Formed in 1996, Antistrot was a visual band, a group of artists to work together as individuals on murals and paintings. The creative process focuses on creating as a group, using the same medium but mixing individual styles.
The group met as Illustration students at the Willem De Kooning Academie in Rotterdam and came to reject the view that illustrators are not fine artists.
Like the Dadaists Antistrot uses disparate sources like popular magazines, vintage comics, typography and off course art history. They juxtapose the disconnected images in order to highlight a chaotic irrationality of contemporary society.
They were certainly not the first artists to band together to make a point but their joined attack had a new twist as they refer to as "complete saturation". Because the images are intertwined, their symbolic value merge into a narrative that changes, depending on where your eyes lead you. No image or idea is left to itself. Instead the whole is saturated by association.
Each work is spontaneous, never premeditated, like a impromptu performance, each painting tests the new boundaries and potential.The members continued producing paintings and murals without David Elshout from 2010 as Kamp Horst Rotterdam.
Source: Art critic Julia Morton
Artist members were: Paul Borchers, Johan Kleinjan, Bruno Ferro Xavie Da Silva, Silas Schletterer, David Elshout and Michiel Walrave.
Representations: MK Galerie Rotterdam, Sara Techia Roma New York, Shooting Gallery San Francisco
History:
2009] Solid Cold, Shooting Gallery, San Francisco, USA [ Hidden Track, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam + The scenery of a beautiful Cancer, NADiff, Tokyo, Japan
[2008] Large Mural, Performance, paintings at Booth, Aqua Wynwood, during Art Basel + Performances, decoration, visuals for State X 09 festival, The Hague + Exhibition at Winzavod, cultural arts center, Moscow + Exhibition at Sergey Kuryukhin cultural foundation, St. Petersburg + Solo Exhibition at Sara Tecchia Gallery, New York + Antistrot at Scope New York, New York + Antistrot Mural at Kongsi Enschede, with videoshoot with Japanse filmcrew
[2007] Big Robot Performance, NYE Con Club, Rotterdam + Installation with mural in collab with Ludovica Gioscia, at Scope Miami + Nomination for the Volkskrant Fine Arts Prize Lowlands & Todays Art festival, Biddinghuizen & The Hague + Mural & Performances at 3rd Ward, Brooklyn, New York City + Participation at “Can’t we all just get along”, collab. with Elena Monzo, Sara Tecchia, New York + City Mural at Careof, Milan + ‘Skatebored’ boardrelated exhibition, Rotterdam, Eindhoven + Your line…, Sara Tecchia Roma New York, New York + City PAIN_TINGS exhibition at MK Gallery, Rotterdam + Exhibition “Reading the Drawing” at Sign Gallery, Groningen
[2006] Mural and performance at Maria Am Ostbahnufer, Berlin + Mural at The Fund of Visual Arts and Architecture, Amsterdam + Exhibition at “Dutch Masters”, GEM museum, The Hague + Mural and Performance at Bochumer Kulturrat, Bochum & Performance at the Dortmunder Kunstverein, Dortmund + Antistrot stage at Todays Art festival, performances and paintings, collaboration with Eru & Emu Arizono and Siogo Yoshikawa, The Hague + Participation at “Kunstvlaai”, Amsterdam
[2005] Mural in Porto and Lisbon (Zé Dos Bois) + El Nasser photo shoot with Elsa Jo for Nike + Exhibition “Amateur Kaviar” at the Kabinetten van de Vleeshallen, Middelburg + Exhibition with Zedz at 90 square meters, Amsterdam + Exhibition “Drawings and pain” at MK Galerie Rotterdam + Mural and installation at Boijmans van Beuningen for Project Rotterdam Exhibition + Antistrot painting/mural exhibited at Muhka, Antwerpen + Mural at Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin for Offside exhibition
[2004] Presentation Cyberstort and performance by Crackremover at the Scheld’Apen, Antwerp and at the Player, Rotterdam + Etcetera musical Venue accompanied with Artwork by Antistrot, Nighttown Theater, Rotterdam + “Fisi the Laughing Hyena”exhibition at Neon Gallery, Brösarp + Deco for State-x festival in The Hague with Zedz and a performance (El Nasser) with Donna Summer (Jason Forest) + Drawing for presentation of the “Nieuwe Omroep” + Presentation of Antistrot mural and performance at ‘RE 04’ in Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam + Antistrot TV at local tv station + Drawing for Japanese adult advertisement (E-Station)
[2003] Screening Antistrot films by ‘Maus Habitos’ in Porto, Portugal + Exhibition: Our Collected Paintings and solo work in Punct, Tilburg + Exhibition: Antistrot Blacklist at the Photo Institution of Warsaw, Poland + Antistrot mural at the Museum of Contemperary Art, Warsaw, Poland + Three spreads for ‘Container #0’ magazine + Spread in Hepalinillmaster, Osaka, Japan
[2002] Antistrot content on Occupying space site + Antistrot content on Mama o oo. Nl site + Antistrot exhibition of paintings at OFF Corso, Rotterdam + Part of State X festival in den Haag (film content) + Part of Langweiligkeitsfestival [2001] Antistrot display at the Kunsthal graduation exhibition + Part of GRRR ZBUCH! Exhibition in Center for Contemporary Arts in Prague + Antistrot display in Tower Records in Japan + Part of art-route’Occupying Space’ in Rotterdam city-hall + Part of Hardpop exhibition at showroom Mama in Rotterdam + Antistrot content on Hardpop.net site + Antistrot content on 3VO site + Part of Radio Moderne 2 + Antistrot available in Tokio and New York + Video screening at R EJECT festival in Rotterdam [education] Willem de Kooning - Academy of Art
Publications/interviews: Ad in Art Forum for the Sara Tecchia Exhibition (2008), Saatchi Online (2008), Interviews, in Metro, NRC Handelsblad, Saatchi Online, Volkskrant and many others (2007), Confetti, Rotterdam (November 2006), Ruhr Zeitung (September 2006), Volkskrant (September 2006), CJP Magazine, Lowlands (August 2006), Volkskrant (February 2006), Volksrant (July 2005), Laifstyle, Poland (May 2005), Haagsche Courant Review (April 2005)