One Bad Monkey

Growing up in the Netherlands, Steef Crombach experienced a television curated vision of the ‘Marlboro’ America, the high plains of an ambiguous American West. A vast, uninhabited desert, symbolizing individualism, independence, and capitalism, all foreign to her. After moving to America in 2018 and experiencing the country up close, Crombach allowed her very opposite Dutch points of reference and inspiration to blend with craft techniques and iconography from America. The result of this blend is humorous and approachable, but upon closer inspection reveals her feelings of alienation and bewilderment as a foreigner, creating a more relative perspective of our daily physical reality and the parts that become part of our collective memory when we look back.

Crombach treats daily iconography as clues to how we think and move. She surfaces overlooked but shared points of reference buried deep within our collective consciousness by finding inspiration in engaging with the commonplace and the local. Her experimental yet technically intentional processes with fabric cultivate a jovial refinement. In her work, she reimagines craft techniques through innovative use and experimentation.

The soft sculptures and draping foam relief tapestries in ‘One bad Monkey’ attempt to show Crombach’s outsider fascination and possibly change the perception of Austin’s commercial sculptures (like the Wheatsville Raptor and the Big Star Bingo Gorilla.) In her research, she tries to peel apart their meaning, position, and reason to be. Still, she uncovers a secret life as the intangible sculptures morphe over time and place, aided by their commercial purposes.

With the help of digital integration company Freeverbs and an original looped score created for ‘One bad Monkey’ by Filipino American improvising flutist Kenzie Slottow, Crombach invites movement, change, and storytelling into the show. Producing a gesamtkunstwerk reminiscent of a scene out of the 1940 animated musical fantasy film Fantasia, in which our commercial icons are the main characters.

Opening Reception June 25th 7:00 PM until 9:00 PM

Opening hours: June 25th until August 4th, Tuesday until Saturday 10:00 AM until 6:00 PM

address: 1311 East Cesar Chavez Street, Austin, Texas