Nynke Koster “A Part of New York History”

LMAKgallery

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LMAKgallery present Nynke Koster’s first solo exhibition in the gallery, A Part of New York History. Since her first visit to New York in 2014, Koster has been curious about Dutch history in the city, prompting her to delve into a multi-year discovery and investigation of historical sights and artifacts.

While researching Dutch roots in the history of New York City, Koster found many striking links and proud moments in its shared history. However, she also uncovered many shadows and undertones, which are frequently dismissed, not addressed, or simply ignored. For example, the Dutch settlement of ‘New Amsterdam’ was built on trade. One of the largest trades at the time was the enslavement of African people. This revelation led to her search for remnants of this history and brought her to such places as the recently re-discovered African American Burial grounds near City Hall (1993), among seven additional plots around the city. Over time most of these cemeteries were forgotten, some of which still are, motivating Koster to raise awareness for this often lost past and bring honor to the deceased through recognition.

Molded from the fingers of the descendants of African American slaves, Koster creates a work in remembrance of their ancestors. Stretching the full length of the gallery, the rug-like panel consists of cast rubber fingers reaching out, giving the appearance of coming out of the ground, and thereby calling attention to their burial plots. In this way, Koster aims to recognize our mutual past and remember those who have gone before us.

Nynke Koster graduated from the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague (KABK) at the department of furniture design. She has received several awards and grants for her work: Design Matters, Amsterdam – Best of Milan; D’sign Award; KABK award The Hague. Her work has been shown internationally at Orange Town Museum, New York; Paleis Soestdijk, Baarn the Netherlands; Design Museum, Helsinki, Finland; Architecture Biennial Venice, Palazzo Michiel, Venice, Italy; Torch Gallery, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Galerie Bart, Nijmegen, the Netherlands and Salon del Mobile in Milan, Italy. Koster has two forthcoming Museum exhibitions: Decoration Never Dies, Anyway at the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum in November 2017 and the New York State Museum in Albany, New York in 2018.