For Omar Koubãa, painting is a journey, both visually and mentally. In a light trance, he creates images on the canvas that evoke landscapes, but never reveal a concrete location. Each time you think you recognize a horizon, house, or tree, the composition dissolves into paint once again. As a result, the viewer’s eye continues to wander across the canvas, searching for points of entry. The refined balance between shapes and color combinations pulls and pushes you endlessly forward.
www.ftn-books.com has the SIEGER WHITE AWARD book / Working with dark soil now available.
Renowned artist Ad Snijders (1929-2010) of Eindhoven is a self-taught individual. Though he draws inspiration from nature in his versatile oeuvre, the content of his work is predominantly determined by the potency of color, composition, and surface texture. After a period of creating exclusively drawings, Snijders produces his first oil paintings in 1955, characterized by dark outlined, hermetic blocks of color against a white background. He utilizes hardboard as his canvas, sometimes adding coal dust, sawdust, and glue to create an irregular surface. During this time, his interest lies in the works of Cobra painters such as Karel Appel and Asger Jorn, though he claims his work has little to do with theirs. In 1956, the formal severity gives way to a looser brushwork. Colors blend together and swirling brushstrokes lend a dynamic quality to his compositions. His work bears resemblance to that of École de Paris artists like Bazaine, Bissière, and Manessier, whom Snijders encounters at the Van Abbemuseum. His spontaneous and erratic technique also evokes the American Abstract Expressionism movement, though he only becomes familiar with it at the end of the 1950s.
Starting from 1957, he is given regular opportunities to present his work at the Van Abbemuseum, including in the exhibition series Artists in Brabant. The period that follows is marked by rapid and successive changes in his work. Initially, his color palette and material usage become increasingly subdued, until a nearly black painting surface remains. He then creates a series of almost monochrome, white paintings. In the early 1960s, Snijders stays in France for a while thanks to a scholarship. In the mid-1960s, he swaps painting for assemblages, a technique that aligns with the American Pop Art movement and the French Nouveau Réalisme, where everyday objects are brought together to form a relief. In line with the prevailing conceptualist trend at the time, they openly question the purpose and meaning of painting. The title of the exhibition where Snijders’ assemblages are shown in 1963, SAS (which stands for Schijt aan Schilderkunst or “Screw Painting”), speaks volumes in this regard. From the 1970s onwards, Snijders returns to painting. Initially, he creates figurative, erotic compositions, followed by abstract chalk drawings, gouaches, and mixed media works in the 1980s. In terms of color usage and composition, these later works are reminiscent of his oil paintings from the late 1950s. Together, they are considered to be among the highlights of his body of work.
Popova was born on April 24, 1889, on the fringes of Moscow, to a well-off Russian family. In 1907, she began studying painting under the tutelage of Polish-Russian Impressionist Stanislav Zhukovsky. The following year, she continued her artistic education with painters Konstantin Yuon and Ivan Dudin. During her travels across Europe, she visited Kiev in the fall of 1909, followed by trips to Italy in 1910 and 1914. She also explored Pskov, Veliky Novgorod, and Yaroslavl within Russia. It was during these excursions that Popova became familiar with the craft of 15th- and 16th-century Italian masters, as well as that of Symbolist painter Mikhail Vrubel and traditional icon painters from Russia.
Upon her return to Moscow in 1912, she joined Vladimir Tatlin’s co-operative studio, known as the Tower. It was here that she first encountered the paintings of Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and other French Impressionists and Post-Impressionists in Sergei Shchukin’s private collection. Popova’s work during this period predominantly consisted of still lifes, landscapes, and nudes characterized by bold outlines, simplified forms, and vibrant hues reminiscent of the style of Paul Cézanne. She shared this artistic vision with close colleagues Natalia Goncharova and Mikhail Larionov.
The apex of Popova’s artistic development occurred during her trip to Paris in the fall of 1912, where she studied at the renowned Académie de la Palette. In the words of her dear friend and fellow traveler Nadezdha Udal’tsova, “Our intention had been to study under Matisse, but his school was already closed…someone then told us about La Palette, the studio of Le Fauconnier. We went there and immediately knew that it was where we belonged.”
In her debut in 1914, Popova joined the leading Russian avant-garde group Jack of Diamonds, showcasing the influence of both Cubism and Futurism in two paintings. The following year, she participated in two notable exhibitions in Petrograd: Tramway V: The First Futurist Exhibition of Paintings and The Last Futurist Exhibition of Paintings: 0.10. These exhibitions also featured Kazimir Malevich’s Suprematist paintings and Tatlin’s Counter-Reliefs. It was during this exhibition that Popova presented her initial abstract Painterly Architectonics, featuring triangular and rectangular forms, along with superimposed lines, creating a plethora of dynamic and multidimensional designs.
Throughout the early 1920s, Popova closely collaborated with the Institute of Artistic Culture (INKhUK) and the Higher State Art-Technical Studios (VKhUTEMAS) – a research-based organization led by Vasily Kandinsky. She taught color and design classes at VKhUTEMAS. During this time, Popova, along with other members of INKhUK, advocated for the abandonment of easel painting, stating, “Our new goal is the organization of the material environment, specifically contemporary industrial production, and all active artistic creativity must support this.”
In her last series of easel paintings, “Spatial-force Constructions,” Popova showcased a collection of densely intersecting painted lines on plywood, covered in wood dust, emphasizing the materiality of the surface. She described her work as “an array of initial experiments leading to tangible material constructions,” aligning herself closely with the Constructivist language and practical art forms of the new Soviet state.
At the core of Claudia Sola’s body of work lies the recurring appearance of archetype narrative, and her focus on the interplay between us and the world. Drawing inspiration from personal experiences, her creative output spans various mediums, including painting, drawing, video, installation, photography, and sculpture.
Sola’s imagination leads her to delve into diverse subjects, ranging from historical events to natural phenomena, from stories found on the internet to ones discovered in archives and libraries worldwide. This often results in pieces that carry a strong political message or explore deeply personal themes, both of which reflect our existence as egocentric beings caught within the web of society.
Internationally recognized, Claudia Sola has held both solo and group exhibitions, earning awards and nominations for her distinct and thought-provoking creations. Her work has been acquired by prestigious European art collections, both public and private, such as the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and the Musée Français de la Photographie in Paris.
An overarching theme in Ulay’s body of work is the vulnerability of the human body, specifically the fragility of human flesh. The initial rooms of the exhibition showcase dozens of polaroids, almost all self-portraits, in which the artist pushes the boundaries of his physical form through cross-dressing or self-mutilation. In the 1973 Dunes series, we see him frolicking through the dunes in garter belts and heavy makeup, playing with a feather boa and eagerly chased by a dog. In the same space hangs Diamond Plane (1973), where he pins a diamond brooch in the shape of an airplane directly onto – or rather, into – his skin. A drop of blood runs down his chest.
In his later works, Ulay addresses the limits of the body in a more subtle manner than in his initial polaroids and the bombastic performances with Abramovic. For example, Berlin Afterimages (1994-1995) is a mysterious photo series of color negatives, born out of a fascination with the “afterimages” that a bright light leaves on the retina. The series depicts the city of Berlin which, after the fall of the Wall, was hastily restored with materials that were not part of the original neoclassical architecture – the contrasts of the color negative highlight the damages and restorations as afterimages of the city’s history. The work included here has the subtitle “Eagles Shall Hunt Dogs,” a nod to Ulay’s homeland’s contentious relationship with eagle symbolism. In the image, a German shepherd can be seen, the same breed that the artist chased in Dunes. While in his earlier works, Ulay used his own skin as an aesthetic border between inside and outside, here he employs the image of the city as a metaphorical body that can be inhabited, damaged, and admired.
Pavel Büchler, a resident of Manchester, United Kingdom since 1952, is known for his contemplative artistic approach, centered on the concept of ‘nothingness’. In his diverse body of work, including installations, videos, sculptures, and works on paper, Büchler displays sharp wit and conceptual rigor, challenging the viewer’s mind. Utilizing a minimalistic yet sophisticated approach, he reimagines discarded objects like broken pencils, ashtrays, and paint chips, as well as obsolete technology such as slide projectors and tape recorders, employing them in visual metaphors. His thought-provoking pieces offer novel perspectives on the world around us, encompassing themes of nature, culture, art, and everyday life.
Native to Goa, Subodh Kerkar relinquished his medical profession in 1990 to explore the world of art. His craft involves creating installations, sculptures, multimedia pieces, live performances, paintings, and drawings, delving into societal, political, and spiritual subjects. As the pioneer leader of the Museum of Goa, he also serves as the esteemed Mario Miranda Chair for Arts at Goa University.
www.ftnbooks.com has 2 Kerkar publications now available.
With the touch screen as an interface and computer programs that translate and manipulate a simple pen stroke into a digital code, Kleerebezem rediscovered the primary expressive power of line, shape, and color. The frictionless digital liberation of his artistic handwriting proved to be the ultimate condition for the unrestrained lyricism and hybrid media use in his recent works, where he blends digital and analog methods together. Throughout the summer months, the artist works on new drawings, paintings, and (photo-)graphic works in the exhibition space. Through Instagram and his project’s own website, he reflects on the creative process and the context of the media used.
Digital formats also offer the work different modes of distribution and reception, such as through Instagram and self-publishing on the web. While under the title “Notes, Quotes, Provocations and Other Fair Use” between 1998 and 2005, he published his entire production on the internet without fail, in what was one of the first Dutch weblogs, analog and digital processes intersect in his recent work.
Kleerebezem’s imagination freely draws from both a direct and highly mediated experience of reality. The ways in which the world and reality are perceived, captured, “measured,” and represented in increasingly computerized media, shape our worldview and self-image. In Jouke Kleerebezem’s work, perception continuously falls apart only to be reassembled through improvisation, intertwining once again.
Wolvers attained his studies at the Academy of Arts in Enschede and the Royal Academy of Art and Design in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. His creations came to life in ultra-fine porcelain, where he continuously pushes the material to its limits. This results in thin, white porcelain surfaces which he delicately treats as if they were a sheet of paper, skillfully adding lines and vibrant planes. The impeccable drawing is an integral element in the overall form of the objects. These masterpieces beckon us to bask in their perfection, not only through our vision but also through our touch.
Recognized with the prestigious INAX-Design prize in Japan, which is awarded annually to the most creative and unique ceramics-designer across the globe.
Wolvers’ works have been acquired by numerous notable private and public collections worldwide, including the City Museum in Kanazawa, Japan, the Taipei County Yingko Ceramics Museum in Taiwan, the Museum of Art & Design in New York, USA, the Musée de Sèvres in France, the Musée Ariana in Genève, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, and the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam.
During the start of his artistic journey, Charles Biederman delved into the mastery of Cézanne, Post-Impressionism, and Cubism before fully embracing total abstraction. His time in New York (1934–40) and his initial expedition to Paris in 1936 had a profound impact on his art, bringing him into contact with the works of numerous European modernists, such as Arp, Brancusi, Léger, Miró, Mondrian, Pevsner, and Vantongerloo. His focus was particularly drawn to Constructivism, with its usage of industrial materials, and De Stijl, with its unfaltering geometry and primary color schemes – both movements that produced nonobjective, geometric images. By 1937, Biederman’s art evolved into a more sculptural form, and subsequent pieces, like New York, Number 18 of 1938, took the form of shallow, painted reliefs. These wall-hung panels – often featuring wood and plastic elements – could be viewed from different angles, with natural light and shadows adding to their visual impact. In this particular piece, the central portion of the rectangular box has a recessed center, forming multiple right angles; translucent plastic sheets placed within the hollow bring a burst of yellow to the otherwise white design.
These wall panels served as a bridge between Biederman’s early experimental paintings and his mature reliefs from the late 1940s onwards, which featured a grid of small, vibrant, and individual pieces seemingly floating against a backboard. Although such radically abstract works were not well-received in New York at the time, leading the artist to relocate to Minnesota (where he currently resides), a renewed interest in them emerged in the 1960s, during the height of the Op Art trend.
Artist/ Author: Oliver Boberg
Title : Memorial
Publisher: Oliver Boberg
Measurements: Frame measures 51 x 42 cm. original C print is 35 x 25 cm.
Condition: mint
signed by Oliver Boberg in pen and numbered 14/20 from an edition of 20
