21 september 2020, Oscar van Gelderen & Manuela Klerkx
Casper'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 Casper van der Kruk (Art historian, facility manager and collector, age 59. A selection of his art collection is on display at Project Space On The Inside in Amsterdam Noord until 29 November)
What does art mean to you?
On a personal level, art can evoke different emotions in me: art can move me, make me think, make me happy, but as an art historian I also often look for connections or references with art history.
Fountain, 2017, Anastasia Samoylova, Galerie Caroline O'Breen.
Were you exposed to art while growing up?
My parents were interested in all forms of art: music, literature, visual arts and performing arts, and they exposed me to all these artforms. The latent interest in all kinds of art was therefore always present in me.
Where do you read about the latest developments in the art world?
Basically everything: newspapers, art magazines, art documentaries and online via social media, Instagram, and newsletters from Artnet, Artsy and galleries worldwide.
Where do you prefer to look at art?
I visit museum exhibitions and art fairs at home and abroad, but I most enjoy visiting galleries and/or artist studios, because of the personal contacts with gallery owners and artists. The exam presentations at the various (postdoc) art academies are also a joy to visit every year!
Evelyn Taocheng Wang, Photosynthesis, 2017, Galerie Fons Welters.
How often do you buy art each year?
Way too much! I prefer unique work, but I might as well go for an editioned print, as long as the edition is limited. I sincerely believe that the art sector should be given generous support; young artists in particular. I would therefore like to argue for the abolition of VAT on art by artists under the age of thirty and in general to make the purchase of art 10% tax deductible.
Where do you do your buying: in a gallery, at an art fair, at an auction or online?
Almost invariably I buy from a gallery or at an art fair. I do view art online, but I end up buying it from the gallery representing the artist. I rarely buy at auctions.
Klaas Kloosterboer, Exhibition overview at Ellen de Bruijne Projects, 2018.
Is it important that you and your partner always agree on a purchase?
No, I don’t live with anyone and can therefore make my own choices.
Do you have a special relationship with any one gallery?
Apart from Galerie Fons Welters, I like to go to Akinci, Annet Gelink, Tegenboschvanvreden, Stigter Van Doesburg, Martin van Zomeren, Upstream, Althuis Hofland, Albada Jelgersma, Gerhard Hofland, Ellen de Bruijne, Lumen Travo and Grimm. When it comes to photography, I like the programming of Caroline O'Breen, Wouter van Leeuwen and Flatland.
If you had an unlimited budget, who would you buy a work from?
Haha… unlimited? Fasten your seat belts: in that case, I would buy paintings by Marina Rheingantz, Lorna Simpson, Alice Neel, Mark Bradford, Luc Tuymans, Philip Guston and Wilhelm Sasnal. Photography by Andreas Gursky and Wolfgang Tillmans. Video art Pipilotti Rist, Arthur Jaffa, Kahlil Joseph, Bill Viola, David Claerbout and Theaster Gates. Drawings by Raymond Pettibon. Sculptures and installation art by Louise Bourgeois, Berlinde de Bruyckere, Jannis Kounellis, Sarah Lucas, Doug Aitken and Elmgreen & Dragset. Conceptual art by John Baldessari and On Kawara.
Who are your favourite artists?
Anastasia Samoylova addresses the urgent and global issue of climate change in a captivating, convincing and yet aesthetic way.
Job Koelewijn's work appeals to me because of the surprising interventions in existing reality. Consequently, I experience the place or space in which I find myself more intensely.
And Klaas Kloosterboer, because for me there’s something elusive in his work. Also, because it is abstraction and action in one.
Job Koelewijn, Untitled, 2015, Galerie Fons Welters.
