Art in corona times 92. John Nixon; Superweakness, The Hague

Geometric abstraction, minimalism and the whole movement towards a kind of art that doesn’t need representation since that niche has been occupied by photography, first became mainstream after WWII, and has now become middle of the road.

Later post-modernism caused a sharp representational backlash, and, in a way that is still working.

However, representational and non-representational art seem to live together quite peacefully in these days of verbal aggression.

Abstract art is sometimes accused of not being substantive or worse, of not being ‘layered’, since that seems the only thing that counts for present-day ‘intellectual’ art viewers.

Indeed, abstract art can be very decorative in the bad sense of the word, but work like John Nixon‘s (1949-2020) will show you that there is an immense world to be seen and experienced in abstraction – geometric or otherwise.

In Nixon’s case it is a world of sensitivity to colour and material, to sophistication and simplicity, and not least to playfulness and humour.

In a commemorative exhibition at Superweakness, long time admirers Machiel van Soest and Jan van der Ploeg (who also administers Nixon’s Dutch estate) felt they should also show something of Nixon’s open, social and inspiring personality.

It has become a particularly sparkling show, lovingly put together, with works from different periods, which, i must say, i personally enjoyed very much.

More details at Superweakness‘s website.

Now that you’ve come here, you might as well subscribe to Villa Next Door (top right of the page)!

(Right click to enlarge pictures)

(All links open in new tabs)

© Villa Next Door 2021

Contents of all photographs courtesy to the owners of the works, the estate of John Nixon and Superweakness, Den Haag

Bertus Pieters VILLA NEXT DOOR IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ADVERTISING ON THIS PAGE!!

Art in corona times 91. Martin Gabriel, Beng Yuenyong & Jesus Canuto Iglesias, How To Make A Coconut Shell Into Everything; Trixie, The Hague

Trixie presently shows three interesting installations by Jesus Canuto Iglesias (1992), Martin Gabriel (1991) and Beng Yuenyong (1987).

All three artists use modern technology to make their works.

In daily life contemporary technology is embedded in modern consumer society, which makes it addictive and, to some, even suspect.

On the other hand, using it artistically circumvents the consumerist addictive aspect, and, in a way, subverts modern day technology’s cause and reason of existence.

The three artists succeeded in finding a kind of harmony in the exhibition, although their installations are very different in idea and concept.

You might reason that Gabriel’s installation is a bit too heavy in its details and ideas, compared to the two other works.

Nevertheless, Yuenyong’s installation, which is more spacious and minimalistic than Gabriel’s in its concept, may have just as much impact on the viewer, while Canuto’s installation partly reflects both other works.

Gabriel’s surely is the most theatrical of the three works on show.

The work itself is a stage, flanked by pools as parts of a present-day Garden of Earthly Delights.

The stage itself is inhabited by 3D-printed figures, seemingly run from a computer game, with its blurring of classical and quasi-classical mythology, mythologized history, and its plagiarism of the human subconscious.

The player of the game can identify with its protagonists in a world which is full of excitement, violence, wonder, hollow meanings and senseless heroism, next to the completely misshapen presentation of ‘real life’ in modern media.

Yuenyong, in his installation, literally gives space to reflection.

Southeast Asian decoration and temple-like structures are rethought digitally and by the artist.

They are 3D-printed and they are minimised to mere shapes of thoughts, presented at eye-level.

Yuenyong even created a pond with a lotus-like structure in it, while under one of the mini-temples are offerings of flowers and cans of soft drinks.

In between the idea of death and resurrection floats.

The work by Canuto reflects both other installations and comments them with philosophical quotations, blurred by the acoustics of the recordings and the exhibition space itself.

It may contain all the wisdom one might hope for, but it refrains from giving any answer or true comment.

The visitor, with al his/her questions, only sees a reflection of him/herself and the worlds of the two other artists in an opaque and changing mirror.

Martin Gabriel, Beng Yuenyong, Jesus Canuto Iglesias

Now that you’ve come here, you might as well subscribe to Villa Next Door (top right of the page)!

(Right click to enlarge pictures)

(All links open in new tabs)

© Villa Next Door 2021

Contents of all photographs courtesy to the artists and Trixie, Den Haag

Bertus Pieters

VILLA NEXT DOOR IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ADVERTISING ON THIS PAGE!!

Art in corona times 90. Networked Collective, Envision this is part XXXVII of an ensemble that is no longer necessarily ceremonial; Dürst Britt & Mayhew, The Hague

Presently Dürst Britt & Mayhew has given full space to the Networked Collective, and as a result the gallery and its owners have become part of it.

Networked Collective was initiated by Bas van den Hurk and Jochem van Laarhoven.

The Collective describes itself as ‘a non-permanent group of about twenty five artists, actors, theoreticians and performers that collectively produce works, films and plays.’

In the backspace of the gallery works are being produced with the help of a printing press, of which a changing selection is exhibited in the front space.

The making and exhibiting is done by different people such that no day is the same in the gallery.

The co-operation of the artists is very much an intuitive one.

The ideas of the individual artists are meant to inspire the collective working process and vice versa.

Generally the concept clearly shows the connection between the seemingly chaotic making and thinking processes and the distinct order of an exhibition.

However, an exhibition may look as neat and orderly as anything, it is itself also very much based on intuition, the objects that happen to be around, and the inspiration they give to the maker of the exhibition.

It is of course attractive for a curator to show something of the making and thinking processes, but in this case these processes are already a very visual and permanent background chorus for an exhibition.

It is also a good opportunity for the more or less regular visitors of the gallery to experience these processes in another way and to have different conversations than usual.

Although it is a fine and welcome idea of the gallery to have this organised, it also shouldn’t be much of a surprise.

The gallerists are known to be very much interested in the combination of making and thinking.

That becomes all the more important in a society where thinking and making have become very much separated to create different artificial (but not artistic) hierarchies.

But let’s not become negative about this in the context of this wonderful happening.

Having in mind an exhibition i showed some pictures of before, one could say this is a very real jam session.

Now that you’ve come here, you might as well subscribe to Villa Next Door (top right of the page)!

(Right click to enlarge pictures)

(All links open in new tabs)

© Villa Next Door 2021

Contents of all photographs courtesy to the Network Collective and Dürst Britt & Mayhew, Den Haag

Bertus Pieters

VILLA NEXT DOOR IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ADVERTISING ON THIS PAGE!!

Art in corona times 89. Robine Clignett & Elsbeth Ciesluk, Tuna Enda; Galerie Maurits van de Laar, The Hague

At first sight there isn’t much that connects Robine Clignett’s (1948) and Elsbeth Ciesluk’s (1986) works.

However, in their present exhibition at Galerie Maurits van de Laar there is a fine balance between the two.

Clignett needs a bit more daylight, so her works open the show.

Clignett’s nuanced colours have the power to make the viewer lose him/herself in their composition. Although shapes are usually basic for compositions in art, in Clignett’s works they are subordinated and unimportant due to the character of the colours.

With their enchanting transparency it’s the colours that speak.

In Ciesluk’s works one can see a kind of banners, or prayer scrolls or even towels. However, they have changed and become what they are by sudden fleeting thoughts.

As far as i know this is Ciesluk’s first comprehensive presentation in The Hague and i must say it leaves me wanting to see more.

Be sure to see it, as the exhibition is in its last week!

Now that you’ve come here, you might as well subscribe to Villa Next Door (top right of the page)!

(Right click to enlarge pictures)

(All links open in new tabs)

© Villa Next Door 2021

Contents of all photographs courtesy to Robine Clignett, Elsbeth Ciesluk and Galerie Maurits van de Laar, Den Haag

Bertus Pieters

VILLA NEXT DOOR IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ADVERTISING ON THIS PAGE!!

Art in corona times 88. Matthias Grothus & Yaïr Callender, Jam Session; Kadmium, Delft

As i initiated this show of works by Matthias Grothus (1982) and Yaïr Callender (1987) at Kadmium, Delft, this report is a bit different.

Matthias Grothus sketching in his studio

The idea was to make a show with objects and/or installations that would cause a sense of wonder, a bit like in a Kunst und Wunderkammer, something both Grothus and Callender would be good at.

We decided to leave a lot of room for improvisation.

Yaïr Callender’s works have arrived at the gallery

Callender has his studio in The Hague and Grothus in Zaandam, so it wouldn’t be easy for the artists to visit each other and exchange ideas.

That meant the actual making of the exhibition would be a kind of jam session on the day of installation at the gallery.

First parts of Matthias Grothus’ works have arrived

Parts of Matthias Grothus’ work, waiting to be assembled

Happily the artists got on quite well together and they had a good feel for each other’s works.

Assembling Matthias Grothus’ work is like reconstructing a fossil

The artists attaching Matthias Grothus’ flying creature

Although the works were challenging, real problems didn’t happen.

Yaïr Callender adding some finishing touches

As a result I think some of the tension and the joy of making the exhibition can still be seen.

Matthias Grothus working on the flying creature’s head

Centre piece is of course Grothus’ flying creature, which is both strong and transparent.

It flies like a phoenix supported by Callender’s works and accompanied by the deep, earthly humming of a sound work by Grothus.

Callender’s works try to let the surrounding world speak for itself.

Although the show was originally planned for last spring (but had to be postponed because of Covid-19), it obviously works very well in this autumn of anxiety, where it might bring a moment of reflection to the viewer.

It has become a show of both deep seriousness and freaky humour.

Now that you’ve come here, you might as well subscribe to Villa Next Door (top right of the page)!

(Right click to enlarge pictures)

(All links open in new tabs)

© Villa Next Door 2021

Contents of all photographs courtesy to Matthias Grothus, Yaïr Callender and Kadmium, Delft

Bertus Pieters

VILLA NEXT DOOR IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ADVERTISING ON THIS PAGE!!

Art in corona times 87. After Daan van Golden; PARTS Project, The Hague

Some time ago i visited PARTS Project to write a review about its present exhibition After Daan van Golden. Click here to read the review in VLR (in Dutch).

It is a very full and rich show and as i’ve written quite extensively about it i just leave you here with some details and impressions of it.

However there is far more to see than these impressions suggest, so do plan a visit and take your time!

Click here to read the review in VLR (in Dutch).

Now that you’ve come here, you might as well subscribe to Villa Next Door (top right of the page)!

(Right click to enlarge pictures)

(All links open in new tabs)

© Villa Next Door 2021

Contents of all photographs courtesy to all artists, the estate of Daan van Golden, all owners of the works and PARTS Project, Den Haag

Bertus Pieters

VILLA NEXT DOOR IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ADVERTISING ON THIS PAGE!!

Art in corona times 86. Erik Pape, Things That Struck Me; Galerie Maurits van de Laar, The Hague

Erik Pape (1942) shows paintings, sketchbooks and videos at Galerie Maurits van de Laar. If you want to see it, you have to be quick, as tomorrow (Sunday, October 10) will be the finissage already.

There is a strange dichotomy in Pape’s paintings. On one hand they show that it is not important what subject you choose for a painting, on the other hand they show that it is of the utmost importance.

For years Pape painted and drew elements of Place Stalingrad in Paris. But why that square in that city?

Today he paints “Things That Struck Me” while strolling in Paris from his lodgings to his working place and back.

Again, it doesn’t seem of any importance how futile or kitschy these “Things” are, or whether they were seen in Paris or not, but then again it also makes a great difference.

Moreover, the kitschier and the more insignificant the better, one might think looking at his paintings.

Even then, these objects seem to become even more mysterious, in a strange mix of near-wistfulness, near-humour, near-admiration, near-rejection and something indefinable.

He also shows something of his wanderings in Paris in videos, both in colour and in black-and-white.

They have the same atmosphere as his paintings and also give them context, but at the same time they stand on their own.

Now that you’ve come here, you might as well subscribe to Villa Next Door (top right of the page)!

(Right click to enlarge pictures)

(All links open in new tabs)

© Villa Next Door 2021

Contents of all photographs courtesy to Erik Pape and Galerie Maurits van de Laar, Den Haag

Bertus Pieters

VILLA NEXT DOOR IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ADVERTISING ON THIS PAGE!!

Art in corona times 85. Palm tree & Skroderider; Billytown, The Hague

Billytown is combining two exhibitions.

Its spacious main exhibition Palm tree is almost absorbing its smaller but more dense show (traditionally called the Kitchen show) Skroderider, made by the New York based artists run platform Lie Lay Lain.

Billytown has removed a wall and so you automatically walk into the smaller exhibition.

Palm tree is based on a story about a palm tree (wouldn’t you guess?) and it deals with the seen and unseen objects that surround us in daily life.

You may think of them as unimportant but in fact they are the props that influence our ideas and feelings, both by their appearance and by their context, maybe even by their invisibility.

It results in an exhibition with works varying from the very visible concrete structures by Jeroen Jacobs to the sometimes almost too unobtrusive small objects by Nishiko.

Other part-taking artists are Nina Canell, Peggy Franck, Marius Lut, Sepus Noordmans and Michael E. Smith.

The title Skroderider of the Kitchen show derives from a plant character from a 1990s science fiction novel and deals with the materiality of things.

It is another very diverse show in which both the quality and the meaning (one could say the life) of materials play a role.

There are works by Joseph Buckley, Sara Enrico, Erin Johnson and Viola Yesiltac.

Jacobs makes his concrete come to life on the cushions in the hall.

In the stairway a video loop by Smith creates a flashing atmosphere.

A work by Skroderider-show’s JosephBuckley even overlaps the Palm tree exhibition.

On the second floor, which houses the Billytown-artists’ studios and the impressive Peter van Beveren Library, the exhibited works merge with the other objects.

In spite of the two titles it is difficult to see the two shows as separate.

left to right: Sepus Noordmans, Jeroen jacobs, Books Are Bridges

There is of course a higher density of objects in Skroderider and one doesn’t have to search for the works like in Palm tree.

After the quest for objects in the main show the almost overcrowded Skroderider show confronts you with objects that are emphatically present.

That is a good strategy to shift the emphasis of the context that objects and space create, to the actual appearance of objects and their meaning.

As such both shows are together almost classical Billytown exhibitions in that as a twofold unit they deal with space and how objects behave in it.

Now that you’ve come here, you might as well subscribe to Villa Next Door (top right of the page)!

(Right click to enlarge pictures)

(All links open in new tabs)

Contents of all photographs courtesy to all artists, Lie Lay Lain, New York, and Billytown, Den Haag

Bertus Pieters

VILLA NEXT DOOR IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ADVERTISING ON THIS PAGE!!

Art in corona times 84. Toscania, Tosca Niterink; HOK Gallery, The Hague

Happily after the worst corona periods and lock-downs HOK Gallery has found a new place at Westeinde for its activities.

Compared to its last stamp sized spot this is a royal palace.

It is now situated in a street full of artistic activities.

It can even support a relaxing seating area and enough space for its expanding collection of booklets, some of which are real collectors’ items.

At the moment HOK shows works by Tosca Niterink (1960).

To a Dutch audience born in the 1970s (or even earlier or later) she is a legendary alternative TV-star of the 1980s and early 1990s.

Recently she started painting, and bearing in mind she is a beginner it is not a bad start, her subjects being mostly other famous or infamous TV-stars.

The finissage will be next Friday night (during Hoogtij) with a fashion show.

Now that you’ve come here, you might as well subscribe to Villa Next Door (top right of the page)!

(Right click to enlarge pictures)

(All links open in new tabs)

Contents of all photographs courtesy to Tosca Niterink and HOK-Gallery, Den Haag

Bertus Pieters

VILLA NEXT DOOR IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ADVERTISING ON THIS PAGE!!

Art in corona times 81b. Graduation Show 2021; Royal Academy of Art (KABK), The Hague

THIS IS PART 2 OF 2 OF A TOUR OF THE GRADUATION SHOW 2021. CLICK HERE TO SEE PART 1

Continuation of a visit i made to the Hague Royal Academy (KABK) to write a review for Villa La Repubblica. Click here to read the review in VLR (in Dutch)

Due to time shortage i only made pictures of a limited number of presentations.

As i have written already quite extensively about the show in VLR, i just leave you with the pictures, without comments.

Click here to read the review in Villa La Repubblica (in Dutch)

THIS IS WHERE PART 2 OF 2 ENDS. CLICK HERE TO SEE PART 1

Now that you’ve come here, you might as well subscribe to Villa Next Door (top right of the page)!

(Right click to enlarge pictures)

(All links open in new tabs)

Contents of all photographs courtesy to all artists and the Royal Academy of Art (Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten), Den Haag

Bertus Pieters

VILLA NEXT DOOR IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ADVERTISING ON THIS PAGE!!

	Robe bleu, fond roug… on Art in corona times 75. Robe b…
	Sonja on Façades of The Hague #144
	sonjavanderburg on Art in corona times 99. Els Sn…
	Bertus Pieters on Art in corona times 92. John N…
	M on Art in corona times 92. John N…