13 december 2024, Wouter van den Eijkel
The studio of... Rotteveel Vermeer
The solo exhibition Bold by Rotterdam-based duo Rotteveel Vermeer is currently on display at Galerie Bart. Thomas Vermeer has his roots in the fashion world, while Jochem Rotteveel has always been an artist. They share a love of colour. When they met at Big Art in 2019, the idea for a collaboration was born. The original idea was to put together a colouring palette and a small series. “We thought, five works max. That was three years ago.”
The title Bold refers to the use of colour in their wall sculptures, which are bright and fresh—like the colours in the cities that inspired them: Seoul and Busan. They combine them with the saturated palette of Naples, leading to exciting combinations created in Rotteveel’s signature material of foil.
Their work is never perfectly flat; there’s always a curve or fold. According to the duo, this adds to the colour experience. “Our starting point is that you first blend the colours with your eyes. As you follow the folds, your eyes mix the colour pigments and the colour fields take on different hues.”
Bold by Rotteveel Vermeer can be seen at Galerie Bart in Amsterdam until 18 January 2025.
Where is your studio and what does it look like? Or do you each have your own studio?
ur studio is also where Jochem works. It’s a beautiful, light space in a former car garage in the Rotterdam neighbourhood of Charlois. We work there together one or two days a week. Jochem also works there on his own projects on other days. Besides our Rotterdam studio, we also like working on location, such as recently in the workspace above Galerie Bart or in the gallery space of Dino Morra in Naples. We bring all our materials and sketches with us and create a new series on site.
Jochem Rotteveel, photo by Sabrina Bongiovanni - Rotteveel Vermeer, Majorelle, Galerie Bart.
If I were an intern with you, what would a typical day in your studio be like?
We’d start with coffee and ginger snaps from Jordy’s Bakery—nice and cosy. We often talk about life, art and other topics. We then do some sketching, which we sometimes develop further the same day. It depends on which phase of the process we’re in. Of course, there are also boring days when we have to inventory materials, pack up work and vacuum the studio.
Thomas, you have a background in fashion and Jochem in art. It’s not guaranteed that your paths would cross. But you share a fascination for colour. So, how did your collaboration come about?
Our first meeting was online. Thomas visited Big Art in 2019, where Jochem showed a mural. Thomas was so impressed by the colourful composition that he shared a picture of it on his Instagram account, where it went viral. That’s how Jochem got to know Thomas and thanks to a shared passion for colour and materials, Jochem invited Thomas to visit his studio. Here they came up with the idea to create a colour palette together and make a small series. We thought, five works max. That was three years ago.
How does your collaboration work in practice—who does what?
The collaboration is very equal. We create our own composition sketches and colour palettes together, which we then show each other. This means we have to justify our choices well. Our collaboration is a dialogue, as opposed to the monologue you conduct in your head when working alone. We share a passion for our artistic process, entrepreneurship and travel.
Atelier, photo by Sabrina Bongiovanni - Schetsen, photo by David Meulenbeld
Jochem, you work with foil instead of paint. How did that develop?
I learned from Robert Rauschenberg and Isa Genzken at art school that any material can be used for art—not just high art materials like oil paint, but also more basic materials like agricultural plastic and duct tape. In 2009, I began working with tape. I wanted to show that painting could also be done with other, new materials and made more accessible. I dislike the division between low art and high art, or between museum art and street art. Gradually, I progressed from duct tape to foil, a material that seems very strong and tough, but is actually soft and fragile. It perfectly balances between two and three dimensions. People often don’t know what they’re looking at—is it metal, ceramics or melted rubber?
Since you work with foil, you can’t mix colours. Is combining colours a challenge for you?
Our starting point is that you first blend the colours with your eyes. As you follow the folds, your eyes mix the colour pigments and the colour fields take on different hues. The light falling on the folds and the shadows also affect colour perception, as does the combination of matte and gloss, which creates optical colour blending. Over the past few years, we’ve also started working more with transparent foils, layering them. This creates murky, interesting colours that are less tangible.
Congratulations on Bold! The colours in the work are inspired by the cities of Naples, Busan and Seoul. Italy and South Korea are far apart. What do their colour schemes have in common and what appealed to you about them?
Thank you! The Korean cities share a palette of fresh, bright, new colours. Koreans also use more glossy materials in their streetscapes, which makes colours appear differently. We found the Korean streetscape very inspiring; much more colour is used than in the Netherlands. In Italy, we saw lots of saturated colours and warm pastels that had become significantly greyed and faded over time due to pollution and neglect.
Rotteveel Vermeer, Supernova, Galerie Bart - Thomas Vermeer, photo by Sabrina Bongiovanni
You’ve been working together for three years now. What would you like to achieve in the next five years?
Since we come from different disciplines and have seen how well that works, we’re also curious about collaborating with other disciplines, such as fashion, design or architecture. We’d also love to do a residency abroad. That’s always such a great opportunity to gain new inspiration and meet new people.
What are you currently working on?
Our work will remain on view at Galerie Bart in Amsterdam until the end of January. After that, we’ll prepare for an exhibition in Taiwan (!). In April, we’re participating in an exhibition at a gallery in Taichu. We’re now making sketches to develop into a new series for it. We’re not yet inspired by the Taiwanese colour palette, but hope that inspiration will come while we are there!
Rotteveel Vermeer, Mural Yellow, bij Studio Seine.
