06 january 2023, Flor Linckens
The power of circles and ovals in Galerie Ramakers
From 8 January to 5 February, Galerie Ramakers in The Hague will present a group exhibition with the central theme of 'circles and ovals'.
Circles and ovals have played a central role since the beginning of art history, from the very first prehistoric rock carvings and Ancient Greek decorations on the (round) base of vases to Raphael's circular Tondo paintings during the Renaissance and Minimal Art. Some artists have adapted the circle or oval to such an extent that it makes their work instantly recognisable, including Yayoi Kusama, Damien Hirst, Sonia Delaunay, Anish Kapoor, Richard Long and Hilma af Klint. In the work of other artists, these forms play a more implicit role, as in the work of Van Gogh and Georgia O'Keeffe.
The circle in particular is a popular shape because it has so many implications. A circle represents wholeness and unity and is seen as a universal symbol for harmony, unity and the cycle of life. Round shapes radiate simplicity and positivity. They represent the sun, the moon and the planets. If you multiply them in different sizes, (concentric) circles suggest movement, energy and dynamics. It's a beginningless line that never ends. And, not unimportantly: we consider the symmetrical shape to be extremely aesthetic, as the ultimate geometric shape.
The exhibition at Galerie Ramakers features the work of six artists, four men and two women: D.D. Trans, Jan van Munster, Azul Andrea, Ton van Kints, Wido Blokland and Yumiko Yoneda.
One of the works on display is an iconic "Edged Circle" by Jan van Munster, an artist who is always looking for energy, force fields and magnetic forces in his work. Sometimes quite literally, in the works in which he freezes tubes or shows batteries or magnets. Sometimes more figuratively, in the abstract-looking form of the quivering lines of an EEG scan of his brain, executed in neon.
The exhibition also features a series of sculptures by Japanese artist Yumiko Yoneda, who creates three-dimensional round or oval shapes in white or grey. A spherical shape that appears to be gently pressed. It almost makes one think of an organism that could exhale at any moment — or start moving in some other way. At the same time, it radiates an immense serenity, stillness, perfection and purity, a sculpture that looks different in every light.
Some of the works on display represent humour, such as the work "Andromeda [Infante]" by Wido Blokland, in which we see a round, glass table top with two oval holes in the middle that morph into two rubber boots at the bottom of the table top. In theory, it suggests that the work could be worn. The name of the work may refer either to the princess of Greek mythology or, more likely, to the spiral galaxy. D.D. Trans also knows how to put a smile on your face with a circular — and therefore ineffective — garden hose and a painter's palette with an empty eggshell on top, with the telling title "Painter's breakfast".
