16 december 2024, Wouter van den Eijkel
Kent-ish, Bert McLean's first solo exhibition at Galerie van Gelder
Kent-ish marks Bert McLean's first solo exhibition at Galerie van Gelder. It’s a reference to Kent, the county southeast of London where McLean comes from. What the original style of Kent is remains a mystery, but McLean’s collage paintings are fresh and original, giving the cheerful impression that anything is possible. The same applies to Soles, the presentation in the back room by McLean's sister, Freda.
Fly tip
British artist Bert McLean incorporates small objects into his collage paintings that he finds at illegal dumping sites, known in England as fly tips. McLean retrieved bottle caps, lids, old ballpoint pens, pieces of cardboard and styrofoam. McLean often paints his finds, but they sometimes already have a colour or pattern that contributes to the composition. What’s also worth noting is that each work has an element that is not attached with glue or a staple gun, but hangs on a small nail, emphasising movement within the composition.
At first glance, the works in the Fly Tip series seem to go in all directions, but if you look a little closer, you’ll see a pattern or interplay of lines. They have a backbone, as gallery owner Kees van Gelder calls it. But it’s a backbone that requires a bit more effort to see because it’s constructed from elements that appear quite different on the surface. Working with found objects has, of course, been done before, but McLean’s work does not reference anything. It stands alone. His canvases are playful, fresh and original.
Bert McLean, What does it do?, 2024, Galerie van Gelder
The generosity of practice
In recent years, Galerie van Gelder has often surprised visitors with young, relatively unknown names such as Kimball Gunnar Holth, Salim Bayri, David Kloosterboer and Ian Page. With Kent-ish and Soles, Van Gelder now adds Bert McLean and his sister Freda to the list.
Each of Van Gelder's debut artists is skilled at improvising to create the best possible exhibition. Van Gelder takes on a role can best be compared to that of a coach or mentor. For example, he convinced the Rietveld alumnus when the artist was about to retreat to a shed at his parents’ house in Kent, about 50 kilometres from London, to keep his room in Amsterdam with the argument that he studied here and has a network here.
Van Gelder teaches them to ‘trust in the generosity of practice’. By practice, Van Gelder is referring to the gallery space and everything that presents itself during the setup. “That’s when you, as an artist, really need to be alert.” In McLean’s case, a conversation arose during the exhibition setup about the precise placement of a sculpture—a small cart—within the gallery space. McLean initially planned to place the sculpture freely in the space, but Van Gelder pointed out that this had been done before. So, the cart ended up against the wall. McLean then added two white stripes on the floor. The width of the stripes matches the size of the cart, making it seem like a miniature cart is parked there.
Anyone who sees the show will understand that McLean does not need much encouragement to embrace the generosity of practice. For example, in the middle of the front room is a long, white, shallow box that because of its shape, resembles a shuffleboard. Inside are two gold-coloured boxes—one square and one cylindrical. McLean found them at a garbage dump, along with the note under the cylindrical box. Written in green marker is: you should be seen in green. He also made a small collage with pieces of plastic he found in the gallery, leftovers from a work in the previous exhibition by Frederique Jonker.
Bert McLean, Fly tip #8, 2024, Galerie van Gelder
Soles
The back room is arranged by McLean’s sister, Freda. Her debut is called Soles. This 24-year-old Londoner is not formally trained as an artist, but studied saddle making and later, leatherworking. Her presentation includes a short film of a walking horse, an installation of a band of straw and a pair of beautifully handmade leather derby shoes.
Van Gelder dared to give her space on the condition that she would not create a joint exhibition with her brother, but would set up her own room. Her presentation stands out for the flawless finish of the straw installation—a metre-long threshold about 30 cm high—along with the yellow floor and folded pieces of paper she grouped on the wall.
McLean initially wanted to have a pony walk around the back room, but had to scrap that plan. She then toyed with the idea of making a road movie about her journey from London to Amsterdam. When that didn’t work out, she wanted to cancel the show, but she, too, was convinced by Van Gelder to trust in the generosity of practice.
Kent-ish by Bert McLean and Soles by Freda McLean can be seen at Galerie van Gelder until 19 January.
Freda McLean, Soles, Galerie van Gelder
