Kunsthal Rotterdam

For Kunsthal Light #21, Kinos is playing with words and sentences, decomposing them and then combining them to form a new, abstract message. This collage of images is a visual metaphor for the abundance of information that we are confronted with on a daily basis. Just like ‘fake news’, ‘clickbait’ and ‘headline journalism’, the combined letters and symbols offer only a fragmented version of reality. In the long and narrow Kunsthal display window, the bright, high-contrast colours in ‘A Half Truth is a Whole Lie’ are extravagant and almost create a sense of being closed in.

Saïd Kinos

Saïd Kinos (1988, Rotterdam) is an artist with a passion for communication and typography. In 2006, he began to study Journalism in Utrecht, after which he continued his education at the Willem de Kooning Academy, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design in 2012. Over the past few years, Kinos has mainly focused on making paintings for both indoor and outside spaces, with commissions in London, Denver, Los Angeles and Guangzhou. But his work in the public space can also be viewed closer at home. In 2019, he was awarded a talent development grant by the Creative Industries Fund, and his work was shown at the International Street Art Festival Pow! Wow! in the South-Rotterdam Afrikaanderwijk neighbourhood. 

Kunsthal Light

‘Kunsthal Light’ is the Kunsthal’s talent development programme. Since 2011, this exhibition programme has been specifically focusing on young artists who are capable of making 'a grand gesture' in an original and artistic way. Three times a year, to this end the Kunsthal places HALL 6 (the over 25-meter-long display window along the ramp) at the disposal of an artist who is given free rein to make a site-specific work. In 2019, Kunsthal Light is also made possible by the Mondriaan Fund and, especially for this edition, by Winsor & Newton.