Jakup Ferri [1981, Kosovo] is known primarily for his apparently naïve drawings on paper, glass or wall surfaces. They illustrate situations with people in close relation to their environment. Themes that regularly reappear in his drawings are his early memories of a normal childhood, everyday life practices interwoven with elements like slapstick, satire, estrangement and romance. Parallel to this Ferri is also known for his performances and videos where, for example, he questions the unequal balance of power in art. [Or sets this right] Ferri will make a mural especially for this exhibition.

Jakup Ferri lives and works in Amsterdam and Prishtina [Kosovo]. He studied at the Prishtina Academy of Arts and Rijksakademie Van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam. He received the Buning Brongers Prijs in Amsterdam in 2008 and participated in prestigious exhibitions as the U-TURN Quadrennial for Contemporary Art, in Copenhagen and the International Istanbul Biennale, Istanbul.

Serge Onnen [1965, France] researches different forms and aspects of drawing; he links old and new techniques to bring movement to the images and he brings drawings together with wallpaper, animations, film and video. Onnen puts these elements in a wider perspective by the initiation of projects that transgress his own discipline, like the publication series Drawing on Writing and Drawings on Geology, published by J&L Books, his exhibition projects or the music group Oorbeek. Onnen shows a critical analytical approach to the powerful themes: the balance of power, the desire for wealth and materialism that he explores in his work. For his presentation in outLINE he is showing diverse media including an animation titled ‘Tirelire’ [French for money box]. It is phenaticoscope animation- a technique where the effect of movement is suggested only by a single rotating drawing. In the animation a man’s face appears that spirals forward while coins disappear into his mouth and eyes.

Serge Onnen lives and works in Amsterdam and New York. He began as a self-taught artist and he then studied until 1992 at the Rijksacademie, Amsterdam. From this period he has presented his work in various group and solo exhibitions at home and abroad, including: the Drawing Center, New York, the Museum of Modern Arts, San Diego and Galerie Francois Barnoud, Dijon. In 2008 was Onnen represented at Sonsbeek in Arnhem and he had a solo exhibition at the Domein, Sittard.

Maria Zervou [1977, Greece] works in different media: video, drawing, installations and photography. Zervou's works are characterized by the expression of a personal way of feeling and an emotional vulnerability. She uses scenes referring to everyday life in contradiction with absurd elements or paradoxes. Female figures often appear in her drawings and videos. She uses metaphors of femininity not only by presenting the actual images of the female body, but by the methods she uses to apply her drawing technique.

Her drawings play an important role in her artistic practice. They are characterised by a unique study of form and concept. Her drawings are completely autonomous works but can also be seen as preparatory studies for her future video works. In Zervou’s work one is constantly aware of the transition between one state and the other, from this world to the next. A central undertaking of Zervou is the search, the looking for that actual pivotal moment when the transformation is occurring in the space, where as yet things are still undetermined and where everything is still possible. Of her own work Zervou says, “it is rooted in reality and real experiences but I add fictitious elements to undermine the reality.”