25 february 2022, Wouter van den Eijkel
Galerie Fontana opens new space with duo exhibition by Claudy Jongstra and Thijs Segers
Galerie Fontana is moving to a former chocolate factory at Lauriergracht 142. With over 300m2 over two floors, the new space is about 5 times as large as the old gallery at number 11. The new gallery space will be festively opened on Saturday 26 February with a duo exhibition by Claudy Jongstra and Thijs Segers.
Gallery owner Joris Montes had been looking for a larger space for some time. Last year, he rented an old forge next to his gallery; that property was unfortunately sold. More or less at the same time, the old chocolate factory came on the market. Montes did not hesitate long. “Unlike the old forge, a rough space that is an experience in itself, this space is very practical, it's more like a white cube. When I first entered here, it was like stepping into a gallery that I didn’t know about," says Montes, referring to the light installation that was already installed. Another reason for choosing this building was the proximity to other galleries. “This property is more en route with other galleries. Right behind this is Annet Gelink, for example. I expect a little more passerby.”
In recent years, the former chocolate factory has housed a yoga school and then a one-off exhibition by the online art platform AvantArte. “Probably the landlord came up with the idea to offer the property as a gallery space prior to the AvantArte show and put it on the market during that exhibition, so interested parties could see it in use.”
Montes plans to use the large ground floor space for temporary exhibitions and the smaller first floor space for a more permanent display of work by artists Fontana represents.
Thijs Segers, Bizarro-Kluenven, 2022, Galerie Fontana.
Dialogues with nature
Galerie Fontana opens the new space with a duo exhibition with works by Claudy Jongstra and Thijs Segers. An exhibition with two artists for whom nature is the great source of inspiration. Segers is fresh out of the academy in Enschede and recently exhibited in the Noord Brabants Museum. He makes large canvases in a wild manner with many dead hares and sunflowers. “Where Jongstra still hopes to change our behaviour, Segers has already resigned himself to the inevitable decline,” says Montes. The subsequent exhibition is called Zilverspoor and will be the first solo exhibition in the Netherlands by the well-known Belgian artist Ronny Delrue.
Claudy Jongstra, Guernica de la Ecologia Estudio en Color #2, 2022, Galerie Fontana.
