Mijn werk Noachs Ark is nu te zien op Salon 2022 groepstentoonstelling 16 december 2022 t/m 9 januari 2023 Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterdam
Noachs Ark (voor en achter) / gevonden beeld en tekst, tyvek, papier, garen / 72 x 50 cm / 2022 / foto AT
Mijn verhaal over Noachs Ark begint bij een begin 2022 gevonden kalender met afbeeldingen van uit de kluiten gewassen luxe jachten. Een ervan vormt het achtergronddoek waarop het verhaal zich aan twee kanten afspeelt. In dezelfde tijd staat er in de krant een artikel over de 50 jaar die er zijn verstreken sinds het uitkomen van het Rapport van de Club van Rome, over de erfenis van De grenzen aan de groei. Ik zie voor me hoe de eigenaar van zo’n luxe jacht als een moderne Noach misschien wel de meest waarschijnlijke overlever is van de komende ‘zondvloed ten gevolge van de klimaatcrisis’.
In een krant kunnen artikelen en berichten schurende effecten veroorzaken, al dan niet aangenaam, door de verrassende en soms ontregelende manier waarop ze bij elkaar staan. Naast elkaar of op elkaars achterkant leggen ze nieuwe verbanden en zorgen bij mij elke dag weer voor nieuwe indrukken en gevoelens.
Met dezelfde ogenschijnlijke willekeur waarmee in de krant artikelen op een dag bij elkaar komen zo gebruik ik alle afgebeelde personen uit alle artikelen in dezelfde krant. Naast een kop of afbeelding uit een krantenartikel over de klimaatcrisis heb ik alle afgebeelde mensen uit diezelfde krant nu als modellen verzameld voor personages in mijn verhaal over de op handen zijnde zondvloed.
Al gaten prikkend in het doek heb ik de afbeeldingen van de mensen via gekleurd garen verbonden met de afbeeldingen op de achterkant. Het vormt daar een kleurig weefsel dat de koppen en afbeeldingen uit de krantenartikelen met elkaar verbind. Vertrekpunten zijn 3 boeken, linksboven het genoemde Rapport van de Club van Rome uit 1972 en het onlangs uitgebrachte IPCC Rapport, rechtsboven.
In het derde boek, Een geschiedenis van de wereld in 10 ½ hoofdstuk, schittert Julian Barnes o.a. met verhalen over de Ark van Noach, geschiedenis en context van Het vlot van de Medusa van Gericault en andere kunstwerken over de Ark van Noach en de Zondvloed. Afbeeldingen van deze en andere kunstwerken vormen met de afbeelding van het boek een middelpunt op de achterkant. De vormen van de ‘arken’ uit de afbeeldingen zijn met neon groen draad door het doek heen naar voren geprikt en gestikt. En van de twee Rapporten en het boek van Barnes zijn op dezelfde manier neon gele focuspunten gemaakt.
Bij nader inzien kan de getoonde situatie misschien ook nog wel anders worden geschetst. Duiden de uitgestoken benen, armen en handen misschien niet op zwemmende groepen mensen, die om het jacht heen cirkelen en de moderne wannabe Noah belagen?
Mijn werk Noachs Ark participeert in de KlimaatExpo '22 groepstentoonstelling 17 september t/m 4 december 2022 op 3 locaties: Kasteel Het Nijenhuis, Heino/Wijhe / Academiehuis Grote Kerk, Zwolle / Museum de Fundatie, Zwolle
Klimaatexpo '22 is een tentoonstelling met 251 kunstwerken over klimaatverandering. De tentoonstelling is samengesteld door open inschrijving en een anonieme selectie. Uit 2200 kunstwerken zijn er 251 werken gekozen door een onafhankelijke jury. Alle kunstwerken zijn tijdens de tentoonstellingsperiode te koop.
Het dubbelzijdige werk Noachs Ark is te zien in Kasteel Het Nijenhuis, Heino/Wijhe
Meer Ogen - 187 Eyes te zien op de Salon in Arti groepstentoonstelling 7 december 2019 t/m 5 januari 2020 Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterdam
187 Eyes - Rich Amsterdam 3 (187 eyes of 180 people of 180 different nationalities, living in Amsterdam in 2016) / bedrukt papier, spelden, hout, verf / 45,5 x 45,5 cm / 2019
Graag wil ik je vragen om te stemmen op mijn werk 127 Eyes - Rich Amsterdam 1 voor de publieksprijs op de tentoonstelling Europa ZomerExpo 2019. Je kan tot en met 30 augustus digitaal stemmen: https://zomerexpo.nl/collectie/2019-129/
Europa ZomerExpo 2019 groepstentoonstelling 25 mei t/m 1 september 2019 Museum de Fundatie, Zwolle
127 Eyes - Rich Amsterdam 1 (127 eyes of 127 people of 127 different nationalities, living in Amsterdam in 2016) / bedrukt papier, spelden, hout, verf / 45,5 x 45,5 cm / 2018
Europa Zomerexpo - Bijlage Volkskrant 23 mei 2019
Europa is het onderwerp van de zevende editie van ArtWorlds’ ZomerExpo. Europa staat ter discussie. Het is een werelddeel in verwarring, waar je wel of niet bij wilt horen. Van de 5.500 inzendingen zijn er, na jurering nu 250 te zien in museum de Fundatie en in kasteel het Nijenhuis en beeldentuin in Heino/Wijhe.
Bij de opening van de expositie is mijn werk al verkocht.
Mijn werk 127 Eyes - Rich Amsterdam 1 staat in de vooraankondiging van de expositie op de website van de Fundatie: Europa Zomerexpo 2019
Alle ogen op Europa: ZomerExpo 2019 in Museum de Fundatie vanaf 25 mei 17 mei 2019
All eyes on Europe! / Rich Amsterdam – 127 Eyes of 127 people of 127 different nationalities by @johanlammerink @zomerexpo 25 mei 2019
De organisatie van de ZomerExpo zelf heeft onder de titel ‘Alle ogen op Europa: ZomerExpo 2019 in Museum de Fundatie vanaf 25 mei' nog een apart artikel gewijd aan het thema 'Europ' rond de verkiezingsdag voor het Europese parlement. Hierbij is de aandachttrekkende openingsfoto die van mijn kunstwerk. En ook is het werk door museum de Fundatie gebruikt in een verhaal ter vooraankondiging op Facebook.
Vijfhoekkunstroute 2019 - lucide dromen groepstentooonstelling 17, 18 en 19 mei 2019 op locatie in Haarlem
Kunstroute in de Vijfhoek buurt in Haarlem rondom de Nieuwe Kerk. Met dit 14e jaar als thema ‘lucide dromen’.
Op Oude Raamstraat 3 presenteer ik klein ruimtelijk werk in het huis van Carel Cronenberg en Marion Schrooten. Dorien van Benthem toont hier sieraden.
169 Eyes - Rich Amsterdam 2 (169 eyes of 169 people of 169 different nationalities, living in Amsterdam in 2016) / bedrukt papier, spelden, hout, verf / 45,5x45,5cm / 2019
detail van de kus 13 / calquepapier, karton, hout, spelden, verf / 116x31x4cm / 2008 / foto AT
Vanaf maart 2019 hangen er een aantal kleine ruimtelijke werken uit de serie a life van mij in de fitnessruimte van Fitness op Maat aan de Saxen Weimarlaan 56hs, Amsterdam. Je kunt hier makkelijk even binnenlopen bij Maarten Roestenburg en er van de kunst genieten.
Kom kijken naar de Ander in de tentoonstelling Who Art You groepstententoonstelling Who Art You werken: de Ander en 127 Eyes - Rich Amsterdam 1 2 oktober t/m 31 oktober 2018 verpleeghuis Vreugdehof, Amsterdam
Tekstkant van de Ander / op locatie in de Vreugdehof, Amsterdam / foto Andrei Tchernikov
De Ander hervertelt het boek Pygmeeën van Nederlands laatste ontdekkingsreiziger Paul Julien in de vorm van een interactief beeldverhaal. Het werk ziet er uit als een gevelwand met een beeldkant en een tekstkant.
In de tijd van zijn expedities waren koloniale verhoudingen nog vanzelfsprekend. De etnocentrische visie van Julien was toen heel gewoon, net zoals zijn paternalistische toon en missionaire benadering.
Ik snij de huid uit de foto's weg, met behoud van bouw, compositie en omtrek. Ik wil de blik van de kijker niet laten stoppen bij de afgebeelde huid, maar letterlijk verder laten kijken, dieper ingaan op de afbeelding. Door de huid weg te snijden oogt de afgebeelde persoon minder als een bezienswaardigheid. Er is een nieuwe opening ontstaan, een letterlijk venster. Aan de tekstkant zorgt dit ervoor dat de personen opdoemen uit de tekst.
En via de talrijke uitsnijdingen staat men via de lichamen van de Pygmeeën oog in oog met de Ander als bezoeker.
Fotokant van de Ander / op locatie in de Vreugdehof, Amsterdam / foto Andrei Tchernikov
Tekstkant van de Ander / op locatie in de Vreugdehof, Amsterdam / foto Andrei Tchernikov
127 Eyes - Rich Amsterdam / op locatie in de Vreugdehof, Amsterdam / foto Andrei Tchernikov
Johan Lammerink stelt de vraag Who Art You? Beeldend kunstenaar Johan Lammerink (1955) stuitte een aantal jaar geleden op de heruitgave uit 1997 van ‘Pygmeeën’ van ontdekkingsreiziger Dr. Paul Julien. In de tijd van Julien’s expedities (1926-52) was Afrika nog geheel gekolonialiseerd door Westerse mogendheden en waren koloniale verhoudingen vanzelfsprekend. De etnocentrische visie van Julien was toen heel gewoon, net zoals zijn paternalistische toon en missionaire benadering.
Vorm Johan heeft besloten tot een hervertelling van ‘Pygmeeën’ in de vorm van een interactief beeldverhaal dat in de ruimte staat opgesteld als een gevelwand met vensters, met een donkere ‘straatkant’ en een lichte binnenkant, die doet denken aan vitrage. De donkere is de foto- of beeldkant en de lichte de tekstkant.
Het ontrafelen van de vorm van de Ander is een oefening in het kijken. Johan heeft vier uitvergrote foto’s opgenomen in een fotovenster; op het betreffende tekstvenster heeft hij per foto vier pagina’s weergegeven.
Inhoud Wat doet Johan met de foto’s van mensen en waarom? Het antwoord op die vraag brengt me bij de inhoud. Johan snijdt de huid uit de foto’s weg, met behoud van de omtrek. ‘Ik wil de blik van de kijker niet laten stoppen bij de afgebeelde huid, maar letterlijk verder laten kijken, dieper ingaan op de afbeelding. Door de huid weg te snijden oogt de afgebeelde persoon minder als een bezienswaardigheid. Er is een nieuwe opening ontstaan, een letterlijk venster. Aan de tekstkant zorgt dit ervoor dat de personen opdoemen uit de tekst.’
Kijken naar ‘de ander’ Door de vensters kunnen we heen en weer naar andere bezoekers van de expositie kijken. Door zijn beeldverhaal interactief te maken benadrukt Johan dat hij er niet op uit is om Julien’s onderzoekmethoden te kritiseren. Wel wil hij ons laten vergelijken hoe Julien toen en wij nu naar ‘de ander’ kijken. Hij daagt ons kijkers uit onbevooroordeeld te kijken naar de ander, ongeacht wie dat ook is, en in de wetenschap dat wij zelf voor die ander de ander zijn. Hij stelt echt de vraag Who Art You?
Grafisch ontwerpster Winneke Hazewinkel en ik hebben een voorlancering voorbereid die vanaf begin februari op Instagram is te zien en hierboven. De voorlancering, in een strak jasje, toont een serie werken uit de afgelopen jaren. Zie ook Instagram.
Kunst en Kunst gerelateerde facebookverhalen
Op Facebook en Instagram post ik foto's, indrukken en verhalen die kunst gerelateerd zijn. Een aantal kunst gerelateerde verhalen van facebook staan hieronder.
RIVER VALLEY ART BY BIKE – IJSSELBIENNALE #1 August 19, 2017
Cycling in the landscape paintings of the old Dutch masters, with the art of today? In the summer of 2017 you can just do that. Get a bike and go cycling in the beautiful low land river valley along the meandering IJssel, with cows in a landscape full shades of green and small white clouds in the vast blue sky. The IJsselbiennale makes it irresistible by adding outdoor sculptures here and there along the 100 kilometres long stretch between Doesburg (river Rhine) and Zwolle (lake IJsselmeer).
IJsselbiënnale 2017 - Analgesia, Paolo Grassino
RIVER VALLEY ART BY BIKE – IJSSELBIENNALE #2 August 22, 2017
The Dutch sculpture their land. They first forced their rivers between high dikes. And with all the increasing water expected they not only reinforce them now but allow parts of the neighbouring land to be flooded as well. Occasionally, that is. For instance an 8 km stretch of land near Vorchten is prepared to flood every 80 years. Artist Maze de Boer takes advance of this future wet happening by a balancing act.
IJsselbiënnale 20127 - Hoog en droog (High and dry), Maze de Boer
RIVER VALLEY ART BY BIKE – IJSSELBIENNALE #3 August 23, 2017
Holland is the estuary of a few majestic European rivers together. In this low land (Netherlands) the IJssel is an affluent of the Rhine and carves smooth lines in this delta. With the water came the fertile soil, the organisms and the algae, but also the pollution. The theme of this IJsselbiennale is the influence climate change has on our river landscape. Artist duo Groenewoud/Buij made a small cathedral of bottled water with all kinds of life forms and contents in our surrounding (river) water.
RIVER VALLEY ART BY BIKE – IJSSELBIENNALE #4 August 26, 2017
Now, in summer the water level of the IJssel is low, in winter it could rise by 6m. With the predicted climate change this ‘normal’ rise might get new yearly records. In historic times, before the Dutch build their dikes, water flooded their low lands regularly. To keep their feet dry and be able to build homes and keep cattle the people living in the lower parts of the country started building ‘terpen’ (mounds of earth). When the water was rising these ‘terpen’ would remain dry islands. Artists Jeroen van Westen & Curdin Tones revalued this age-old landscaping protection by presenting a possible future settlement on an earth-covered dump.
RIVER VALLEY ART BY BIKE – IJSSELBIENNALE #5 September 01, 2017
To keep dry feet and clean water in abundance the Netherlands have an interesting democratically chosen independent government structure called water boards (waterschappen). On a regional level they control and regulate water management which include water conservation, water quantity and water quality. Around the IJssel we find numerous interesting structures and installations that help maintaining the required water levels for living, agriculture and transport, both old and new. Quite a few artists have made sculptures with and on these water installations.
RIVER VALLEY ART BY BIKE – IJSSELBIENNALE #6 September 02, 2017
The poles-path of the family Groten! To get to their farm from the neighbouring dike when water was rising, brother and sister Groten invented an air bridge of steel poles with a wooden deck. The steel remnants of this path through the air are used by artist Tanja Smeets for growing structures, like mussels and barnacles grow on rocks and mooring posts.
RIVER VALLEY ART BY BIKE – IJSSELBIENNALE #7 September 03, 2017
Garden of Eden. It’s only human to try to find back the garden of Eden or any other religiously based earthly variation for that matter. At many places along the IJssel you could easily imagine you are walking in a garden or a garden like landscape. Artist Nathalie Bruys made for the area around the former brick factory Fortmond a sound-walk. You can enjoy it individually, while stepping into the surrounding Ruysdael-like landscape.
IJsselbiënnale 2017 - Landscape near Fortmond, while listening to Frequencies from the PAST & NOW & FUTURE and everything in between, Nathalie Bruys
RIVER VALLEY ART BY BIKE – IJSSELBIENNALE #8 September 04, 2017
Garden of Eden. Any good garden has a hortus conclusus, a special ‘hidden’ place where the look is turned inwards. The horizontal view is now blocked by a ‘wall’ and the human body connects vertically with heaven above and earth below. As part of their common project Observatorium (Observatory) artists Geert van de Camp, Andre Dekker, Lieven Poutsma en Ruud Reutelingsperger created a place for comtemplation.
MARJAN TEEUWEN: IN LINE WITH GORDON MATTA-CLARK July 12, 2017
Extreme excesses in human history sculpted to monumental art - working in a building destroyed by war: Destroyed House Gaza
Destroyed House, Marjan Teeuwen, 2016
DUTCH ARTIST MARJAN TEEUWEN REBUILDS DESTROYED HOUSE IN GAZA DESTROYED HOUSE GAZA, 2016
A building as sculpture. Large-scale architectural installations in buildings that are demolished are central to my work as an artist. Subsequently, autonomous photo pieces are created on the basis of these installations. Since 2008 I realized six architectural installations, of which five in The Netherlands and one in Russia.
Recently I realised Destroyed House Gaza (2016) in the Palestinian territories. The installation is located in Rafah (Gaza), in a building which has been destroyed by human intervention. When this house was hit by a bomb during the 2014 war, all its walls were blown away. I decided to rebuild the house and turn it into an independent artistic statement.
To me, war is complete chaos and order is beauty. By re-arranging the broken pieces of the house into a new, meaningful and aesthetical architectural sculpture, I turned chaos into order. Thus, war was transformed into its opposite: artistic construction.
The result is a monumental art work entitled Destroyed House Gaza, in which the forces of construction and destruction battle for priority. Floors have been tilted or cave in. Walls have been removed partly or entirely. Floors drop straight down, becoming vertical or diagonal planes. Stackings (branching out through the building like a virus) cover walls or have been carefully arranged into architectural columns. Everything is both standing and tilted. Everything is on edge. Despite the raw visual language of chaos, demolition and destruction, the result has a highly abstract, minimalist character. Destroyed House Gaza even has a delicate, poetical beauty. For example, I gave the house a new, fragile skin of broken pieces, through which the light from outside is softly screened.
Destroyed House Gaza has become both an art work and a contemplative space. Not only for the people who suffered and houses have been destroyed, but for all people.
MARJAN TEEUWEN: AMAZING LADY CONSTRUCTS AMAZING SPACES July 12, 2017
New perspectives on and experience of architecture, space, sculpture and (social) environments.
Verwoest Huis Piet Mondriaanstraat, Marjan Teeuwen, 2010-2011
Marjan Teeuwen
She makes architectural installations: existing buildings are stripped by her, she sewages the waste material and thereby builds a completely new interior.After having worked for a month or five, pictures are taken and the building is destroyed.
DUTCH SPOKEN - Luister naar een radiointerview met Marjan Teeuwen of kijk naar een interview met haar bij Kunst is Lang.
CARTOONING SYRIA – IV LET US LAUGH. TO DEATH, IF NECESSARY May 20, 2017
“In yet another chapter in the tragedy of the recent history of Syria, the media picked up a new report by Amnesty International in early February 2017. The sheer horror it describes defies imagination, and tells the story of the “death factory” in Saydnaya, a prison The Guardian describes as “the worst place on Earth”. Despite this, as you’ll see in the Cartooning Syria exhibition, as well as in the various contributions in this book, Syrian cartoonists continue to denounce the situation in their homeland and raise awareness. ...
First, there’s humour. Even if the laugh is sometimes distorted, like that of someone suffering from a toothache, a cartoon should make the reader laugh or smile. Especially important is how laughter neutralizes the cartoon’s message, which is often very pointed. …
And then what? Without a doubt, we are encouraged to reflect. And in the best case we’re inspired to take action. The words of Maurice Maréchal, founder of the French satirical magazine Le Canard Enchainé, are apt in this regard: “When I see something outrageous, I first feel indignant, but then I start to laugh. That’s hard, but more efficient.” In the first issue of Le Canard Enchainé, published after the attack on the editorial offices of Charlie Hebdo on 14 January 2015, director Michel Gaillard concluded his editorial with these significant words: “Rions. Aux larmes” – “Let us laugh until we cry.” And the original French text provides an extra layer of meaning: “Aux armes”, without the “I”, means “to arms”. Laughter, then, functions as a weapon. A weapon that frees us.“ (source: Roel Daenen in Cartooning Syria, Ronald Bos ed., Jurgen Maas, Amsterdam, 2017)
Cartooning Syria / Pencil in detention, Hani Abbas
CARTOONING SYRIA - III HOW THE MAP OF SYRIA BECAME A CARTOON CHARACTER May 4, 2017
“Of all the themes in cartoons about the war in Syria, this is undoubtedly the one used most frequently: the more or less triangular map, with a finger-like projection in the northeast that extends into Turkey, and a straight border in the south with Jordan and Iraq underneath.
The map itself has assumed the traits of a cartoon character, an anthropomorphized piece of cartography, and this should be no surprise to us. The country has been torn apart by Russian and American troops, by Bashar’s troops, rebels from ISIS/Daesh and Al Nusra, fighters from Kurdistan and Turkey; it has been torn apart completely and nowadays is but an abstraction, an outline of what it once was.
Lebanese cartoonist Hassan Bleibel portrayed Bashar, who with razor-sharp nose jabs the map of Syria into the bloody back of a prisoner. He comments: “Proof of torture!!?? No, I simply want to see Syria in every Syrian.” Today that map is stigma, scar and trauma. “ (source: Joost Pollmann in Cartooning Syria, Ronald Bos ed., Jurgen Maas, Amsterdam, 2017)
Cartooning Syria / Color your own country, Saad Hajo
Cartooning Syria_Akram Raslan
Cartooning Syria / Russian war against ISIS, Hakam al Waheb
Cartooning Syria / Sahar Burhan
Cartooning Syria / Gal
CARTOONING SYRIA - II THE TRUTH IS CRUEL April 28, 2017
“The truth is cruel. One of Syria’s most famous cartoonists is dead: Akram Raslan was arrested, imprisoned, tortured and – most probably – murdered by the Assad regime. One year later, in 2013, he received the Award for Courage in Editorial Cartooning.
Two years earlier, in the night of 25 August 2011, cartoonist Ali Ferzat was attacked in Damascus by a group of masked men, who beat him up and broke his fingers, then dumped him at the side of the road near the airport. His crime? Depicting Assad trying to catch a ride out of the country with his Libyan counterpart Muammar Gaddafi. Ferzat was subsequently awarded the Press Freedom Prize by Reporters Without Borders and Le Monde. Nine years earlier he had received the prestigious Prince Claus Award in the Netherlands.”
“But cartoonists that criticize the Assad regime have similar issues, and readily make use of clichés and stereotypes. In every part of the world political cartoons avail themselves of a discourse in which familiar symbols play an important role: they represent complex historical configurations in a highly condensed form. Cartoons, therefore, are inherently blunt, repetitive and hyperbolic, but also quite effective weapons of propaganda.” (source: Joost Pollmann in Cartooning Syria, Ronald Bos ed., Jurgen Maas, Amsterdam, 2017)
Cartooning Syria / The crisis is almost over, Akram Raslan
Cartooning Syria / Ali Ferzat
Cartooning Syria / Sameer Khalili
CARTOONING SYRIA - I EXHIBITION, ARTI ET AMICITIAE, AMSTERDAM April 23, 2017
“Syrian Political Cartoons were for a long time a contradiction in terms, because freedom of expression in Syria has been controlled by the Ba’ath Party since the coup d’état in 1963. Nowadays it’s a tragic reality that, after more than fifty years and after the uprising of 2011, for Syrian cartoonists freedom of expression is possible only in exile. Almost all cartoonists have had to flee Syria, like so many other compatriots.” (source: Cartooning Syria, Ronald Bos ed., Jurgen Maas, Amsterdam, 2017) Impressive exhibition in Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterdam, April 22 till May 21, 2017
Cartooning Syria / Mediterranean, Fares Cachoux
Cartooning Syria / Sulafa Hijazi
GORDON MATTA-CLARK ALIVE June 18, 2017
Gordon Matta-Clark is an artist legend of the 70’s. He studied architecture, but instead of building, he became known for his exceptional interventions in existing architecture, nature and public space in general.
Splitting Exterior, Gordon Matta-Clark, 1974
He opened up an old warehouse plus pier with an astonishing sailing shape, split a house in 2 halves, connected rooms in an abandoned building by means of circles and half circles and tunneled an opening through an apartment building as if a rocket had connected earth and heaven. Rough, intense and determined, yet of an incredible beauty, that lets one have a complete new and fresh look at ‘just-a-building’. An urban survivor and cowboy in one: invited for an exhibition, he shot the glass out of the exhibition space windows with a shotgun. And he topped it off by opening a restaurant in SoHo that was frequented by all the (later) known avant-gardists of his time. And then he died of pancreas cancer, only 34 years old (1943-1978).
Conical Intersect, Gordon Matta-Clark, 1975
Days End, Gordon Matta-Clark, 1975
Window Blowout, Gordon Matta-Clark, 1976
Cut, Split & Eat – He is smiling and working, 40 years later it is still amazing to see him sit bare-chested in a swing, laser-torching the side of a huge steel plated factory, cutting a huge sail-like shape in it, and let the sun invade. Enjoy the spirit, life and FOOD of Gordon Matta-Clark till 2 July 1917 in a well organised exhibition at the Buitenplaats Kasteel Wijlre in Wijlre, the Netherlands.
Gordon Matta-Clark
POETRY ON BLACK PAGES – GUY VORDING at Rento Brattinga Dudok De Groot WHO KEEPS HALF A DOZEN LIVE RABBITS IN THE AIR May 4, 2017
Fear of the empty white canvas or the empty white paper is often said to be a common artists practice. The first line, the first stroke, where or what is it going to be. But what if the start is not an empty white space but on the contrary a page full of text and images. And that the artist possibly does not hesitate for what the first line will start, but what the first line on this page will take away.
Guy Vording is using existing pages of ‘old’ magazines that are full of texts and images as a canvas. He draws black lines on these pages and I imagine that by doing so he isolates certain words or group of words and parts of images as with a surgical knife from the surrounding words and parts of images. His pencil draws a hiding darkness over the pages in strokes and patterns while leaving islands of paper untouched. These islands contain words and image parts that begin to come forward out of the sea of surrounding words, text and images, as if highlighted.
Who keeps half a dozen live rabbits in the air, Guy Vording
Only recently I bought one of those ‘black pages’ at the 2017 Art Rotterdam fair. Over most of the page black lines have been drawn in patterns. Some images are still recognizable: a wooden house with a porch, a bell tower and a flagpole. Under this house 2 pair of legs, 2 pair of shoes with feet in it, 2 hand alone, 2 hands holding each other, 1 arm with hand, 1 face and in the lower left corner a piece of text that reads “who keeps half a dozen live rabbits in the air”. Almost hidden in the now dark page one can still read “One Room School”.
Drawing and isolating make poetry on this ‘black pages’ as he calls these series: intriguing assembly in deconstruction.
How not to live in suburbia #7, Guy Vording
At the Rento Brattinga Dudok de Groot he shows several of his ‘black pages’ and constructive collages as well. In these last he adds cut out small drawings from his hand to existing photographs. The exhibition – together with artist Ko Aarts – is held from April 8 till May 13, 2017, Lauriergracht 80, Amsterdam.
ART BASEL IN HONG KONG – 3 YEARS AGO Republic of Jing Bang – free country on a whale’s back March 30, 2017
Back in 2014 I bought 2 visa for the Republic of Jing Bang during the Art Basel fair in Hong Kong. Such visa could be acquired by 100 + 500 people in total - “Nobody is refused a visa”. For 100 people it was also possible to become citizen of this fictional country, created by the Chinese artist Sun Xun. ‘Jing Bang’ is a free country and could be translated as a country based on a surfacing whale.
Later that year I was going to get married, so as an alternative to the traditional wedding rings I decided to buy 2 visa for this remarkable country. This would make a perfect travel destination as well for our honeymoon. I managed to buy numbered etches of both our birth years.
ABHK14 / Visa of Republic of Jing Bang, Sun Xun
‘The citizen briefcase (edition of 100), contains items for the fully-fledged Jing Bangian (Jing Bangese?). These include a fetching flag, passport and ID card. But what sort of nation is Jing Bang? Sun says: “The republic is like a country built upon the back of a whale; it starts to exist as soon as the whale leaps out of the water and disappears the moment it dives back under.” The artist adds: “The transient republic of Jing Bang does not advocate any political beliefs, which it considers bullshit.”’ (Source: In the Frame, The Art Newspaper)
ABHK14 / Presentation of Republic of Jing Bang, Sun Xun
ABHK14 / Citizen's briefcase of Republic of Jing Bang, Sun Xun
ART BASEL IN HONG KONG 2017 Pixelated Figuratives from Hong Kong to Amsterdam March 29, 2017
HONG KONG - Looking at ‘Putto’ of Michael Parekowhai in the Encounters sector every visitor could notice a very intriguing way of pixelating. Where the cherubs genitalia are supposed to be we see an interesting stacking of small square cubes in the same flesh colour as the giant creature.
ABHK17 / Putto, Michael Parekowhai, 2017. As seen in the Encounters sector.
HONG KONG - Checking the Art Basel Encounters brochure one sees unmistakably a different Putto. The creature is plain whitish and has as far as one can see its male genitalia in place. What happened? It seems, as curator Alexie Glass-Kantor told me, that the putto with genitalia was acceptable as long as it was abstract-white. The very moment the artist presented his ‘adapted’ flesh-coloured creature he was asked to make a 21th century fig-leaf. Hence the 3d pixels.
ABHK17 / Putto, Michael Parekowhai, 2017. As presented in the Encounters brochure.
AMSTERDAM - This remembered me of a small art-storm that happened some thirteen years ago in my neighbourhood in Amsterdam. Supported by local government and subsidized by the European Community a house in a street named after the Dutch writer, linguist and politician Jacob van Lennep (1802 – 1869) was to get a painted mural to strengthen the social cohesion in its neighbourhood. The art piece ‘Aan een roosje’ (To a little rose) by Rombout Oomen is a love poem of Jacob van Lennep and an ode to women. It caused upheaval because some neighbours thought the painting of the naked woman to be offensive. They were promised frosted glass and tall plants to block their view on the work. But after paint was thrown over it, the art work was restored and the woman’s genitalia pixelated.
ABHK17 / 'Aan een roosje' (To a little rose), Rombout Oomen, Jacob van Lennepstraat, Amsterdam, 2004
ART BASEL IN HONG KONG 2017 Waiting for a Time Capsule. March 27, 2017
How intriguing to be standing waiting for a Time Capsule that runs a regular service over tram tracks. Well in the midst of busy Hong Kong this was very easy last week, when we stepped into the moving site-specific work of Kingsley Ng, named “Twenty-Five Minutes Older”. The artist himself stepped on board of this moving camera obscura too and explained us the journey we were going to make.
ABHK17 / 25 Minutes Older, Kingsley Ng, video JL
Low seated on the top deck we moved forward like in a quiet dark rocketing cocoon, surrounded by the surreal shadowy upside down projection of Hong Kong on its sides. Meanwhile we heard gently told extracts from the novella “Tête-Bêche” by Liu Yichang.
Hong Kong still has many beautiful double-decker trams running. They make you smile and wanting to jump onto their balconies, which is indeed possible as they run a regular service. Art Basel uses advertisements on some of the trams too. This year they commissioned also a special tram project to Hong Kong artist Kingsley Ng called ‘Twenty-Five Minutes Older’. He transformed two trams into moving camera obscuras. See his website for more information.
ABHK17 / Double-decker trams are running a regular service in Hong Kong, foto JL
Noachs Ark (voor en achter) / gevonden beeld en tekst, tyvek, papier, garen / 72 x 50 cm / 2022 / foto AT
_01.jpg "IJsselbiënnale 2017 - In God We Trust, Spacecowboys (Paul Keizer & Albert Dedden)")
_02.jpg "IJsselbiënnale 2017 - In God We Trust, Spacecowboys (Paul Keizer & Albert Dedden)")
