Modart » Showroom MAMA http://www.modart.com Active Creation Creative Action Thu, 26 Sep 2013 15:14:25 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.6 The Great Abnerio http://www.modart.com/2011/01/27/the-great-abnerio-2/ http://www.modart.com/2011/01/27/the-great-abnerio-2/#comments Thu, 27 Jan 2011 09:00:51 +0000 Maxi http://www.modart.com/?p=2040 Last Friday Abner opened his big solo show The Great Abnerio at showroom Mama in Rotterdam. Weeks of hard work on Abner’s side payed off for the interested and numerous visitors.

Besides several big-sized paintings depicting the adventures of the Great Abnerio, Abner constructed an arch to save the ‘Squiglies’ and other endangered animals (certified by God himself), an airplane, a wishing well and a big, colorful ‘Mary Go Round’. At the entrance you had to take your shoes off, because the whole floor was decorated with pieces of colorful carpet cut out in the shapes of waves, logs, clouds and islands. You also got a mustache, so that everybody could become a Great Abnerio and enter a world of friendly laughter. And, as always, you could listen to a story (The Well) on little stereos provided. In the little backroom Abner installed a cinema, where you could see the Great Abnerio perform magic tricks (in collaboration with Rocco Pezella).

Abner wouldn’t be Abner if he didn’t gratify us with a performance. Together with his Dogs of Shame buddy Wayne Horse and Chaz from The London Police he sang I Believe I Can Fly and something I believed to be a song about a mermaid, the reasons of which escaped, but amused me. My friend Julian put it right when he explained, that the Dogs of Shame only do it right, when people are actually ashamed. Otherwise it would be the Dogs of Interest or the Dogs of Ambivalence….And people were ashamed and bewildered, so they did do a good job.

To see more pictures of the opening (by Happy Famous Artists) go to No New Enemies. The show of the Great Abnerio will be on until March 13.

]]> http://www.modart.com/2011/01/27/the-great-abnerio-2/feed/ 0 The Great Abnerio http://www.modart.com/2011/01/19/the-great-abnerio/ http://www.modart.com/2011/01/19/the-great-abnerio/#comments Wed, 19 Jan 2011 09:00:19 +0000 Maxi http://www.modart.com/?p=1894 The first show at the Showroom MAMA in Rotterdam in 2011 will be a solo exhibition by our friend and hero Abner Preis. Abner Preis tells simple stories with a positive, childlike narrative. The focus of his art and its’ point of departure are rooted in Abner’s aspirations to give one hope in a situation which seems hopeless, the ability to laugh at sadness, and the heart to see beauty in a bleak object.

“Abner tells stories in one on one interaction and for large audiences. He builds settings and involves his audiences in creating a special feeling and delivery of the narratives. For The Adventures of The Great Abnerio, Abner will create an interactive storytelling experience based on friendship, fantasy, magic and – most importantly – storytelling.

“Abner Preis’ solo exhibition in MAMA is concentrated around the character The Great Abnerio and his travels. The great Abnerio is a ‘strong man’ in his own traveling show, in which he tells stories about his adventures as a super hero, about his friends and the magic he learned along the way. The exhibition will be filled with a magic theater, drawings, sculptures, and an Arc with ‘squiglies’ on board. The central piece of the exhibition is a large Mary Go Round in which visitors can take place and can listen to stories of the adventures of The Great Abnerio. The audience will be encouraged to transform themselves into The Great Abnerio. Everybody who enters the exhibition receives a mustache just like the Great Abnerio.

I Can’t Believe This is Real from Harlan Levey Projects on Vimeo.


“Abner Preis’ stories deal about daily issues and universal human emotions. His stories have characters as ‘Donkey Dan’, about a boy who never feels accepted by his peers because of his massive penis he calls his Donkey. Dan is an outsider of his community until he and his family discover the Donkey Tribe during a vacation in Africa. The Donkey Tribe accepts Donkey Dan as a member of their clan. Another story is called ‘Spots and Stripes’ and deals about a dog and a cat who learn to respect and love each other through the lessons of their owner. ‘Pete the Pig and Charley the Clown’ is a story about baby pig that lost his parents at an art fair… but ultimately finds a friend with whom he can travel around the world with.” (MAMA)

Abner Preis is saving the world in this humble way and he goes to great pains to do it. But of course, like all great MOUSSE Art, things are not as simple as they look.

The great Abnerio will also travel throughout the Netherlands from March 1st till March 6th, sharing his adventures with others, presenting movies, magic and laughter. The Great Abnerio will visit Shunck in Heerlen, W139 in Amsterdam and MU in Eindhoven. The International Film Festival Rotterdam invited Abner Preis to make a movie about the circus of The Great Abnerio. This film will have its premiere on the festival on the fifth of February.

Who: Abner Preis
Where: MAMA Showroom / Witte de Withstr. 29-31 / Rotterdam / The Netherlands
When: 21 January – 13 March 2011

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