New exhibition samples the deep space and alien vibes of Stanley Kubrick’s work

I'M SORRY DAVE sees Amsterdam’s The Ravestijn Gallery delve into otherworldly atmospheres and retro-futurism, inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey

The influence of Stanley Kubrick never really ends. The British filmmaker, who died in 1999, was a meticulous craftsman with a razor-sharp eye for detail, as well as a keeper of vast archives of research. The director’s impact infuses a new exhibition, I’m Sorry Dave, opening this weekend at Amsterdam’s The Ravestijn Gallery (showing from 5 November 2022 to 7 January 2023).

The common cinematic thread of the exhibits is 1968’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, one of the all-time great science fiction films. Set in a richly detailed future world, 2001 set new standards for special effects and art direction. 

The exhibition’s title, I'M SORRY DAVE, is taken from HAL 9000, the softly spoken, utterly psychopathic computer at the heart of the film.

As the gallery notes, Kubrick’s aesthetic world is ’reflected back in today’s data centres, international space programmes and self-driving cars.’ 

The featured artists have all taken on some aspect of 2001’s influence in their work, either consciously or unconsciously, whether through their subject matter, aesthetic, or exploration of the uncanny and the everyday.

With photography by Vincent Fournier, Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, Paweł Bownik, Martina Sauter, Philippe Braquenier and sculpture by Koen Hauser, the Ravestijn Gallery sets a scene for a mix of form, futurology and fashion.

Fournier’s fascination with space is well documented, but his fellow exhibitors use image and form to explore the otherworldly and the uncanny.