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Wouter van den Eijkel , Wouter van den Eijkel
The mother of the arts
Who do you say?! Beeple? Never heard of… This will have been the reaction of most who are not too invested in internet art upon learing of the record-breaking auction for a non-fungible token (NFT) earlier this month. In the process, the market for the most expensive living artist was rearranged. Beeple (pseudonym of the American graphic designer Mike Winklemann) nestled firmly between Hockney and Koons.
Beeple's success can partly be traced back to the blockchain technology behind the NFTs. This technology makes it possible for the first time to guarantee the uniqueness of digital files, allowing one to demonstrably become the owner of a digital object. As a result, everything is suddenly collectible: from a digital pair of sneakers to a car, to baseball cards and also art. Wealthy Millennials and GenXers form an avant-garde that pushed the price of Beeple’s JPEG Everydays: the First 5000 Days to record highs.
Uniqueness and affordability are all too often opposites. If something is relatively affordable, chances are it is an edition or a work of someone at the start of his or her career and vice versa. But there is a sweet spot, a place where you can buy a unique work of a well-known name without falling into the abyss financially. We are talking about drawings. Strangely enough, the oldest medium around is still relatively affordable.
“Drawing has been called the mother of the arts because ideas and forms are first developed in drawing, it is a kind of breeding ground for art,” says The Hague gallery owner and enthusiast Maurits van de Laar. He points to the intimacy of this art form: “Drawing is very direct and casual, you look over the shoulder of the artist, as it were, and see things emerge”.
In this collection, therefore, 7 artists, three of whom work figuratively, two produce abstract works, and two work in multiple media.
Beeple's success can partly be traced back to the blockchain technology behind the NFTs. This technology makes it possible for the first time to guarantee the uniqueness of digital files, allowing one to demonstrably become the owner of a digital object. As a result, everything is suddenly collectible: from a digital pair of sneakers to a car, to baseball cards and also art. Wealthy Millennials and GenXers form an avant-garde that pushed the price of Beeple’s JPEG Everydays: the First 5000 Days to record highs.
Uniqueness and affordability are all too often opposites. If something is relatively affordable, chances are it is an edition or a work of someone at the start of his or her career and vice versa. But there is a sweet spot, a place where you can buy a unique work of a well-known name without falling into the abyss financially. We are talking about drawings. Strangely enough, the oldest medium around is still relatively affordable.
“Drawing has been called the mother of the arts because ideas and forms are first developed in drawing, it is a kind of breeding ground for art,” says The Hague gallery owner and enthusiast Maurits van de Laar. He points to the intimacy of this art form: “Drawing is very direct and casual, you look over the shoulder of the artist, as it were, and see things emerge”.
In this collection, therefore, 7 artists, three of whom work figuratively, two produce abstract works, and two work in multiple media.
Anouk Griffioen
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Anouk Griffioen always uses the entire sheet for her charcoal drawings. Hardly any white remains once she’s finished. Nature overgrows everything. Griffioen's nature can still be tamed on a single drawing, but when you stand in front of a wall with her work, the effect is overwhelming. Art critic Ellis Kat visited Griffioen's studio in the centre of Rotterdam. The noise of the busy traffic and people in the street immediately disappeared when she entered. She immediately imagined herself in a black and white jungle: “Upon entering it seems as if my brain has suddenly forgotten how perceiving the colour green works again. Trunks and straws grow up the walls. The forest just barely reaches the ceiling, as the kitchen step-stool for hanging the sheets has only five steps. ”
(Gallery: Vriend van Bavink)
(Gallery: Vriend van Bavink)
0 Media items ᛫ 3 Available artworks
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It sounds like punishment, but Sarah van der Lijn really did it voluntarily. Between 2012 and 2020 she copied the complete 1637 King James Version of the Bible. She copied all 1,159 pages on transparent paper. Real painstaking work. The project is illustrative of Van der Lijn's work: “In my work I am looking for what I call the “zero point”. As close to silence as possible. Values aligned into an action. I look for this in repeating a simple action. In the abstraction." You can also see this tranquil way of working in Blauw/Geel (Blue/Yellow). A composition that is entirely made up of blue and yellow stripes. Every so many stripes you see a tiny bit of white, as if she paused there only to continue concentrated again.
(Gallery: PHOEBUS Rotterdam)
(Gallery: PHOEBUS Rotterdam)
Judy Chung
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You used to have the Guinness Book of Records for silly records like 71 hours of synchronized skipping or who can get the most pancakes, hot dogs, or burgers down in 1 minute. Nowadays you no longer need a Guinness observer, just a webcam. Just go to Youtube and search for Mukbang and you know that people no longer eat excessively for a record in a book, but for the clicks. In Mukbang videos, people stuff themselves with everything from spare ribs to mozzarella and from tacos to noodles. It doesn't really matter what, as long as it is disgustingly much.
The Korean-born American artist Amy Chung works in multiple media. In addition to drawings, her work consists of paintings and works from textiles, such as a series of stuffed animals. Stylistically, Chung's work refers to expressions of popular culture such as manga, video games and anime. The underlying themes she questions are about power relations, gender, and good and evil.
(Gallery: TATJANA PIETERS)
The Korean-born American artist Amy Chung works in multiple media. In addition to drawings, her work consists of paintings and works from textiles, such as a series of stuffed animals. Stylistically, Chung's work refers to expressions of popular culture such as manga, video games and anime. The underlying themes she questions are about power relations, gender, and good and evil.
(Gallery: TATJANA PIETERS)
0 Media items ᛫ 8 Available artworks
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The Italian Roberta Gigante focuses on the human body and its interactions with its vicinity. That starting point translates into a very diverse oeuvre. Gigante makes neon sculptures, sound installations, performances, interventions in public space and, very classically, works on paper. In all these media Gigante is concerned with what is not immediately visible, has been forgotten, or what escapes our attention in daily life. By emphasizing this, the spaces in which her work is located are subtly charged and colours human contact in those spaces.
(Gallery: Kristof De Clercq gallery)
(Gallery: Kristof De Clercq gallery)