United Cowboys

Description

The Live Art Company, United Cowboys, is based in the centre of Eindhoven, where it works on dance/performance with artistic crossovers to all other art forms. United Cowboys builds an oeuvre that consists of both monumental, duration performances, but also small, intimate documents, mostly solos. The work is performed in theatres, at festivals, in museums and other fine art institutions and on locations. Besides that, United Cowboys curates the Art House at the Kleine Berg, where artistic risk is encouraged and theatrical conventions are questioned in order to dig down to the essence and truthfulness of art itself. Since 1992, the Company builds up expertise and a firm network in the Province of Brabant, nationally, and particularly internationally. The company and the art-house form an international platform in the field of live-art. With all their projects, United Cowboys invests in more visibility and in reaching a new and more diverse audience.

Organisation

United Cowboys represents a horizontal organization, consisting of an artistic team of two: Maarten van der Put and Pauline Roelants. An international relations coordinator, Ulla Havenga, is supporting the company in its international endeavours. An interchanging cast of dancers/performers, that originate from all parts of Europe creates the artistic community. Supporting personnel is acquired on a freelance base. There are five board members; United Cowboys works with the Cultural Governance and Fair Practice Code. Beyond, United Cowboys works with a lot of partners, on a local, national and international level. These collaborations are based on the self-set-up structure Concept for new Development, that develops partnerships based on sustainability and contribution to a broader cultural context; always with art as the vehicle.

United Cowboys is part of Plan Talentontwikkeling Brabant and forms, together with Parktheater, the breeding place for Performing Art Eindhoven.

Program

Art House United Cowboys stimulates and shows new developments in the field of dance/performance, accompanied by music and fine arts; after a selection by applications and open calls, artists are invited in the Art House to develop work and to exchange knowledge and experience.  Four times a year, Seasoning takes place, an event series that offers a stage to show work to an audience in programs curated by the artistic team of United Cowboys. Around the weekend that the season changes, an edition of Seasoning is being organized. Multiple artists are invited at the same time, coming from different art forms; local, regional, national and international artists. The Art House offers rehearsal spaces, spaces to meet, spaces to stay; we cook and have dinner together. Travel and other expenses are covered. In this way, the Art House has become an international platform for live-art developments. Besides Seasoning, residences are offered during the year, based on the same primary conditions and selected by individual invitation, from applications or by recommendation. 

Current resident

January-April 2021

Wessel Verrijt

Wessel Verrijt (1992, Eindhoven) is always on the move, just like his mobile installations. In 2018 he graduated with the Optocht der Autonomen (Procession of Autonomous), where people packed as buildings made of wood, cardboard and textile, explored the streets. His mobile installations are catalysts for performances, films, collages and social interventions. The principle of ‘’displacement’’ plays an important role in Verrijt’s work. The work moves from place to place like an organism full of building materials and the process of setting up and dismantling takes on a ceremonial character. Verrijt collects his materials for the installations at the location where he is working. He uses cardboard boxes, pieces of foam or other discarded items to create mobile installations and costumes. The origin and form of the materials serve as important inspiration during the process. In the ‘scenes’ that he makes, his props, set and protagonists come together as an immersive installation. Thus his own mythical stories and rituals arise. Within his work, he seeks a tension between the ordinary and the unusual, the everyday and the deviant by doing interventions in public space. In May 2020, the Mondriaan Fund awarded Verrijt with the Stipendium for Emerging Artists. From January to April 2021, Verrijt will follow a residency at United Cowboys. Within this residency he considers the residency-space as his base, where he collects new materials, create new installation and scenes. The final results of the residency will be presented in an exhibition at the end of April 2021.

Read more