, play, chance and money. Historically greens remained chemically unstable, in painting, in dyes and in meanings. While the colours would gradually lose their vibrancy, our associations with them would undergo a transformation. This unstable nature of the colour green might provide a loose and flexible framework to think about the works presented in the show.

Vincent Verhoef, co-organizer of Amsterdam art space rongwrong, received a carte-blanche to create a presentation in which his own practice formed the starting point to invite others. This exhibition is a continuation of a series of collaborative projects that took place in the former P/////AKTPOOL from March 2022 through April 2023. As a celebration of initiative-initiated exhibitions - a celebration of the initiative, of its dedicated organizers and of the many talented artists that they (re)present and care for - this next episode is focusing on the artist as an artist and organizer.