(expo)nentieel started with one artist, who invited two artists, each of whom in turn invited two more — and so on, like a chain letter branching through the artistic landscape. Each artist thus in turn became the curator of whoever came next. On paper such a series grows fast: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 — sixty-three artists in barely six generations. Reality proved more wayward: not every branch found a sequel, and at some point we had to call a halt ourselves — the house would have burst at the seams. It came to forty-nine.
For a young foundation it was an ideal way to introduce itself: not a curated list, but artists pointing to one another. What hung on the walls therefore showed more than work alone — it showed the fabric of trust and kinship by which artists carry each other — with, among the works on show, some real gems. And for DeNode it was above all a way to get to know the network we have been building with ever since.
