AMSTERDAM.- Until end-March 2015 Amsterdam's Oude Kerk is the dream location for Tony Oursler's first solo exhibition in the Netherlands in 20 years. The oeuvre of the born and raised New Yorker Tony Oursler (1957), who together with Bill Viola and Gary Hill belongs to the second generation of video artists, covers a broad range of techniques and media. It explores the complex relationships between high and low culture and between the individual and mass media and he does this using humour, irony and fantasy.

Heritage and art
For this exhibition Oursler takes advantage of the sacred characteristics of the Oude Kerk in order to create a blend of historical and contemporary perspectives on ethereal, parallel worlds. Employing photos, video fragments, film shots, drawings, manuscripts and prints, he creates an alternative iconoclasm cuts across the church, bringing heritage and art inimitably together. A number of well-known installations from Ourslers' sensational oeuvre are situated in more intimate spaces such as the Church Wardens' room, the Board room, the Mirror room, and the Holy Sepulchre. “In the Oude Kerk”, according to Oursler, “you see the traces of cultural change. Through the use of projections and interactivity I transform the historical space into a mirror for our present time.”

Oursler's work is part of the collections of the MOMA in New York, Tate Modern in London, and the Musee d’Orsay and Centre Pompidou in Paris, among others. He recently showed his work at the Venice Biennale and at the PinchukArtCentre in Kiev. Oursler also directed David Bowie’s 'Where are we now?' music video released in 2013. The last time Oursler exhibited his work in the Netherlands was in 1995.

The Oude Kerk is the oldest building in Amsterdam and is situated in the middle of the red light district. With frequently recurring substantive debate and space for contemporary art, the Oude Kerk looks to position itself as a place for engaging in [critical] dialogue, while also honouring the history of Amsterdam.The programming includes exhibitions of (inter)national artists, debates, performances, and experimental projects in collaboration with, among others, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Amsterdam Museum and De Appel Arts Centre.