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Wouter van den Eijkel
Artists under 30
In the run-up to Ballroom Project, I interviewed Kaspar Dejong. The 25-year-old artist is making a name for himslef with abstract work that originates in public space. Man-made short cuts, traffic signs, graffiti: anything that imposes or defies rules can count on Dejong's attention.
Halfway through the conversation, after explaining how he works on his canvases, he points to the ground. On the gallery floor are a few dozen ceramic casts of whipped cream cylinders, dented and well. Like the ones you come across on the street. Every time he makes an exhibition of his work, he puts a few on the floor. Dejong doesn't care if someone accidentally steps on one of them. That also happens in real life. Dejong calls the cylinders an abandoned still life and a portrait of a generation. “The intoxication is short, just like our concentration span”.
But is the portrait of a bored generation looking for an intoxication to escape the unbearable dullness of everyday life the only portrait that can be made of Dejong's generation? I decided to find out. Fortunately, they are well represented, because of the more than 1,600 artists on Gallery Viewer, almost 1 in 10 artists is under 30 (142 artists). And they have plenty of stories to tell.
Halfway through the conversation, after explaining how he works on his canvases, he points to the ground. On the gallery floor are a few dozen ceramic casts of whipped cream cylinders, dented and well. Like the ones you come across on the street. Every time he makes an exhibition of his work, he puts a few on the floor. Dejong doesn't care if someone accidentally steps on one of them. That also happens in real life. Dejong calls the cylinders an abandoned still life and a portrait of a generation. “The intoxication is short, just like our concentration span”.
But is the portrait of a bored generation looking for an intoxication to escape the unbearable dullness of everyday life the only portrait that can be made of Dejong's generation? I decided to find out. Fortunately, they are well represented, because of the more than 1,600 artists on Gallery Viewer, almost 1 in 10 artists is under 30 (142 artists). And they have plenty of stories to tell.
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With all the social and identity issues that are hot topics now, you would expect the youngest generation to come out of art school to make politically committed work. Nothing is further from the truth. Some keep it close to themselves, such as David Noro, others, like Dejong, turn to abstraction and for still others, such as Les Monseigneurs (pseudonym of Thomas Renwart), world literature is a major source of inspiration.
The latter also applies to the only 24-year-old Italian artist Daniele Formica. He was educated in the Netherlands and studied the letters of Leonardo Da Vinci for Boys by the Pool, his debut with Ellen de Bruijne. At the end of his life, Da Vinci wrote extensively about boys bathing in a nearby lake. For Formica, the bobbing boys symbolize this difficult period that lacks a clear beginning or end. De Bruijne decided to collaborate with Formica when she saw the above work, List of Actions that Deal with States of Matter. “Someone who can make this can also make a solo exhibition,” thought De Bruijne.
(Gallery: Ellen de Bruijne Projects)
The latter also applies to the only 24-year-old Italian artist Daniele Formica. He was educated in the Netherlands and studied the letters of Leonardo Da Vinci for Boys by the Pool, his debut with Ellen de Bruijne. At the end of his life, Da Vinci wrote extensively about boys bathing in a nearby lake. For Formica, the bobbing boys symbolize this difficult period that lacks a clear beginning or end. De Bruijne decided to collaborate with Formica when she saw the above work, List of Actions that Deal with States of Matter. “Someone who can make this can also make a solo exhibition,” thought De Bruijne.
(Gallery: Ellen de Bruijne Projects)
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Jongensgeheimen (Boys' secrets) was the title of Felix De Clercq’s second exhibition with Sofie van de Velde, a title that could have been lifted straight from the oeuvre of the self-proclaimed people’s writer Gerard Reve - it is at least a successful pastiche. De Clercq's work seems naive and folkish at first sight, everyday scenes such as this meeting in the street also give cause for this, but also has the oppressive, melancholic atmosphere that characterizes Reve's work.
(Gallery: Sofie Van de Velde Gallery)
(Gallery: Sofie Van de Velde Gallery)
Ruben Raven
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From Reve to Raven, Ruben Raven to be precise. Last year, 25-year-old Raven graduated from Amsterdam’s Rietveld Academy with the eye-catching installation They waited patiently but without a vestige of sympathy, an archaeological site with everyday objects that people will find in a few hundred years' time looking for objects from our society, such as soda cans, discmans, keyboards, monitors, and cardboard boxes. "The objects symbolize our time and I am curious how we will look at them in the future," Raven told NRC in a series about upcoming talents. With They waited patiently…, Raven would also win the audience award at the Best of Graduate 2020 exhibition at Ron Mandos that fall.
The title of the above work, Oriental City Amsterdam, refers to a well-known Cantonese restaurant in Amsterdam’s Red-Light District, renowned for its dim sum. If you look closely, you will see that Ruben Raven incorporated the fake pond and the security camera (welcome!) at the restaurant’s entrance into this painting. A fake pond and a security camera, that is as contemporary as it gets.
(Gallery: Josilda de Conceição Gallery)
The title of the above work, Oriental City Amsterdam, refers to a well-known Cantonese restaurant in Amsterdam’s Red-Light District, renowned for its dim sum. If you look closely, you will see that Ruben Raven incorporated the fake pond and the security camera (welcome!) at the restaurant’s entrance into this painting. A fake pond and a security camera, that is as contemporary as it gets.
(Gallery: Josilda de Conceição Gallery)
Thomas Renwart (Les Monseigneurs)
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Les Monseigneurs is the nom de plume by Thomas Renwart (1995) in the run-up to Ballroom Project, he mentioned that one of his main sources of inspiration is French literature. “Les Fleurs du Mal has certainly left its mark,” said the perfectly bilingual Renwart, referring to the high degree of sophistication he shares with the 19th-century French poet. Take a single look at L’univers ne s’arette pas and you will know enough. Whereas Baudelaire and kindred spirit J.K. Huysmans described "suffering from life", Renwart has more of an eye for desire, wonder, intimacy and eroticism. He translates these emotions into symbols such as the moth that he incorporates in his wall hangings. For Renwart, the moth symbolizes freedom, for those who operate outside the 9-to-5 society. Craftsmanship is very important to Renwart, who has his wall hangings woven partly computer-controlled and partly finished by hand. Renwart's emphasis on craftsmanship did not harm him, as he is in one exhibition after another and recently won two Henry van de Velde Awards.
(Gallery: Bruthaus Gallery)
(Gallery: Bruthaus Gallery)
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There was something sad about the long line in front of Primark the day the stores reopened. Apparently, the need to shop was so great that this was the first thing the crowds wanted to do.
It is tempting to interpret Wouter Paijmans' ready-to-wear paintings as a commentary on our insatiable desire for cheap clothing, or, by extension, as a commentary on the art market where every work of art has a price tag. That's just an interpretation. For Museum De Pont, Paijmans copied a black hoodie 17 times in slide positive / white. To him it was mainly about the creative process; working on the pieces. It yielded 17 different copies. When looking at it Paijmans poses the question: What is the difference between original and imitation, between unique and mass-confection? Are you still an artist if you reproduce your own work?
(Gallery: Annet Gellink Gallery)
It is tempting to interpret Wouter Paijmans' ready-to-wear paintings as a commentary on our insatiable desire for cheap clothing, or, by extension, as a commentary on the art market where every work of art has a price tag. That's just an interpretation. For Museum De Pont, Paijmans copied a black hoodie 17 times in slide positive / white. To him it was mainly about the creative process; working on the pieces. It yielded 17 different copies. When looking at it Paijmans poses the question: What is the difference between original and imitation, between unique and mass-confection? Are you still an artist if you reproduce your own work?
(Gallery: Annet Gellink Gallery)
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While many students in Belgium leave the art academy as painters, this is a lot less self-evident in the Netherlands. Romee van Oers was such a person, she graduated from the St Joost Academy in Breda in 2016. “I've always had to justify why I chose to paint. I was the only one of my classmates who consistently painted paintings,” she told Mr Motley. Van Oers translates observations from her daily environment into paintings on canvas: thin spatial forms that evoke movement, playfulness and at the same time tension. “For me it's about an image that is very tangible on the canvas and that it is close by. Its shaky intimacy meaningful to me.” Van Oers’s star is rising, which is is evident from the fact that she was shortlisted together with two older artists for a prestigious commission for the Dutch Senate.
(Gallery: Franzis Engels)
(Gallery: Franzis Engels)