Art in corona times 102. The end of ‘Art in corona times’. What next?

Art in corona times 1. 2 May 2020, SinArts Gallery

From May 2^nd 2020 onwards i started categorising photo reports about exhibitions in Villa Next Door under the header Art in corona times.

Art in corona times 4, 15 May 2020, Topp & Dubio

Art in corona times 7a, 4 June 2020, A.R. Penck, Kunstmuseum, The Hague

Art in corona times 11, 23 June 2020, Mazen Ashkar, 1646

Art in corona times 18, 29 July 2020, Janice McNab, Stroom

Art in corona times 23, 19 August 2020, Caravaggio, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

By that time the corona restrictions were already intensely experienced by the arts sector. These days Covid-19 is still there but the heaviest lockdown measures have been lifted, so Art in corona times will be history for the time being. Art in corona times started with a visit to SinArts Gallery . I hadn’t seen Alex Lebbink, SinArts’ gallerist, for quite some time and he had organised time slots for individual visitors. The idea was that the corona measures would be very temporary and that i would use the label Art in corona times for a few postings, just to see how galleries and other art platforms were doing during the crisis and after that it would be more or less business as usual. However, that proved to be quite naive. Corona became a way of life in which the arts were not seen as an essential need in life. At first artists and other professionals were more or less empathetic to that idea, but as the crisis went on and on, the government’s sheer lack of interest for the arts became a thorn in the flesh of many an art professional, especially after the health minister’s remark that if you cannot go to the theatre you might as well stay at home and see a dvd, as if there was no difference between the two. Last week i posted Art in corona times 101 with some extra footage of the interesting exhibition about Aad de Haas at the Chabot Museum in Rotterdam and that was the last one under the corona banner.

Art in corona times 29, 17 September 2020, Steamboat, Trixie

Art in corona times 34, 28 September 2020, Jessica de Wolf, Artist Support Fair, Quartair

Art in corona times 37, 13 October 2020, Robbin Heyker’s Birding Club, featuring Arjan Dwarshuis

Art in corona times 43, 7 November 2020, Simphiwe Ndzube, Nest, The Hague

Art in corona times 48, 30 November 2020, Sjimmie Veenhuis, …ism

For those who want to have an idea of what was on show during the pandemic Art in corona times is easily locatable in Villa Next Door.

Art in corona times 52, 14 December 2020, Ellen Yiu, A Finger in Every Pie, Royal Academy students’ pre-graduation show

Lockdowns etc are over now but that doesn’t mean the worries about this or any other virus are gone.

Art in corona times 56, 20 February 2021, Ingrid Rollema, PIP Den Haag

Art in corona times 59, 14 March 2021, Paul van der Eerden, Romy Muijrers, Galerie Maurits van de Laar

Art in corona times 64, 9 April 2021, André Kruysen, Galerie Ramakers

Art in corona times 68, 30 April 2021, Zhang Shujian, PARTS Project

Art in corona times 75, 11 June 2021, Marion van Rooi, Jan Wattjes, Luuk Kuipers, Quartair

Covid-19 may return with a more dangerous version, and an altogether new and equally or more dangerous virus may come. The question is not if it will come, but when it will come. The bird flu virus being one of the most obvious contenders in the real viral world. Another worry in the aftermath of corona is the questionable urge of authorities to control everything and everybody, if possible with modern technology. This urge is understandable as authorities of any political colour try to influence social processes for the benefit of society as a whole. However, even before the Corona crisis it has already been proven that this urge to control has turned against citizens, as a holy faith in the objectivity of modern technology, market forces and a reduction of the state to a kind of control device has replaced a democracy in which different opinions in society play a role. Villa Next Door is not the place to make a deep analysis about society, politics, the free market, modern technology, the influence of debilitating conspiracy theories, and a considerable chunk of society that rather believes in so-called alternative facts than in real facts, that prefers evil tales to science. However this is the framework – as i see it – in which art is made, seen and presented today in this country, and i want to be clear about the context in which i give you my reports about exhibitions and art in this blog. After all, you don’t have to agree, but you should know. Another worry is the new situation with the war in Ukraine. One might suggest i should replace Art in corona times with Art in war times. However, the Netherlands are at the moment not at war with any other country. Also, it should be said that another devastating war is going on in Yemen for seven years now. Although this is principally a civil war, it has become internationalised, with other countries in the Middle East intervening. The conflict in Ukraine may have a global significance, or rather, it will have, even if the war itself remains physically limited to Ukraine. That, together with the devils unleashed during the Corona crisis, will bring us interesting but also ominous times. So, in the mean time, i repost some pictures here of some highlights of Art in corona times.

Art in corona times 81a, 12 July 2021, Joseph Palframan. Royal Academy, The Hague

Art in corona times 82b, 26 August 2021, Farkhondeh Shahroudi. Sonsbeek 20-24, Arnhem

Art in corona times 88, 27 September 2021, Yaïr Callender, Kadmium, Delft

Art in corona times 95, 17 December 2021, Casper Verborg, Galerie Helder

Art in corona times 97, 21 January 2022, Yesim Akdeniz, Dürst Britt & Mayhew

Hope to see you soon in real life or in this blog, stay healthy and sane, and keep your eyes open!

Art in corona times 101, 16 February 2022, Aad de Haas, Chabot Museum, Rotterdam

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© Villa Next Door 2022

Contents of all photographs courtesy to all artists, galleries, art platforms, museums and owners of the works.

Bertus Pieters

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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)!

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© 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 68. Zhang Shujian, Face; PARTS-Project, The Hague

Visiting the exhibition Face with works by Zhang Shujian (1987) at PARTS-Project i decided to write an article about it for Villa La Repubblica. Click here to read the article (in Dutch).

As i have written quite extensively in VLR about the show, i leave you here with some more pictures and some details, which can be seen as additional to the VLR article.

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

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© Villa Next Door 2021

Contents of all photographs courtesy to Zhang Shujiang, CLC Gallery Venture, Beijing, owners of the works and PARTS-Project, Den Haag

Bertus Pieters

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Art in corona times 57. Jos van Merendonk, The community of the painted; PARTS Project, The Hague

Bach wrote thirty variations on an elaborate theme, now known as the Goldberg Variations.

In neither of the variations the theme on which they are based is recognisable.

Each variation is different in character, mood, tempo, rhythm and technique.

They only share the facts that they are all based on the same harmonic structure, and that they are all in the same key or in the parallel minor key.

The whole work may last as long as an hour and twenty minutes or even an hour and a half, but it never fails to keep you listening from the beginning to the end.

Seeing Jos van Merendonk’s (1956) present exhibition at PARTS Project, a presentation of twenty-four paintings, all one by one metre and – of course! – all of them Merendonk-green, reminded me of Bach’s grand set of variations.

Not just for the concept but also for the sheer variety of ideas.

On one hand they make you want to walk from one painting to the next, just to know how the next one looks like, on the other hand they make you stop in front of each painting to see everything – and i mean everything! – in it..

(Ah, yes, painting is still a fascinating business!)

They all have their own individuality and logical or illogical construction, and they are all made with an intense dedication.

Some works are relatively old – the oldest is from 1991 – others are from as recent as 2020.

In fact, from the second painting onwards every third painting is from the same 2020 series which are purely painted copies of earlier collage paintings.

However, the copies are not just copies; they have become translations, and, as such, works in their own right.

In the mean time the other sixteen paintings are a fascinating showcase of different developments in Van Merendonk’s painting (and there are more themes and variations in them too).

This is another memorable show in the PARTS Project series, austere as well as versatile.

– By the way, in the Goldberg Variations every third variation is a canon -.

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Contents of all photographs courtesy to Jos van Merendonk and PARTS Project, Den Haag

Bertus Pieters

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Art in corona times 36. Diet Sayler & Ewerdt Hilgemann, Disruption as Part of the Deal; PARTS project, The Hague

During the heyday of Modernism, geometry was thought to be a means to keep too much individual emotion out of art.

Basic geometry was seen as having enough potential of its own to convey a strong aesthetic statement.

However, the self was constantly itching under the artist’s skins.

Artists like painter Diet Sayler (1939) and sculptor Ewerdt Hilgemann (1938) – both presently showing their work at PARTS project – broke with the un-individual idea of geometric, concrete art.

Sayler allowed colour back into his works (and not just a little), while using so-called basic elements for the shapes in his compositions, configuring them with the help of coincidence.

As such his works have become both quasi-objective and almost lyrical with their intense colours.

Hilgemann saw the potential of imploding a perfect three-dimensional shape into a crumpled character.

Front: Ewerdt Hilgemann; back: Diet Sayler

Both artists have since then attained an individual craftsmanship based on experience and intuition.

Personally, i’d say they brought brilliance to their work by letting the colours and the reflections shine invitingly, a brilliance much needed in this sombre autumn.

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© Villa Next Door 2020

Contents of all photographs courtesy to Diet Sayler, Ewerdt Hilgemann and PARTS project, Den Haag.

Bertus Pieters

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Art in corona times 8. Pim Voorneman, Entre’21 – Unlocked/Reconnected, etc.; PARTS Project, The Hague

To celebrate the re-opening of institutions for the visual arts during the current crisis, and to take part in the national on-line Unlocked/Reconnected project, PARTS-Project reconnects with an installation by Pim Voorneman.

The physical installation at the gallery is in three parts, but the sounds of it can also be experienced partly on PARTS’ website.

As the installation should be very much experienced on the spot, it would be a serious spoiler to tell you any of my experiences with it; it is better to visit it yourself (which i’d highly recommend).

Additionally some works from private collections are on show as well.

© Villa Next Door 2020

Contents of all photographs courtesy to the artists and to PARTS-Project, Den Haag.

Bertus Pieters

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Werner Cuvelier, 1970 and Beyond; PARTS Project, The Hague

I visited PARTS Project to write a review for Villa La Repubblica about its present exhibition 1970 and Beyond with works by Werner Cuvelier (1939). Click here to read the review (in Dutch);

As i have written quite extensively about the show in Villa La Repubblica i leave you here just with some impressions.

Click here to read the review in Villa La Repubblica.

Contents of all photographs courtesy to Werner Cuvelier and PARTS Prohect, Den Haag.

Bertus Pieters

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

Jan Van Den Dobbelsteen, The limits of borderlines marginality margins and peripheries; PARTS Project, The Hague

It’s not the poet’s sweat, his breath or the perils of his life that make poetry.

It’s words.

The same accounts for a visual artist: it’s the materials that make art.

If only artists who think their work is the search for an individual style, would realise their quest is nonsense: it’s the material that dictates a style.

It’s all these things you have for free in life on this planet: objects, materials, space, colour, light, sound and the human brains.

It’s a communication between these that gives the artist the opportunity to make art, and that makes you experience art as a viewer.

These materials become spiritual by themselves if you understand them.

This understanding may be factual or scientific, but the understanding is also the way they behave and communicate with the viewer and with each other.

Of course their communication doesn’t exist of words, it’s not poetry; visual art is definitely not poetry.

It’s a communication that will only reveal itself if you just look, at the details and at the whole.

Further on, art happens, which means time plays a role as well.

It is on a certain moment that you enter a gallery to take a look at what is on show, and it is during a limited period in time that this show is taking place.

In fact you probably enter somewhere in the middle of the story, while the exhibition itself is part of a bigger ongoing story.

You break into the story somewhere in the middle of everything, even of your own life, as you don’t know what will happen next.

You discover things, hear sounds; things and sounds that already had their lives before you experienced them.

In winter, at this latitude, it is already dark when the gallery closes late in the afternoon, and artificial light becomes more important to see the objects on show.

They seem to prepare for some private time of their own, as you as a viewer may be doing as well.

Peering into the windows of the gallery at night time, you will only see some contours and vague shapes: the exhibition and its objects have temporarily stopped their communication.

You may experience that all and other things when visiting the present exhibition of Jan Van Den Dobbelsteen (1954) at PARTS project in this season of death and renewal.

Contents of all photographs courtesy to Jan Van Den Dobbelsteen and PARTS Project, Den Haag.

Bertus Pieters

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Petra Strahovnik and Ensemble Modelo62: disOrders 1, Through the Looking Glass; Trixie, The Grey Space, Haagse Kunstkring, PARTS Project, Galerie Helder, The Hague

Through the Looking Glass is the first part of the two-year disOrders project by composer Petra Strahovnik and performed by members of the Ensemble Modelo62.

Last weekend three-hour sessions were held by different instrumentalists each in one of five different locations, dealing each with one of five so-called mental disorders: ADHD, anxiety disorder, depression, bipolar disorder and autism.

Having seen them all at Trixie, the Grey Space in the Middle, Haagse Kunstkring, PARTS Project and Galerie Helder, I must admit it leaves me with the idea that all performances were more or less autistic.

Whether it was percussionist Klára van de Ketterij (ADHD) running around a collection of drums and other percussive instruments, cellist Jan Willem Troost (anxiety disorder) grappling with his instrument and his environment, or electric guitarist Santiago Lascurain (depression) in his bathtub with dirt, they all showed an extremely meticulous dedication to what they were doing within the sheer unbreakable walls of their supposed conditions, for three whole hours.

The performance by clarinettists Enric Sans Morera and Jorge López García (bipolar disorder) and the one by trumpeter Justin Christensen (autism) were even quite similar in ideas of expression: experiments with water and plastic in combination with the unexpected properties of their instruments.

In the case of the depression performance, the expression was almost too literal, with the performer covering himself in black mud, and even while the guitar was only playing a slowly transforming sound by itself, one could call it a melodramatic performance.

In the anxiety act the public was invited to use a triangle now and then, but what influence that had on the performance was hard to see.

Was it an invitation to ease the tensions with the sound of the triangle or an invitation to be cruel to the performer with an unexpected sound?

A confronting perspective is, of course, the fact that sufferers of these so-called disorders have to cope with it every day and night in all circumstances and not just for three hours.

In the mean time one must be completely un-self-reflective or even narcissistic (!!) not to realise that we all have bits of these disorders in ourselves, in spite of the fact that most of us are thought to be ‘normal’.

They do not just confuse our brains, but may also make us cope with confusing or disturbing situations or stimulate dedication and creativity.

The fact that autism can be most associated with all five acts, is maybe because art itself needs complete dedication both to the whole and to the detail and complete surrender to the performance, whether one is making music or a painting or whatever.

Enric Sans Morera & Jorge López García at PARTS Project

As for the five acts, as said they each lasted three hours which is quite a superhuman effort by the performers.

They performed for three hours for four days, and must have practiced and prepared for many hours.

That in itself and the co-operation between the composer, the performers, the five art platforms and everybody technically and psychologically involved is a great job.

In spite of that it should be said that none of the performances were artistically interesting enough to follow for three hours (or maybe that depends on one’s own disorder?).

Also the question asked by the composer “Can we find compassion in order to expand our concept as a society of what is ‘in order’?” may be a relevant question generally, but do these acts stimulate any answers or reflections on the subject?

And if they do, are they doing so implicitly or too explicitly?

Either the question may be too wide-ranging, or the performances need more (yes even more!) aesthetic reflection.

Contents of all photographs courtesy to all performers and art spaces.

Bertus Pieters

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

Paul Neagu, Anthropocosmos; PARTS Project, The Hague

I visited PARTS Project to write a review about the present show with works by Paul Neagu (1938-2004) for Villa La Repubblica. Click here to read the review (in Dutch).

As i have written quite extensively in VLR about the exhibition, i leave you here with some impressions without comments, except for the fact that you really shouldn’t miss this show.

Courtesy to the estate of Paul Neagu, all owners of the works and PARTS Project, Den Haag

Bertus Pieters

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