Saturday 26 April 2014

Piet Dieleman / Krijn Giezen


 
Krijn Giezen
(From his mailorder catalogue: www.stroom.nl/krijngiezen/mailorder)



Krijn Giezen
Kijk Uit Attention
2005
staircase of 300 steps, offering a unique view of the surroundings of the Hoge Veluwe
Kröller Müller Museum, Otterlo NL



In addition to all superlatives, this tribute goes to the one who has shown me the road of and towards the arts: Krijn Giezen (1939-2011).
Piet Dieleman, 2014

The anarchic humor of Fluxus, with an emphasis on play and self-devised rules, was the basis for many of his actions and objects. In his work he combined the robust nature with the ingenuity of farmers, fishermen and craftsmen. Recipes, manuals and inventions were noted by him, and processed in visual documentation. Nostalgia was not his motive, but he longed to preserve useful and essential aspects from nature and human action, and re-invigorate them. The scale on which he realized his work ranged from tiny to overwhelming.



Piet Dieleman (NL)
Design for a sculpture
2014
6000 x 4000 x 10000 mm


Saturday 19 April 2014

Sabine Tress / Jean-Michel Basquiat



Jean-Michel Basquiat
Cadillac Moon
1981
acrylic and crayon on canvas
161,9 x 172,1 cm


I fell in love with Jean-Michel Basquiat's work when I was in art college in Paris. I saw a show at Musee Galerie de la Seita, Paris in 1993 and from then on I read everything about him that I can put my hands on. He really lived his art. He was his paintings. His immense energy but also the fact that he painted like he was driven…I still find that very inspiring. I am not trying to romanticize him. It just feels like he had things to say, that he was angry and passionate and clever and sweet. And all that can be found within his work. Last year I saw a huge show about collaborative works he did with Warhol and Clemente at Ausstellungshalle Bonn. I stood in front of his works and got drawn in again…into his universe. I also felt the freshness of his paintings. They were very much alive. I suppose what I love most about JMB´s work is that it is very personal and that it goes straight to your heart. At least it does that to me.
Sabine Tress, 2014



Sabine Tress (DU)
St Lucia
2014
oil on canvas
110 x 100 cm


Saturday 12 April 2014

George Meertens / Sigmar Polke



Sigmar Polke
Untitled (Lapis-Lazuli)
1998
tempera and resin on canvas
239,5 x 199,5 cm


What is happening in this painting of Sigmar Polke? He brings together the canvas, the resin and the pigment. In doing so, he applies the pigment with the resin to the canvas. I don’t know if there was a plan in the applying. It seems to me that he applied the pigment and the resin, controlling them in the moment of the act. The picture we are now looking at seems to be the organical result of this act.
Sigmar Polke's work is influenced by alchemists and fairytale tellers, chemists and storytellers. My own work is related to medieval mystics such as Bernard of Clairvaux, Aelred of Rivaulx, William of St. Thierry, Hildegard of Bingen, St. John of the Cross. In their work I recognize an approach of understanding time and space given to humans. It is the urge to meet the unknown, the unpredictable that gets hold of my desires. My work ‘The dark night IV’ (from a series of eight paintings on paper, 65 x 50 cm, 2014) is a reference to the poem by St. John of the Cross. Entering the dark night by painting in horizontal en vertical brushstrokes I encounter an unknown experience. The dark side of being is working together with the light in bringing it together into the open. An experience that is rather pre-verbal than verbal. The image as a moment of revelation.
George Meertens, 2014




George Meertens (NL)
The dark night IV
2014
oil on paper
65 x 50 cm



Sunday 6 April 2014

David Ostrowski / Philip Guston



Philip Guston
Untitled
1969-1973
oil on panel
30,5 x 38,1 cm





David Ostrowski (DE)
F (Dann lieber nein)
2013
oil, lacquer and cotton on canvas, wood
101 x 81 cm




Philip Guston
Untitled
1969-1973
oil on panel
30,5 x 40,6 cm




David Ostrowski (DE)
F (Yes or let’s say no)
2013
lacquer, cotton and dirt on canvas, wood
241 x 191 cm