International Art News

Floor

25 February to 20 May 2012 – Kunsthal Rotterdam
The Kunsthal Rotterdam proudly presents the exhibition Closer to You, illustrating the fascination that Dutch painter Jasper Krabbé has for his wife and muse Floor. The exhibition, which includes over 200 portraits, illustrates Krabbé’s desire to get closer to her. He spent a year and a half creating images portraying ever different aspects of this one woman. The selected works illustrate a wide diversity of options for creating contemporary portraits as well as a variety of techniques on paper. Krabbé particular likes to work on ‘used’ backgrounds such as pieces of cardboard, envelopes and packaging materials. All his works are presented in frames that he has found and many of which are antique. The portraits, presented as an installation across two floors of the Kunsthal’s Design Gallery, are an ode to love.

The series of portraits range from watercolours to detailed studies in ink, and from detailed portraits to simple line drawings. The works contain countless references to portrait art but also to street art and film posters. Furthermore, the frailty and transience of life form a recurrent theme in Krabbé’s work. In close proximity to his muse, he has recorded moments in time that would otherwise have been lost. In the portraits, we see Floor taking a nap in the car, staring into space or standing in a shop. On viewing these works, one feels almost a part of these daily, sometimes profound moments.

Jasper Krabbé (1970) lives and works in Amsterdam. He graduated with honours from the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam and from the Cooper Union in New York. Krabbé began his artistic career as a graffiti artist and was a member of the Amsterdamse Collectief USA (United Street Artists). His work often reflects memories of places, events and individuals. Krabbé has had various exhibitions in countries including Sweden, Brazil, Italy and the United States of America. His work is included in collections belonging to De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, and others.

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Sir Stanley Spencer - Kunsthal NL

From September 17, 2011 to January 15, 2012 – Kunsthal Rotterdam
The Kunsthal Rotterdam presents for the first time on the European continent a comprehensive overview of work by Sir Stanley Spencer (1891-1959), one of the most important British artists of the twentieth century. His oeuvre is characterised by a wealth of themes that include biblical stories, landscapes, self portraits and domestic scenes. With his figurative, narrative style of painting and his choice of subjects, Spencer has contributed significantly to the development of modern art. He deals with his turbulent life through his paintings, also incorporating countless contrasts and visionary fantasies. In this exhibition, over eighty paintings and drawings from Stanley Spencer are placed in an art historical context by including twenty works of English contemporaries such as Lucian Freud and Dora Carrington. Spencer’s artistic influence in the Netherlands is illustrated using several works by Dick Ket and Charley Toorop, in which work Spencer’s influence is clearly visible.
Poignant Realism

Stanley Spencer. Family Group: Hilda, Unity and Dolls, 1937, Leeds Museum and Galleries/ The Bridgeman Art Library

As a young artist, Stanley Spencer was a great admirer of Italian Renaissance art by Giotto, romantic Pre-Raphaelite art, and later Paul Gauguin, whose work he saw in London. Spencer spent most of his life in Cookham, a village that played an important role in many of his works and also served as a backdrop for his narrative images. Certain major events such as his active participation in the First World War and his unhappy love life formed the inspiration to his paintings. Spencer developed a poignantly realistic style by placing the most intensive of his life experiences in faithful reproductions of his beloved home surroundings. His fascination with ‘earthy’ materials like dust, dirt and rubbish form a stark contrast with his ‘heavenly’ renditions of Christ. Spencer allows reality to dominate in his silent landscapes and intimate portraits, while fantasy and joie de vivre enjoy their heyday in top works such as ‘TheResurrection, Cookham’ and the ‘Beatitudes’ series. Spencer’s work brings together countless aspects of life, including love, sexuality, death, religion, reality and fantasy.
Generous Art Loans

The exhibition comprises a large selection of Stanley Spencer’s best work from museum collections and private collections such as that of Andrew Lloyd Webber. The Tate Britain and the Stanley Spencer Gallery in Cookham have very generously allowed a large number of the most important works from their collections to be exhibited. The exhibition is the result of new research performed by guest curator Alied Ottevanger.

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Photo: Michiel van Nieuwkerk

18 May to 26 June 2011 – Kunsthal Rotterdam
The project Dutch Masters in the 21st century will be presented on May 18th in the presence of the Secretary of Education, Culture and Science. It is a unique collaboration between several local broadcasters and art institutes. The project will then continue as an exhibition at the Kunsthal untill June 26th.

Dutch Masters is composed of filmed portraits of visual artists in their work place. The aim of the project is to produce an extensive serie in which a whole generation of artist is represented.

Artists: Charlotte Schleiffert, Hans Aarsman, Erik van Lieshout, Teun Hocks, Iris van Dongen, Tjebbe Beekman, Herman de Vries, Jennifer Tee, Bertien van Manen, Koos Breukel, Berend Strik, Natasja Kensmil, Job Koelewijn, Jan Dibbets, David Bade en Henk Visch.

Films made by: Pieter Verhoeff, Eddy Terstall, Sonia Herman Dolz, John Appel, Jan Eilander, Ditteke Mensink, Barbara Makkinga, Robert Oey, Mijke de Jong, Ineke Hilhorst, René Roelofs, Hans Hylkema, Sherman de Jesus, Paul Cohen, Martijn van Haalen, Michiel van Nieuwkerk en Frans Weisz.

Participating institutions: RTV Noord-Holland; Omroep West; Omrop Fryslân; RTV Rijnmond; Omroep Zeeland; Cultura24; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven; Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht; Gemeentemuseum, Den Haag; Fotomuseum, Den Haag; GEM, Den Haag; Het Domein, Sittard; Museum voor Moderne kunst, Arnhem; Centraal Museum, Utrecht; De Hallen, Haarlem; Drents Museum, Assen; Groninger Museum, Groningen; Noord-Brabants Museum, Den Bosch; Fries Museum, Leeuwarden; Rijksmuseum Twente, Enschede; Kunsthal Rotterdam; Witte de With, Rotterdam; TENT, Rotterdam; NP3, Groningen; Singer Laren; W139, Amsterdam; Kröller Müller Museum, Otterlo; De Appel, Amsterdam

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Philip Akkerman, 2009

From the 9th of April to the 26th of June 2011 – Kunsthal Rotterdam
The Kunsthal Rotterdam proudly presents ‘Akkermania’, an exhibition illustrating the infinite variety to be found in the work of Dutch painter Philip Akkerman. In 1981, Akkerman decided to paint self-portraits, and over the last thirty years he has built up an oeuvre of almost three thousand paintings, no two of which are alike. With over four hundred pieces, this exhibition illustrates the incredible diversity of his work. The Kunsthal invited eleven different collectors to present their entire ‘Akkerman Collections’ in Akkermania. For the first time ever, visitors will be able to see Akkerman’s intriguing oeuvre through the eyes of these collectors.

As well as choosing to paint only self-portraits, Philip Akkerman has set himself an increasing number of constraints over the years. He only uses three formats for his portraits (27×25 cm, 40×34 cm and 50×43 cm), and after several unencumbered years, decided in 1985 to paint exclusively in oils and tempera on prepared panels using the techniques of the Old Masters. These fixed rules provide the artist with an interesting field of play; once the lines have been drawn, play can begin, because countless questions still remain. In 2007, Akkerman wrote the following to one of the collectors: “(…) The depiction of the skin, the importance of style, the origin and the conclusion of painting, are there any rules, how serious must or may a painting be, the importance of true likeness, of technique, chaos, uncertainty and doubt (…) and much, much more, but most importantly who or what am I?”

Philip Akkerman - Self-portrait 2005 no.31 40x34 cm

Many major collections, both in the Netherlands and further afield, include work by Philip Akkerman. The eleven collectors were asked to lend the Kunsthal every one of their Akkerman pieces, and every complete collection tells it own story. One collector buys a single painting every year while another purchases a chronological series in one go. With over 250 paintings, the Caldic Collection comprises the largest number of Akkerman self portraits and supplements their collection with a new painting every year. Other collectors such as Hauser & Wirth choose to purchase a single powerful series of portraits, whilst J. Zondt consistently opts for paintings that are ‘strange’ and divergent. Akkermania illustrates the infinite variety in the work of Philip Akkerman as seen through eleven pairs of eyes.

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11 December 2010 to 13 March 2011 – Kunsthal Rotterdam
Kunsthal Rotterdam proudly introduces to its public Belgian photographer Gaël Turine. For the first time ever his photo series on voodoo culture in Haiti, Benin and the United States is put on display in the Netherlands. From up close he portrays his subjects and the rituals they are involved in. The resultant series of dynamic black and white photographs illustrating ancient voodoo religion can safely be called impressive. Turine casts light both on the traditions and on the roots of voodoo, which originated in West Africa and gradually spread over the entire world through slave trade.

Between 2005 and 2010 Turine took photographs of several ceremonies, pilgrimages and rituals connected with voodoo religion. Most of the time he chose to portray the events in a somewhat detached way. However, at times he physically invaded the actual scene, making him a participant rather than just the photographer. This resulted in a series of photographs that is extremely diverse. Sometimes mysticism is almost tangible in these photos. In Miami Turine took pictures from up close of a priest blowing smoke in the face of a woman in trance. The photo of a bathing ritual near the water fall of Saut d’Eau in Haiti, taken while he was amongst the pilgrims participating, has a strongly dynamic feel to it and breathes an air of emotional release. At other times Turine deliberately kept at a distance, for instance when a woman kneeling down at a huge, knobby tree tried to get into contact with one of the numerous voodoo spirits. He also stepped back from the scene at the cemetery of Port-au-Prince where he was taking photographs of a woman requesting Baron Samedi, the spirit of the dead, to take good care of those who are deceased.

Voodoo originated in slavery and was declared the official religion of Haiti in 2003. The belief came into existence in the sixteenth century and is based upon a merging of the beliefs and practices belonging to the vodun cult from of West African Benin with the beliefs and practices associated with Roman Catholic Christianity. Voodoo was created by African slaves who were brought to Haiti in the 16th century and still followed their traditional African beliefs but were forced to convert to the religion of their slavers. From Haiti voodoo gradually spread to the United States and the Caribbean. Voodoo practitioners, who are commonly described as vodouisants, aim their prayers to a rather large number of spirits known as Loa, or Mistè. These spirits all have their own, distinct preferences and are honoured with specific rituals, symbols, dances and music. The Loa enable the vodouisants to contact the world of the dead, amongst whom deceased relatives and ancestors. This contact is highly important because respect for, and listening to what it is that these spirits and ancestors are conveying is absolutely quintessential if one wants to attain a better and more peaceful life on earth.

Gaël Turine was born in Nieuport, Belgium, in 1972. He studied photography at l’école des Arts Plastiques in Bruxelles.  His collaborations with the press are considerable as a staff photographer for l’Express magazine and he is a frequent contributor to newspapers like Libération, Le Monde and The New York Times. In 2007, he was honoured with the “Golden Shamrock,” a prize attributed by Belgian career funds, for his transatlantic project on the vodun cult. Over the last years, his works has been exhibited throughout Europe. There have been exhibitions of his photographs in amongst others Brussels, Milan, Paris and Berlin.

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From the 25th of September2010  to the 16th of January 2011 – Kunsthal Rotterdam, Museumpark
Kunsthal Rotterdam presents an extensive exhibition on realist art. Over one hundred and fifty paintings, sculptures, photographs and video works shed light on the wealth and diversity of realist art from 1850 up to now. The impressive survey contains work by numerous internationally renowned artists like Jean-François Millet, Walker Evans, Edward Hopper, Richard Estes, Duane Hanson and Thomas Ruff. On top of that, the work of a number of leading Dutch artists is presented, amongst whom Carel Willink, Rineke Dijkstra, Jan Worst and Aernout Mik. The exhibition is created in close cooperation with Kunsthalle Emden and the Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung in München.

Impressive Overview
On canvas, in photographs or in video projections: over the past hundred and fifty years artists represented reality in a variety of ways using divers media. The exhibition in the Kunsthal shows this versatility: from the lifelike figures of sculptor John DeAndrea to the detailed landscapes of photographer Michael Reisch. Works by important representatives of international realist art movements like The New Objectivity, Magic Realism and Hyperrealism are brought together. The exhibition offers a surprising survey of realist art, in which still life’s, portraits and landscapes are grouped together. Wonderful and interesting combinations are made between works. The powerful women’s portraits by Christian Schad from the Interbellum are seen together with the very detailed realistic photo portraits by Thomas Ruff from the eighties. A still life by magic realist Franz Radziwill is hung close to an assemblage by Daniel Spoerri from 1961.

Diversity and Connections
The exhibition puts realist art in a new perspective. It shows us the fact that, behind the technical refinement and virtuosity of realist art, the artist often wants to bring a social message about. This underlying layer of realist art binds together artists of different periods in realism, despite the immense diversity of subjects and chosen media. The sculpture entitled Two Workers created by American sculptor Duane Hanson in 1993, has a thematical link with August Sander’s photographs of street workers which were taken more than sixty years earlier. And Hanson’s social criticism can also be witnessed in paintings by social realists like Eugène Buland or Jean-François Millet from the nineteenth century. By pointing out the connections between artists from different periods in realism the exhibition is a true ‘Adventure of Reality’.

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