Image: andriesse ~ eyck galerie, Amsterdam
Amsterdam’s andriesse ~ eyck galerie will present 'Snuffel is a Drag on Art' from 28 August to 25 September 2026, with guest curator Bobo Ophuis shaping the project around looking, deceleration and what the exhibition materials call the “in-between space.” The presentation is described as an experimenting exhibition and weekly programme that brings together Chinese abstract pioneers and contemporary artists in a setting designed to slow visitors’ pace before they encounter the works.
The gallery’s invitation frames the project as both an exhibition and a programme of discussions and performances. According to the source material, Ophuis has been invited by andriesse ~ eyck to develop the presentation from her own research and perspective. The exhibition will be held at Leliegracht 47 in Amsterdam, and opens on Friday 28 August from 5 to 8 pm.
The artist list named in the invitation includes Tang Pinggang, Zhang Wei, Yang Xinguang, Liao Guohe, Kang Wanhua, Lova Yu, and Wumen Ghua & Mia Cecille. The materials identify the project as a dialogue between generations, geographical contexts and artistic positions, placing early and contemporary Chinese abstraction in conversation with questions of matter, power, identity and institutional expectations.
A key feature of the exhibition is its emphasis on deceleration. The invitation says the gallery will be transformed into a physical venue for encounter, with a tea table serving as a “central landing strip.” Visitors are invited to sit, land and leave their usual pace behind before engaging the artworks. The concept presents looking itself as a staged activity rather than a quick act of recognition.
The source text also connects the curatorial approach to Ophuis’s own experience of moving between China and the Netherlands. It says she examines how an in-between position can open up an alternative way of looking, rather than only evoking alienation. Bobo Ophuis is identified in the invitation as an Amsterdam-based cultural editor, programmer and sinologist, with academic expertise in China Studies and film theory and international experience in East Asia.
Beyond the main exhibition, the invitation outlines a weekly Friday programme running through the exhibition period. Opening hours are listed as Wednesday to Saturday, 1 pm to 6 pm, with Friday programmes from 5 pm to 8 pm and performances beginning at 6:30 pm. The scheduled Friday events include 'The Opening and the first encounter with Liliyo & a guest dancer' on 28 August, 'Conversation at the tea table “boredom”' with Ai Zhong on 4 September, 'The Silence Week (radical deceleration, experiencing art)' on 11 September, 'Artwork in progress / artist talks' with Lova Yu on 18 September, and 'Echo of Celebration' with a guest dancer on 25 September.
