24 august 2020, Oscar van Gelderen & Manuela Klerkx
Katja’s Pick...
In this section we let a selection of art lovers – from occasional buyers to art professionals – talk about their perception of art and preferences: where do they want to see art? Where do they purchase art, and above all: from which artists do they buy? Below, an interview with Katja Weitering (Head Presentation Museum Catharijneconvent, 44 years of age)
What does art mean to you?
Art adds inspiration to life. In the hectic of everyday life, works of art in your immediate living environment function as another dimension. They require time and attention. Make you laugh, and incite reflection. A kind of unconditional friendship.
Marc Bijl, Dancing in 2020 Part II, 2020, Upstream Gallery.
Were you exposed to art while growing up?
My father is an enthusiast and as a young child he took me to museums, especially of modern and contemporary art. I still remember what it felt like (and smelled!) to be in Edward Kienholz's "The Beanery" at the Stedelijk Museum for the first time.
Where do you read about the latest developments in the art world?
In addition to Het Parool, I read Metropolis M and follow a number of online art media, including Hyperallergic and Hard//hoofd.
Where do you prefer to look at art?
Art museums are a big love of mine, in all shapes and sizes. A museum offers the opportunity to see works of art in relation to each other, to discover the narrative power of work. That is something that online media does not, or does to a much lesser extent: establishing connections and relationships at a glance.
Jennifer Tee, Tampan Tree of Life in Blossom, 2019, Galerie Fons Welters.
How often do you buy art each year?
One to three times a year, depending on the available budget. I have no specific preference for unique work.
Where do you do your buying: in a gallery, at an art fair, at an auction or online?
That varies. I prefer to buy through a gallery, then you support both the artist and the art expert. I would like to buy directly from an artist more often. That is more personal. I once bought a work by Pipilotti Rist at auction. That felt like a distant transaction.
Pauline Curnier Jardin, Grotta Profunda the record, 2018, Ellen de Bruijne Projects.
Is it important that you and your partner always agree on a purchase?
I'm afraid that I operate on my own when it comes to collecting. That is kind of in my nature. Fortunately, my husband and I are on the same page when it comes to taste and preferences. He likes that I collect art and recently bought work by Charlotte Dumas himself at Art Rotterdam.
Do you have a special relationship with any one gallery?
I’d to go back in time to take a gallery tour in Amsterdam in the fifties, along legendary and at the time super experimental places such as Galerie le Canard, Espace and De Bijenkorf, where Martin Visser showed the way forward with art by artists completely unbeknown a at the time, such as Karel Appel and Constant Nieuwenhuijs. From a distance I had a great admiration for the recently deceased gallery owner Antoinette Reuten.
Johannes Schwartz, Haut #7, 2017, A, Annet Gelink Gallery.
If you had an unlimited budget, who would you buy a work from?
Kerry James Marshall and preferably a specific painting that is already in a Dutch private collection, of a black Adam and Eve who are expelled from paradise. Sublimely painted, and telling in a single image.
Who are your favourite artists?
Marc Bijl works with existing symbols that are associated with power, exclusion, hierarchy or subcultures and then gives those symbols a different meaning by editing them.
Jennifer Tee's work intrigues me immensely. I love her careful aesthetic and the way she combines materials and symbolic meanings.
I absolutely love the French artist Pauline Curnier Jardin. She has created a universe of her own, with references to religion, among other things, which interest me in particular.
Helen Verhoeven, Judith, 2019, Galerie Stigter Van Doesburg.
