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Summer
2001
The Alex de Vrede exhibition (see Past Exhibits & Events) has proven a resounding success, with more than half the paintings sold to Finland, Turkey and the United States of America, to name but a few final destinations. Of course the Dutch aficionados of De Vrede's work were not to be outdone either. Final tally: Netherlands 4, Rest of the World 5. This slightly older painting from 1992 entitled "Who is Afraid of a Blue Tablecloth - The Second Act" surfaced in the course of the exhibition. Its background is elaborated on in Weekly 58. The gallery currently features a selection of paintings by a variety of artists including this Ben Snijders triptych of the Liberated Touch - with thanks to "Museum de Buitenplaats" in Eelde, which this past season organised an exhibition of more loosely painted figuration. The museum will be celebrating its fifth anniversary this autumn, and is doing so with a major collective show featuring five works by Anneke van Brussel. Back to the gallery, where contemporary silver has become a firm fixture and where you will find Jef Huibers's "Sensitive Dish" sitting unobtrusively among the various other gleaming silver artefacts, slightly dwarfed by some of them. This silver miniature is a fine example of an object whose sculptural qualities I rate higher although its purpose in everyday life has remained fully intact. How utterly sophisticated the foot on which the dish rests: a dainty sphere asymmetrically attached to a quirkily shaped piece of flattened, tarnished iron. 14 August 2001 Still on the discovery trail, we are proud and happy to present two early works by Anneke van Brussel, both of which will in due course find a place in her Virtual Portrait Gallery, but which are now available for live inspection, and an early painting by Theo Voorzaat of an eye-catching building in Zierikzee, in the province of Zeeland. 24 august 2001 Anneke van Brussel's "The Judas Kiss" was her response to my request to each of the gallery's artists to produce a work of art on a Biblical theme, to mark the gallery's tenth anniversary, the underlying thought being that much of what is going on in today's society has at one stage or other been affected to a greater or lesser degree by Christianity and its precursors. Anneke van Brussel spontaneously chose the Judas Kiss as her theme. However, she wasn't sure exactly how the story went. Her mother handed her a fat bible, which she opened up at random, and there it was: "(…) then he approached him and gave him the kiss (…)". Legs trembling, Van Brussel picked up her brush and started painting, producing a total of three works on this theme. The tiny and virtually monochrome portrait in oil "The Silent Child II" is autobiographical, Van Brussel having based it on a photograph of herself as a child. The feathers which the little girl holds in her hands have remained a constant factor in her life as the unambiguous symbol of the mastery she has acquired over what life used to have to offer her or what element of it she appreciated, now that she can evoke it at will in her paintings. This painting "Zierikzee", which dates back to 1975, could be Theo Voorzaat's affirmation of his decision henceforth to devote all his time to painting. With his contre jour depiction of the building he draws the spectator's gaze to the array of painting paraphernalia in the lower left-hand corner, which includes a small painting of a sphere as a recurring symbol in years to come, in a variety of situations and implications. There is a second symbolic aspect to the scene in that that which Voorzaat is so extraordinarily good at, the light - in all shades, types and gradations -,remains virtually entirely concealed by the building. |
