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Manuela Klerkx
From paper to art I/II
Personally, I cannot imagine the art world without paper. After all, doesn't every painting and every sculpture start with a sketch or idea expressed on a piece of paper? And aren’t the majority of pictures that are taken printed on paper? Paper plays an essential role not only as a carrier, but also as a medium. In a diptych about art and paper, I examine the significance of paper in the work of six artists. Part one features artists Himmelsbach, Riki Mijling and Alexandra Roozen.
2 Éléments multimédias ᛫ 20 Oeuvres disponibles
2 Spectacles ᛫ 4 Points forts ᛫ 0 Recommandations
What started as an art workshop for asylum seekers quickly grew into a 'Paper Monument for Paperless People', aimed at giving a face to an anonymous group of undocumented migrants. This type of project is typical for Domenique Himmelsbach de Vries, or Himmelsbach for short (1983), whose work always stems from a high degree of social involvement. He likes to work with other artists, fellow citizens, asylum seekers, etc. because he sees art as an opportunity to forge connections. The technique Himmelsbach uses for the project 'Paper Monument for Paperless' is traditional wood carving. The reason is twofold: on the one hand, due to the strong images that this technique produces – and which are necessary to literally give undocumented migrants a 'face' that you will not soon forget – and on the other hand because of the rich social history of the medium.
Himmelsbach comments, “This graphic technique [wood cut, ed.] was already being used at the beginning of the last century, from Expressionism to political pamphlets. Figureheads such as Frans Masereel and Käthe Kollwitz made woodcuts to inspire people to social change and make invisible stories visible.”
He initially worked on this project with 19 artists and the printed woodcuts were (illegally) distributed in various European cities. The 'monument' now also exists in a limited edition and as a leporello, and has grown from a clandestine street art project into a unique conversation piece that continues to tell the painful story of the undocumented within the walls of the official art world in the hope that they will not be forgotten.
Represented by Galerie Helder
Himmelsbach comments, “This graphic technique [wood cut, ed.] was already being used at the beginning of the last century, from Expressionism to political pamphlets. Figureheads such as Frans Masereel and Käthe Kollwitz made woodcuts to inspire people to social change and make invisible stories visible.”
He initially worked on this project with 19 artists and the printed woodcuts were (illegally) distributed in various European cities. The 'monument' now also exists in a limited edition and as a leporello, and has grown from a clandestine street art project into a unique conversation piece that continues to tell the painful story of the undocumented within the walls of the official art world in the hope that they will not be forgotten.
Represented by Galerie Helder
3 Éléments multimédias ᛫ 10 Oeuvres disponibles
4 Spectacles ᛫ 1 Points forts ᛫ 0 Recommandations
Riki Mijling’s radical work belongs to the tradition of geometric abstraction and minimalist sculpture. While the hand of the artist is absent in these art movements, Mijling's is all the more visible. She gives minimalist art a 'human' face, as it were, by looking beyond concept and form. Unlike the impersonal, industrial character of the minimalist art tradition, a sense of temporality and craftsmanship play a major role in Mijling’s work. It is by allowing the human hand to contribute again that the material loses its industrial, anonymous character and the relationship between artist and art object becomes energetic and personal, making the work 'live'. Mijling's works on paper are both ‘sketchy’ as well as the result of a careful elaboration of a preconceived design. But there is always that human touch, like the vibrating swipe of a brush or paintbrush. Using paintbrushes, thick oil sticks and pigments, Mijling's constructivist works on paper are based on the basic principles of colour, proportion, scale and composition in which the processing of the paper surface or 'skin' is essential. Mijling has undeniably revived the minimalism of the 1960s by adding human 'warmth' without losing any of its reductionism or concreteness.
Represented by COPPEJANS GALLERY
Represented by COPPEJANS GALLERY
2 Éléments multimédias ᛫ 7 Oeuvres disponibles
4 Spectacles ᛫ 3 Points forts ᛫ 1 Recommandations
For those who love drawings, Alexandra Roozen's work is an absolute delight. Her extensive technical research and the absorbing effect of her drawings are not only a feast for the eyes, but also an enigmatic sensation. Questions that inevitably arise: What exactly am I looking at? Where do all those detailed marks, lines and traces come from? What do they want to tell me? Yet a sense of wonder and beauty dominate, since no matter how perfect Roozen's execution may be, her drawings and reliefs in paper never look sterile. Roozen's love for and knowledge of the medium result in an oeuvre that is as elusive as it is soothing. In her essay 'Sensing Traces' (2019), art historian Nanette Kraaikamp writes the following about Roozen's work: “The almost mechanical and controlled appearance [of her drawings, ed.] conflicts with the physical presence, the strong materiality of the paper and the graphite, but especially with the traditional, physical production process that underlies the drawings. It is therefore these relationships, between the physical and the mechanical, between the material and the analytical and between the use of rules and the occurrence of irregularities, that play an essential role in Roozen's artistic practice.” In the film Seen by Hand (2017-2019), the work process is visualised, partly through the sound of the materials and tools used by Roozen. This auditory aspect gives the creative process an extra sensory dimension that extends the boundaries of the medium. However, what lingers most after viewing Roozen's works on paper is the sense of having been given a glance into a world that does not exist, but for which we long. The viewer feels safe in Roozen's work because nothing seems to have been left to chance. Everything is as it should be, as a result of which the work offers views the opportunity to exist and experience.
Represented by Galerie Roger Katwijk, NL = US art, Galerie Wilms
Represented by Galerie Roger Katwijk, NL = US art, Galerie Wilms