Art in corona times 61. Elsa Hartjesveld, Hans Ensink op Kemna, Paul van der Zande, Es malt! (It paints!); Stichting Ruimtevaart, The Hague

left: Hans Ensink op Kemna, right: Elsa Hartjesveld

In the central part of Ruimtevaart’s exhibition space Elsa Hartjesveld, Hans Ensink op Kemna and Paul van der Zande have made a painterly installation.

left: Paul van der Zande; centre: Elsa Hartjesveld; right: Hans Ensink op Kemna

left: Elsa Hartjesveld; right: Paul van der Zande

The installation is based on the circle (Hartjesveld), the triangle (Ensink op Kemna) and the square (Van der Zande).

left: Paul van der Zande; right: Elsa Hartjesveld

As such the three painters show that one doesn’t always need objects to redefine space in a monumental way.

The interaction between the three volumes is quite significant.

Being invited i was quite happy to see it all, as art spaces like Ruimtevaart are still closed due to the corona lockdown.

Like many shows this one has been prolonged and it is hoped for that it will be open to the public before short.

However, the present governmental restrictions are as unpredictable as the virus itself, so we have to keep our fingers crossed.

Ensink op Kemna has recently had a solo exhibition in Delft, but seeing works by the other two artists is a bit of a rare event.

Especially Van der Zande’s works are rarely seen and this exhibition proves how unjust that is.

For Hartjesveld – who shows a series of small works – this was a good opportunity to try her hand on abstract work on a more monumental scale.

There is also a wonderful dialogue between the three very individual styles.

Hartjesveld, with her more or less intuitive kind of works, seems to open up the secret and unexpected space in between the straight lines of the works by Ensink op Kemna and Van der Zande.

For artistic dialogue Ruimtevaart seems to have become a very special space, while it has also opened up its ‘spare room’ as a kind of introduction space.

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© Villa Next Door 2021

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

Bertus Pieters

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

Art in corona times 54. A Kocsma; Stichting Ruimtevaart, The Hague

The present corona lockdown has made it extremely difficult to show art to the public.

An online presentation cannot compete with the real thing.

It is not possible for the viewer to lose oneself in the proper thing, with its own measures, techniques, shapes, colours etc.

Elizabeth de Vaal of the Post 15 Foundation – which facilitates residencies in the village of Pécsbagota, Hungary – has found a partial solution by inviting people personally and responsibly to see the A Kocsma exhibition, currently at Stichting Ruimtevaart.

Happy to receive her invitation, i visited Ruimtevaart some days ago.

The show with works by some twenty-nine Dutch artists (all former residents) was made on the occasion of the twelve-and-a-half years anniversary (in Dutch that’s called a “copper jubilee”) of the foundation and the Pécsbagota residency near the city of Pécs.

An advantage of a personal invitation was that Elizabeth could tell me everything about the history of the Pécsbagota residency, which is in a tiny village in the south of Hungary.

Quite a few Dutch artists have resided there since 2007.

There are also ties with the University of Pécs, Hungarian artists and art students.

Dutch artists have an opportunity to work in a place far from the madding crowd, in a rather better climate than the Dutch, and in a small village community which is by now used to having these artists hanging around.

It gives a good chance for an artist to see his/her own work and practice in different circumstances and as such to reflect on his/her own qualities, i think.

Here are some pictures of details of what is on show.

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© Villa Next Door 2020

Contents of all photographs courtesy to the artists, Stichting Post 15 and Stichting Ruimtevaart, Den Haag

Bertus Pieters

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

Art in corona times 11. The Ongoing Conversation #7 (and Unlocked/Reconnected); 1646, Page Not Found, Stichting Ruimtevaart, The Hague

Doing a Master in Artistic Research is not an easy matter, as what is “artistic” and what is “research?”

Generally too many artists are claiming to be researching.

While art can be the result of inner or outer research – or one may need to research in order to make art –, stressing the research in art means the research itself is emphatically part of the art you show.

However, in the end it is just the materiality of what you show that should make the difference.

As a viewer you don’t give a damn if a work of art is the result of any research; that only starts to matter if, as a viewer, you become part of the research.

To engage the viewer you need all the conventional conditions and techniques.

There is the material object you want to show, there is the space you want to show it in, there are the acoustics of the space and there is time, the space of time you want to engage the viewer in.

Whether you are good at Mid-Atlantic English non-speak or not, doesn’t make any difference.

When showing your work as an artist, you are in fact artistically naked, you can hide almost nothing, and even if you do, the hiding itself becomes part of your artistic nakedness.

That counts for any artist, whether you are a conventional painter or a maker of intricate video installations.

(Well, that was Dad’s sermon, i guess)

Ten students of the Royal Academy’s Master Artistic Research department showed their work last weekend.

Under the title The Ongoing Conversation 1646 usually co-operates with the Academy to give the MA students a platform.

This time 1646 expanded the co-operation with its neighbours Page Not Found and Stichting Ruimtevaart which worked out very well.

At 1646 itself Mazen Ashkar, Georgie Brinkman, Daphne Monastirioti and Esther Arribas presented their works.

There are no pictures of Arribas’ work here as she had organised a digital performance with sound, however, her website gives you some idea of what she is up to.

1646 is also taking part in the national artistic online Unlocked/Reconnected show, with a work by Carmen Roca Igual (scroll up for pictures), which came out a bit shallow in combination with the works of the students, apart from its less than perfect presentation with too much reflections on the video screen.

Serene Hui showed her work in Page Not Found, and works by Leonie Brandner, Lena Longefay, Giath Taha, Juliana Martínez Hernández and by Leos were on show at Ruimtevaart.

Referring to what i preached before, i must say not all exhibiting students really engage you in their artistic research, although all do make interesting works.

One of the most interesting works was shown by Giath Taha.

The work looked quite simple and open in the beginning, but looking at it in a darkened room made it haunting and even a bit spooky.

A work about space, presence and absence, it engages the viewer completely.

At least that is what happened with me.

Another very interesting presentation was Serene Hui’s at Page Not Found. (scroll up for pictures of her work)

In her work different ideas come together, from the manipulation of Google’s algorithms to truth and fake behind language in a post-truth society.

The different voices filled up the space from different speakers, making it also a work about time and space, while the book titles of the shop seemed to illustrate the whole work.

Generally i admire the way these mostly international students have coped with the present situation, cut off from their friends, families and homes (some may have been in that situation already before) and finding themselves in a world that is suddenly less international in many ways.

© Villa Next Door 2020

Contents of all photographs courtesy to all artists, 1646, Page Not Found and Stichting Ruimtevaart, Den Haag.

Bertus Pieters

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

Art in corona times 6. Hoogtij #61 (High Tide Festival #61), The Hague

Usually Villa Next Door doesn’t pay much attention to events like Hoogtij (Dutch for ‘High Tide’). Hoogtij is a seasonal Hague event – always on a Friday night – in which most commercial and non-commercial galleries in the city are open to the public. Gallerists and artists are present and there are always many special events. Due to the circumstances this couldn’t take place yesterday night, so the organisation decided to go online. 22 venues took part in this edition.

So i sat down in front of my computer to see everything. Most of the material can still be seen on the internet. A special event was an interview by Marie Jeanne de Rooij with Jane Huldman, sister, mother and grandmother to many an artist in The Hague.

It is a warm blooded interview, recommended for those who are interested in modern and contemporary art history of The Hague and the nitty-gritty of, amongst others, the Dutch art subsidy system. The interview is in Dutch and it is not subtitled.

I hopped alphabetically through The Hague in order not to miss anything, so i started at …ism which showed Museum Guards, in which the inhabitants of …ism perform as guards of their own house and collection, staring at you blankly in their own paradise.

1646 has a delightful presentation by Afra Eisma of her exhibition Feline Whispers which had to close down because of the corona crisis, but which can now be experienced digitally.

Undoubtedly hers is one of the most moving Hoogtij presentations.

Victoria Kieffer’s presentation at Aether Haga is interesting for its content, but why didn’t she present it in French with English subtitles and with more creativity in the visual materials?

Baracca gives a trailer, or rather an announcement of its 2015 project Inside Job, which can be seen on Yvo van der Vat’s YouTube channel. It will take you more than an hour to see the whole movie.

At De Helena Hanna de Haan and Rik Buter have been working on a charcoal wall drawing, improvising on and reacting to each other’s work.

At Dürst Britt & Mayhew gallerist Jaring Dürst Britt shows you around in its first lustrum exhibition Vèf Jaaaah, with works by all the gallery’s artists. If you switch to the gallery’s Facebook and Instagram pages you can see Alexander Mayhew talking about the different works of art (in English). I reported about the exhibition here.

Galerie Maurits van de Laar presents a tour by artist and curator of its present exhibition Christie van der Haak.

As Christie has been a much valued teacher at the Royal Academy in The Hague she will be to many – like Jane Huldman – a kind of sister, mother and grandmother of the arts. It is a wonderful presentation in Dutch. I reported about the exhibition here.

At the Grafische Werkplaats (Graphic Studio) Nina van Dijk and Cedric ter Bals show you around (in English) in the exhibition Slechte verhalen fikken niet (Bad Stories Don’t Burn) while Christiaan Schoonenberg presents his own story.

All done in a wonderfully spontaneous way (at least, that is how it looks like).

At Heden artist Thijs Jaeger presents his work Four Horse Men, a small but intriguing work based on the Apocalypse. The presentation is in Dutch.

At HOK gallery, one of the very smallest in The Hague, Harold de Bree opens his own exhibition Borderlines.

His presentation is in English and there is even champagne!

At Maldoror Gallery Roeland Langendoen and Elsbeth Verheul show paintings.

Maldoror is one of the easiest accessible of the lot as it is just a shop window.

Malieveldwerk is at the Malieveld where on Saturdays you may find one or more artists experimenting. The short video is from 2013 (when snow was still a common winter feature in this country) in which the experiments are announced by Topp & Dubio. The announcement is in Dutch.

Projektruimte West end (West End Project Space) shows you around in an exhibition of paintings, drawings, photographs and objects featuring cats.

A must see for any cat lover or even not-cat lover.

Quartair presents the interactive exhibition stay-go.nl. It takes some extra clicks to get there, but it is fun.

Refunc is one of the very few venues which are digitally much better than in real, as far as i am concerned.

Those who need a reflective moment about space are well served by Henk Hubenet at Ruimtevaart with the short but fine video Circumstanced.

See Lab, itself located in far off Scheveningen, which makes it difficult to physically take part in Hoogtij, can be accessed now online with a presentation of the digital project Walking with Unimals by the artists of Pointer Studio. The project is presently on show ‘in real’ at See Lab.

In a very short presentation gallerist Alex Lebbink shows you the way to his SinArts Gallery.

It takes some extra clicking to SinArts’ own website to see the very interesting and worthwhile presentations of four artists and their works. Alex interviewed them all in English and it is a good way to get acquainted with their work. There are some short but beautiful video works and a recording of an impressive performance readily accessible as well.

Peter van Beveren’s The Archives has no short video. Why not? Surely all those books look interesting and intriguing enough, don’t they?

With a very short teaser Trixie announces its upcoming exhibition focus loslaten | ontspannen (let loose focus | relax) which takes place in June and for which you can apply in advance for a visit.

West Den Haag in “Onze Ambassade” (“Our Embassy” – the former American Embassy) shows some slides of the four exhibitions it has at the moment.

Z Extra: Raamproject (Window Project), shows a short preview of a project by artist Yvette Teeuwen. Together with painter Casper Verborg – Yvette outside and Casper inside – they make a drawing on a window (at Heden). After some time a passer-by is also allowed to take part.

To end the evening i watched the short movie Dusk of the Harmonious Garden by Shen Wei, one of SinArts’ artists. A perfect and peaceful work to finish with!

Although these video presentations can never match the atmosphere and uniqueness of the usual Hoogtij events they are a good sign of life of the artists community in The Hague, and, as such, more venues could have taken part. Just to give a sign of life. Another good message is that most of the exhibitions are still on show “in real” and can be visited under conditions, so inquire at the websites of the galleries how you can visit them.

Click here to see all the Hoogtij presentations on its YouTube channel.

All photographs are stills / screen shots from the different presentations; courtesy to the artists, venues and the makers of the videos.

Bertus Pieters

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

negen10drie&7tig (9teen7ty3); Stichting Ruimtevaart, The Hague

The present show at Stichting Ruimtevaart (Space Travel Foundation) is based on an artistic conversation of four artists who met each other in 1973 at the former Vrije Academie (Free Academy) in The Hague.

By that time the Vrije Academie was the more progressive institution, compared to the then quite conservative Royal Academy (KABK) of The Hague.

However, there is no place for nostalgia in the show.

Each artist has his/her own way of working and thinking and in fact, their works have nothing to do with each other.

left to right, Pim Piët, Nies Vooijs, Jan de Weerd

In spite of or maybe even due to that, it has become a very accessible exhibition.

Works on show are by Pim Piët, Nies Vooijs and Jan de Weerd.

Alas, the fourth artist, Marion van Rooij, unexpectedly died only a few days before the opening of the show.

Because of that her works could not be presented, so she is now represented by some open spaces.

Contents of all photographs courtesy to the artists and to Stichting Ruimtevaart, Den Haag.

Bertus Pieters

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

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