FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 20, 2023
MEDIA CONTACT: Brian Passey | [email protected] | 480-874-4626

SMoCA to open new interactive, audiovisual experience

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) will exhibit the work of emerging Dutch artist Roelof Knol from Sept. 23, 2023, through July 28, 2024, as part of the museum’s PROJECT SPACE initiative.

In this new immersive installation, “Roelof Knol: the space in between,” Knol creates a playful, interactive, audiovisual experience that invites viewers to explore their relationship with digital and physical spaces. The installation will respond to movement, creating a network of shared pathways generated by the participants, allowing them to form bonds with others or choose to disconnect and walk their own paths. The soundscape for the installation was created in collaboration with Don Diablo.

“For this exhibition, Knol has pushed his practice conceptually and technically over the last year and a half, creating the largest installation of his work to date for his first solo museum show,” said Julie Ganas, SMoCA’s curator of engagement and digital initiatives, who curated this exhibition. “Knol’s thoughtful and holistic approach to developing the installation for this exhibition has taken his practice to another level.”

PROJECT SPACE is an exhibition initiative at SMoCA that supports the creation of new work by emerging and established contemporary artists. The artists who participate in this series have the resources to experiment with concepts, materials and formats aimed to push their practice in new ways.

SMoCA has had three exhibitions in this series since it was created in the spring of 2021: the inaugural exhibition, “Diedrick Brackens: ark of bulrushes,” which opened in February 2021, followed later that year by “Mimi O Chun: It’s all cake” and then “Teresa Baker: Capturing Space” in 2022.

“I am so thrilled to be able to work with Roelof on this exhibition, and I cannot wait to see him continue to grow his artistic practice,” Ganas said.

Knol, who primarily shares videos of his experimental projection-based work on Instagram, has been given the platform with this PROJECT SPACE exhibition to realize the potential of the artworks he creates on a much smaller scale in his Amsterdam apartment. In addition to the main installation, Knol will also have a small-scale work on view in SMoCA’s new _____ space, a reimagined, flexible community space.

“When I started, I would have never believed I would be showing work in an actual contemporary art museum,” Knol said, noting that he has long dreamed of doing so. “I feel extremely excited and honored — and a bit nervous — to have this opportunity. And I hope that once the exhibition opens, people experience something they normally wouldn’t see.”

SMoCA — named “Best Museum” by the Phoenix New Times in the 2022 Best of Phoenix awards — is located at 7374 E. Second St., Scottsdale, Arizona 85251. It is open Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Visit SMoCA.org for information.

Admission is $10–$12 for non-members; $7–$9 for students, seniors (65+) and veterans; and free for Scottsdale Arts ONE Members, healthcare workers, first responders, and patrons 18 and younger. Admission to the museum is pay-what-you-wish every Thursday and every second Saturday of the month. Timed-entry tickets are required. Save time and money by booking online at SMoCA.org.

“Roelof Knol: the space in between” is organized by Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art and curated by Julie Ganas, curator of engagement and digital initiatives.