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Maike Meijer
Looking for humour in art
You might know as her from one of the many office workers she has portrayed for the absurdist comedy series Toren C, but also from her numerous gallery and exhibition visits. Maike Meijer may be an actress and screenwriter, but she finds life boring without art. She loves art that comes from the unexpected corner and feels like a punch in your stomach. In this time of quarantine, in which grief and stress lurk, she is sensitive to art with humour. That gives one air to breathe. Maike wouldn't be herself if that humour didn't have a dark edge:
"I like art that contains humour, but I like abrasive humour, black humour, but also that other kind of humour: that of a smile, humour that arouses tenderness. Especially these days it is important to put things into perspective. Art helps to distance yourself from the everyday, without being easy going. Humour is a means of survival. And did you know that humour is a muscle? You can train it. Art can help with that."
"I like art that contains humour, but I like abrasive humour, black humour, but also that other kind of humour: that of a smile, humour that arouses tenderness. Especially these days it is important to put things into perspective. Art helps to distance yourself from the everyday, without being easy going. Humour is a means of survival. And did you know that humour is a muscle? You can train it. Art can help with that."
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Ik vind het heel grappig om te zien hoe die man kijkt. Hij zit op zijn telefoon en heeft een stijve piemel. Zo te zien weet hij niet wat hij met de situatie aanmoet. En ondertussen zit hij daar maar, met zijn mooi gekamd haar. Maar waar kijkt hij nu eigenlijk naar? Tegelijkertijd vind ik het ook een heel treurig beeld omdat het zo leeg is. In Verhoeven’s schilderijen zit altijd een enorme gelaagdheid. Ze is een steengoede verhalenverteller: glashelder in de keuze van haar onderwerpen en met een edgy randje in de uitvoering.
Eric Martijn
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This is a tiny work of 3 cm. That in itself is very funny, because it can never ask for attention, you can give attention at the most. It is a dirty kind of pill, one would easily pass it by. But if you look closely you can see that it is a vitamin pill that, as it were, twists its own neck. A silent charge.
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I always do this with photos in newspapers and old magazines: distorting the images by scratching faces or giving other eyes. In my view, she allows that act to solidify in this strange statue. It also resembles a rejected product, a type of less successful bell pepper, which you will find in a separate bag at the greengrocer. I find it endearing and want to take care of it. What about those crooked legs and all that blue, where does that suddenly come from?
Bertien van Manen
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In this photo, someone is holding a toddler upside down, while someone else is watching two televisions. It is very exciting what is happening here. This image is not only witty, but also very dangerous. Something is happening, or something is about to go wrong any minute now. And what if someone enters the room? Or if he drops the child? Is that man sitting on the right busy editing a TV programme? Is that the way it is over there in Russia? Van Manen has that cursory style from Robert Frank, another master of documentary photography, just look at his 1958 book The Americans. Van Manen captures people in a very snapshot-like way, at same time she makes razor-sharp choices in what she does and doesn't show.
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On the right she suddenly painted that pink dress in great detail. How nice is that ghost in the front, who already knows everything and has seen it all before. And that woman on the left with that turkey breast for a head. You can apply the way you look at this painting to way you look at your family. It is a very humorous painting, but also tragic because everyone wants to participate but nobody really belongs. So annoying, all those snapshots of all these meals together. They’re all similar too. Hundertmark exposes just that.
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A traveller. That suitcase almost has to fall, those legs are so thin. He's investigating something, and I can watch. He puts everything in the centre, as if he wants to isolate something in order to be able to lurk properly. Otherwise it just becomes a mess, and he doesn't want that. He wants overview.
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Very sad and touching. You keep searching high and low for its head. I'd love to comfort it, that thing. Claassen has also made many animals. And every time he manages to capture the essence of the animal in question and render it in a very intuitive way.
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It all sounds very relaxed, and very sixties: "Investigating femininity, sisters and guardians", but ok, it is fun. It is also a witty image because it is reminiscent of that clumsiness of porn photos, where everything looks very easy, while the opposite is true. She wants to confront us with that compelling idea. It all looks very silly, that makes it such a strong image. It also has something of a medieval nude painting, with those nymphs and all. And then there’s that blade of grass exactly in that one place, like: I am the boss here, I determine what you can and cannot see.