Marking the launch of Danish artist Esben Weile Kjær’s first solo exhibition in the United States, Amant and Berlin-based curatorial platform TRAUMA present the Opening of SHELL: an evening of music and performance set against Kjær’s new sculptural installation. Taking place on Saturday, May 31, in Amant’s outdoor lot at 316 Ten Eyck Street (Brooklyn, NY), the program centres on PEARL, a live performance developed and performed by Kjær with a soundtrack by Croatian Amor, alongside musical sets by FETISH, Somewhere Special, and a secret guest.
Responding to SHELL’s industrial-toy aesthetic and its ambiguous blend of monument and machine, the evening extends the installation’s themes through music, movement, repetition, and role-play. Staged within the faux-concrete sculpture, an oversized reinterpretation of a miniature castle, the program draws out tensions between authenticity and falsehood, echoing SHELL’s interplay of toy and fortress, softness and aggression, fantasy and form.
TRAUMA invites a musical program to accompany the exhibition and performance, featuring Atlanta rapper FETISH, NYC hyperpop duo Somewhere Special, and a secret guest—all to perform on a flatbed truck stage intervention. With this gesture, TRAUMA channels Kjær’s visual language into the realm of musical pop culture, drawing a direct line between the artist’s youth-cultural influences and the works on view.
This collaboration signals TRAUMA’s first project in New York and reflects the platform’s recent transition to a nomadic model after operating for five years as a fixed venue in Berlin. Founded in 2018, TRAUMA has built a reputation for commissioning cross-disciplinary projects that challenge conventional art formats and support collaborative works at the intersection of visual art, music, and performance. As TRAUMA expands its programming beyond Germany, co-produced initiatives like The Opening of SHELL speak to its evolving role as an international instigator and conceptual infrastructure—one that adapts to context while fostering experimental, often ephemeral encounters.
Esben Weile Kjær (b. 1992) graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 2022. His work spans sculpture and performance, drawing on the history of pop culture to investigate themes of nostalgia, authenticity, and generational anxiety. In his performances, installations, and sculptures, he examines identity among his own generation and explores the role of culture and technology in shaping experiences of community and freedom. SHELL is the first solo presentation by the artist in the United States.
Croatian Amor is the introspective project of Loke Rahbeck, Danish sound artist and co-founder of Posh Isolation, a DIY label spearheading Scandinavian noise and ambient music. Collaborating with artists such as Puce Mary, Yves Tumor, HTRK and Varg²™, he presents a longing for indeterminate sensation employing a medley of diffuse electronic music traditions and fantastical synthetic worlds.
Los Angeles-based artist FETISH (Kole Kimbro) is quickly emerging as a bold new voice in music, blending avant-garde aesthetics with razor-sharp creative direction. Averaging 400K monthly Spotify listeners and 128K TikTok followers, FETISH has featured in Doja Cat’s “Agora Hills” and Doechii’s Grammy-nominated “GTFO.” Her debut mixtape KLUBFETISH, executive produced by Chicken Much, marks her as a genre-bending artist to watch.
Somewhere Special is the Brooklyn-based electro-pop duo of Bruno Zero and Simone Alysia, blending electroclash influences with a modern pop sensibility. Through music, video, DJ sets, and live events, Somewhere Special explores coming of age, mental health, love, and friendship, creating an inclusive space for their audience.
