18 july 2022, Manuela Klerkx
The exhibition Paradys: an interview with curator Hans den Hartog Jager
“Heaven is a place where nothing ever happens sing the Talking Heads. If nothing ever happens in paradise, where’s all the fun? I asked myself. The exhibition Paradys attempts to answer that question.”Hans Den Hartog Jager
Art critic, writer and curator Hans den Hartog Jager (Herveld, 1968) truly needs no introduction since, after all, who hasn’t heard of him? He is one of the few art critics who dares to bring up painful issues in art and is not afraid to take a clear stand. He has published more than ten books – both monographic publications and essays – on the role of art, works as an art critic and writer for NRC, Artforum and AVRO Kunstuur, and for the past decade has also curated exhibitions. For Museum de Fundatie in Zwolle, Den Hartog Jager curated several thematic exhibitions, including More Light (2010), More Power (2014), See the Man (2016) and Freedom (2019). In 2020, he was artistic director for the exhibition Into Nature in Drenthe. The progression to Paradys therefore seems only logical. I talked to him about the challenges he encountered in creating this exhibition.
On Saturday 6 August, I will be organising a guided tour of the exhibition for GalleryViewer (free transport to and from Amsterdam). Registration information can be found below.
Exhibition ‘Paradys’ with work by Diana Scherer, photo: Ruben van Vliet
MK I visited the exhibition and realised how much work it must’ve taken to organise an exhibition like this.
HdHJ Yes, placing 15 works outdoors in a park like Oranjewoud and the entire process surrounding this was quite a challenge. But once we saw the result and started receiving positive feedback from visitors and journalists, we were delighted.
Charles Avery, Untitled (Hunter Coming Towards: Signifying Left: Sun Through Clouds), 2022, GRIMM
MK Can you tell more about the process of putting together an exhibition in such an immense forest with historical buildings and at a rather historically charged location?
HdHJ It is actually very different from creating an exhibition in a white cube. Such an historically charged place in the middle of a forest requires a completely different approach. A good example is Charles Avery. His oeuvre revolves around a fictitious island called The Islanders – which is not only a physical, but also a mental space – that seamlessly connects to a place like Oranjewoud, where the artist has been able to create his own fictitious paradise. In a fairytale-like solo exhibition, Avery shares with us the Islanders character 'The Hunter', who is also the subject of his very first book. The world he draws and paints and the monsters and creatures that roam in it – including the androgynous hunter – come to life in the real world. That is why we rented a hunter’s lodge – including the garden around it – especially for him, where all his stories and ideas come to life through around 20 works. On arrival, you immediately see a gigantic, reflective figure ‘2’ and the sculpture ‘Duculi’, a monster without a head but with two behinds, a work about philosophical presence and absence that only Charles could possibly come up with. But you do not need to know his mathematical principles and philosophical knowledge to enjoy these breath-taking sculptures.
Alicia Kwade, photo: Peter de Kan
MK I heard you mention that you knew from the very start that you wanted to ask Erik van Lieshout to collaborate on Paradys. Why so sure?
HdHJ When Erik creates a work at a certain location, he relates to it on some level. Historically speaking, Oranjewoud is a highly layered place and related to our royal family, hence the name Oranjewoud. It was founded in 1676 by Albertine Agnes of Orange, who belonged to a branch of the royal family. This fact is reflected in the way Erik searches in the exhibition for answers to questions about power, the contrast between rich and poor and between paradise and hell.
I could immediately picture Erik walking around in ‘paradise’. And he gladly accepted my invitation. For the exhibition, he conceived the plan to place a flower mosaic under the belvedere tower. In the past, those mosaics were a symbol of a certain territory, but also of art on the one hand and entertainment and tourism on the other. The combination of art and tourism gave Erik the idea to map out the history of Oranjewoud, while at the same time exploring the relationship between art and entertainment. The only problem was that no one in Oranjewoud wanted to showcase his flower mosaic. He first asked the owners of the fields under the tower for permission, but they refused. He then went to a modern, upscale residential area with beautiful lawns, but they did not want it there either. He ended up on the roof of a car park in a suburb of Heerenveen. In other words, the rich world of Oranjewoud did not want his artwork, so he was forced to move to a location in Heerenveen that originally consisted of working-class houses.
Erik van Lieshout, photo: Peter de Kan, Courtesy Annet Gelink Gallery
He discovered that the division between rich and poor still exists to some degree. His video installation, which is the result of his search for a location for the mosaic, is in fact all about the question of how power relates to others, to space and to art. Princess Amalia regularly appears in the video because she is in fact a symbol of the royal Oranjewoud. The word ‘oligarch’ is also used quite often, underlining the topicality of the film. It is very clever how Erik has managed to capture historical, local, current and socio-political subjects in this film in a humorous way.
MK How did you actually arrive at the choice of artists?
HdHJ I wanted to bring together all kinds of different perspectives and aspects of the ‘paradise’ theme and I saw that possibility in the combination of these artists. On the one hand, of course, we have the physical Oranjewoud and on the other, the abstract concept of paradise. Each individual artist can be considered a cog in a clock or machine and all those cogs together as a reflection of the paradise we are showing here.
“Incidentally, I assume that not everyone will like the works or be able to relate to them. But I am sure that everyone will find a work to fall in love with.”
MK What kind of place is Oranjewoud?
HdHJ Oranjewoud was founded by three generations of women: Albertine Agnes of Nassau, Henriëtte Amalia and Maria Louise. These ladies not only founded the estate, but also shaped nature in their own way. They laid out parks, for example, thereby initiating the landscaping of the forest. Once I learned about this fact, I immediately thought about the work of Diana Scherer, who works with oat roots. She made three different dresses, one for each of the women who played a major role in Oranjewoud. The three dresses are well hidden in the woods and virtually merge into the surroundings. These women influenced nature through their position of power and that very same nature is symbolically reflected in the dresses that Diana has made for each of them. They are each around 2½ metres tall and hang in a sort of transparent cocoon in the forest a short distance from each other. Each dress expresses the specific traits of each of the three women. I think the most beautiful is that of Henriëtte Amalia, who squandered a considerable amount of money and was therefore, in Diana's eyes, the snake in paradise. To symbolise this, she incorporated a reptile into the grass pattern on the back of the dress, which looks fantastic.
Diana Scherer, ROOF-A, photo: Peter de Kan
MK Were there many constraints imposed on you and the exhibition artists?
HdHJ No, none at all. Actually, I had carte blanche. When I was asked by the organisation Arcadia to be the artistic director for this project, all they insisted on was, “Don't make it too simple. Make sure that people have something to think about, that they’re challenged.” That is exactly the kind of challenge I like. My life motto is, “Make what is most difficult as easy as possible.” And that also applies to art. I truly believe that if the art is good, it can appeal to almost anyone.
Diana Scherer, Interwoven #1, 2019, ROOF-A
MK Can you elaborate on that?
HdHJ Paradys has certainly not become a tourist attraction or a commercial exhibition that aims to please everyone. But although the art on display is multi-layered and complex, it should also appeal to and impact many people. In my opinion, layered art has nothing to do with intimidation or complexity, but with how you present it. So, we made a catalogue with lots of images, devoting special attention to up-and-coming artists and with clear, user-friendly texts by Thomas Huut and myself, among others.
“When I was asked by the umbrella organisation Arcadia to be the artistic leader for this project, all they insisted on was, ‘Don't make it too simple. Make sure that people have something to think about.’ And that is exactly the kind of challenge I like.”
MK How do you look back on the creation of this exhibition?
HdHJ It was simply a fantastic experience. I should mention that everyone, with the exception of two artists, created new work especially for this exhibition. The work by Jakob Kudsk Steensen, for instance, is a VR installation and although many people don’t yet have a good sense of this medium, it’s absolutely worth seeing. It is about an extinct bird in Hawaii that he brings back to life. Everyone, including the volunteers, has been touched by the beauty of the work. Moreover, it is located in the ‘Ecocathedral’, which is not really known to the public, but is a unique structure. It is a work of art by Louis Le Roy that has been there since 1970 and is half ruin, half construction site. It is based on the old ideal in which humans are in balance with nature and the materials that are available. For example, he used old paving stones that the municipality gave him for free. People were allowed to build on his site, but without using tools or cement. So, the stones were stacked on top of each other to allow nature to pass through them. It is a spectacular structure where the artist Alexandra Pirici holds her performances with a dozen dancers. In her work, she reflects on the history of certain places and institutions, playfully challenging existing hierarchical relationships. This is also the case with her performance ‘Building Blocks’, inspired by Louis Le Roy's Ecocathedral. Instead of paving stones and bricks, Alexandra uses bodies and sound, which seem to naturally emerge out of the environment.
Jakob Kudsk Steensen, photo: Peter de Kan
MK Do you have any tips for visitors?
HdHJ Keep in mind that you need an entire day to see everything. Try to arrive between 10 and 11 in the morning, so that you can see everything at a comfortable pace, either on foot or by renting a bicycle. There are quite a few places where you can sit down on a bench and let everything sink in.
Ecokathedraal Louis Le Roy, Foto: Marcel van Kammen
MK What do you want people to take with them after viewing the exhibition?
HdHJ I hope they will say, “I had a wonderful day and I feel enriched.”
Tickets for admission to the exhibition:
15 euros (payable on site by debit or credit card) or order online
Registration for the free bus trip and guided tour (approx. two hours) with Manuela Klerkx:
[email protected]
Lunch: You can enjoy lunch at Parkhotel Tjaarda opposite the Paradys pavilion, but a picnic is probably more fun
Tip:
In the afternoon, you can visit the exhibition or the beautiful Museum Belvédère, also located in Oranjewoud
For more information about Paradys
Paradys click here
Isa van Lier, photo: Marcel van Kammen
