FTN-blog

Since the onset of the 1970s, the virtuoso German artist Rebecca Horn has crafted a vast repertoire including consistent flow of performances, films, sculptures, spatial installations, drawings, and photographs. The core of her visual language emanated from impeccably precise utilization of physical and technical elements she employed to orchestrate her works within specific spaces.

Horn’s extensive collection of work was united by a cohesive logic; each new creation seemed to stem unfailingly from the one that preceded it. Elements may be revisited, but within entirely disparate and divergent contexts. In her initial performances, she delved into the delicate balance between the human form and the surrounding environment. Subsequent to her physical experiences with body extensions in her performances, Horn’s first kinetic sculptures emerged, alongside expansive, site-specific installations that paid homage to spaces imbued with political and historical significance. Through her kinetic sculptures from this period, the artist deftly redistributed the weight of the past onto physical spaces, liberating objects such as violins, suitcases, batons, ladders, pianos, feather fans, and metronomes from their material constraints, continuously transforming them into evolving metaphors that touch on mythical, historical, literary, and spiritual imagery. Each of Horn’s installations represented a step towards completely dismantling the confines of space and time, offering glimpses of a universe liberated from material boundaries.

In addition to her installations and performances, Horn was also a prolific drawer. Often, her drawings were an extension of her work in other mediums, such as documenting her sculptural proposals. Between 2003 and 2015, Horn created a series of Bodylandscape drawings, in which she explored the boundaries of the body through the medium of drawing. With their scale corresponding to the size of her own body, these larger-than-life drawings restricted Horn’s mark-making to the reach of her arm. Despite this limitation, Horn’s creative energy and ingenuity still shone through in these dynamic works.

www.ftn-books.com has several Horn publications available.

At the outset, Hans Houwing worked with stainless steel mesh with a mesh size of 1 x 1 mm. This was during the time of Orez Mobil Gallery in The Hague, where Jan Schoonhoven often exhibited. The majority of the pieces were created by cutting and unraveling the mesh, and then reassembling various pieces by sewing them together or securing them with wires wound around each other.

After primarily working with fine stainless steel mesh for nine years, Hans Houwing began using aviary mesh, specifically galvanized square mesh with a mesh size of 12 x 12 mm, between 2000-2006. After that, he worked with all types of metal mesh. One notable change was the increase in scale. In addition to the previously mentioned materials, he also used chicken wire and chick mesh, or ‘quarter mesh’; ‘dime mesh’ with larger square or hexagonal meshes of varying sizes; and the sturdy chrysanthemum mesh with a mesh size of 12 x 12 cm.

All of the pieces are variations on a basic linear and regular grid. The strict grid is distorted and manipulated, creating a three-dimensional effect. In this sense, all of the pieces are spatial drawings. Sometimes, short pieces of wire (taken from the used mesh) are bent backwards, creating a distance from the wall on which the work hangs. This results in a doubling of the line drawing of metal wires and a shadow drawing on the wall, which becomes stronger or weaker with the changing light. Light plays a significant role in bringing Hans Houwing’s work to life. Many Dutch houses are through-house homes, so the angled light works well!

The limitation in materials and techniques allows for a wealth of possible variations and leads to a tremendous abundance of forms. Each piece is a standalone work of art – although the artist prefers to call them ‘pieces’. Furthermore, all of the pieces are of a manageable size and can easily be hung on one or two nails.

www.ftn-books.com has a Houwing multiple now available.

Agfa is considered a pioneer in photography.

a trailblazer in the field of photography.

Established in 1867, AGFA (now known as Agfa-Gevaert) has emerged as a frontrunner in manufacturing and pioneering revolutionary advancements in the realm of consumer imaging on a global scale.

For numerous years, AGFA dominated over 10% of the international market share, particularly in critical categories for consumer imaging and photography.

With a history spanning more than a century and a half, AgfaPhoto stands out as a distinct and iconic brand in the photography industry.

www.ftn-books.com has now some pre WWII war series of PHOTOBLATTER available.

Benoît van Innis (25 May 1960 – 24 February 2024) was a Belgian graphic artist, painter, and cartoonist who signed his work with the name Benoît. Born in Bruges, he was raised in a family of eight children, with his father serving as a juridical advisor and aristocrat while his mother hailed from Namur.

Benoît grew up bilingual, speaking French at home and Dutch at school and on the streets. After completing his studies at Sint-Lucas School in Ghent under the guidance of Dan Van Severen, he graduated in 1984 with the highest distinction.

Van Innis was renowned for his one-panel cartoons, featuring static figures dressed in formal attire, against the backdrop of natural settings. His works were often accompanied by witty and sardonic captions. He drew inspiration from a range of artists, including Jean Bosc, H.M. Bateman, William Steig, Saul Steinberg, and Ronald Searle, as well as filmmakers like Jacques Tati and Luis Buñuel. Van Innis’ illustrations appeared in publications such as De Standaard, De Morgen, Panorama, Knack, Humo, and The New Yorker, where he had been a contributor since 1989. He also designed a bi-weekly cover for Paris Match, alongside Jean-Jacques Sempé.

In addition to his cartooning, van Innis was renowned for his large-scale public artworks, created using ceramic tiles (azulejos). These can be found in various locations, including the Maalbeek metro station in Brussels, the Jan Breydelstadion in Bruges, the Wezenberg swimming pool in Antwerp, the University of Louvain-la-Neuve, and a 160 m² mural on the Grote Markt in Deinze depicting the seasons. In his most unique project, van Innis handcrafted 40,000 ceramic tiles for a care center in Wingene, assembling them into 300 stunning tile curtains. His minimalistic and linear artistic style often depicted humorous and critical perspectives on everyday life.

Van Innis was a proud father of three daughters, one of whom, Alice van Innis, followed in her father’s footsteps and pursued a career in visual arts, specializing in textile design. Sadly, on 24 February 2024, at the age of 63, Benoît van Innis passed away in Brussels, leaving behind a legacy of creativity and inspiration.

www.ftn-books.com hat 2 BENOIT publications now available.

Since his days as a student of painting in the 1970s, Tadashi Kawamata has embarked on an artistic odyssey marked by a lack of complacency. Never taking anything for granted, he employs a process that requires us to deeply contemplate the environments we create for ourselves, provoking questions about fundamental human needs and desires. Each of Kawamata’s gestures and materials, carefully placed in their respective contexts, exudes a sense of astute discernment.

Tadashi Kawamata is renowned for his in situ interventions, often crafted from unconventional materials such as wooden planks, chairs, and barrels. Whether fashioned into delicate Babylonian structures, tree-top hideaways, rooftop installations, or stretched to form sinuous shapes, his pieces offer a unique perspective to those who experience them – whether by climbing, walking on, or simply admiring them. In every sense, his works offer a new vantage point of the place in which they are situated.

www.ftn-books.com has recently added 3 scarce Kawamata invitations for his Spui project from 1986 to its inventory

Sam Middleton, an American by birth, has been living and working in the Netherlands since the early 1960s. First in Amsterdam, but later in the North Holland town of Schagen. Middleton has long been dedicated to the technique of collage, gaining national and international fame with his work. It has been exhibited numerous times in renowned Dutch and foreign art museums. Music, especially jazz, is the main leitmotif of Sam Middleton. Described by art critic Frans Duister as ‘Music for the eyes’, Middleton can be considered the first modern Afro-American artist in the Low Countries. The echoes of great jazz musicians like Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and other childhood idols play through his work in an incomparable way, like a broad undercurrent that determines the ‘sound’ of his oeuvre and fertilizes the textures and rhythms of his work. Middleton incorporates scores and photographs, referencing this favorite theme, in his collages. These collages possess a well-balanced aesthetic and rhythmic harmony, achieved through a subtly applied division of space, often with a transparently painted background, and the addition of a wide variety of graphic elements. www-ftn-books.com has several Middleton titles available.

With references to artists such as Diana Arbus and Rosemarie Tröckel, Hagenaars showcases how visual art influences a human life. She connects a selection of artworks with personal anecdotes, childhood memories, and encounters, describing them in a literary but highly accessible manner.

In line with the book, the presentation will consist of a diverse program. Photographer and writer Hans Aarsman will read the introduction he wrote for Geen wolk but ultimately was not published. A second version is now included in the book. Miek Zwamborn, writer and artist, will provide a substantive explanation of the book. Artist Geo Wyeth will perform his piece Tennis player 2.0.

Geen wolk, how art saved my life, is published by Jurgen Maelfeyt (Gent) and was made possible with the support of the Mondriaan Fund.

www.ftn-books.com has now the above publication available.

David Tremlett (b. 1945, UK) is a Swiss/English sculptor, installation artist, and photographer. He is renowned for his large mural drawings featuring formal abstract and geometric designs made with an array of colored pastels. The artist often delves into the study of color, texture, and form, creating a rhythmic dance within the frame or installation. These abstract shapes, inspired by his travels around the world, are a translation of music, architecture, and culture into a visual language that shares his memories with the audience. Tremlett’s unique site-specific wall drawings evoke movement and energy, transforming the environment in which they are placed, whether through bold and direct strokes or subtle chromatic juxtapositions within architectural details.

Tremlett honed his skills at the Birmingham College of Art and the Royal College of Art in London during the 1960s. He belongs to a generation of artists who pushed the boundaries of traditional sculpture, exploring new process-oriented and performance-based approaches, and incorporating everyday materials that challenged the prevailing art practices of the time.

In addition to his mesmerizing murals, Tremlett’s drawings and collages on paper also explore the interplay of color and geometry, reduced to a two-dimensional surface. His works and permanent installations can be found in prestigious art institutions worldwide, such as the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Tate Britain in London, and galleries around the globe.

I admire Tremlett a lot and every time i encountered a publication i have bought it. Now i am offering some double copies that i have available in my store at www.ftn-books.com

Gaida addresses topics that often stem from fringe areas of attention: Seemingly casual elements are brought into focus, artistically explored in series of images, categorized, archived or cataloged. Language, in the art of Gaida, is always a constitutive element, whether as a concretizing legend integrated into the image, which often surprises with its twists on the usual perceptions, or as the subject of playfully designed language research, reflected in series of images (“The Means of Painting”, “Diplomatic Letters”, “Removing Words”) or in “Word-Archives” dedicated solely to auditory impressions. Terms such as “Mettafusiek”, “Reedewenndunk”, “Anntikwaar” or “Ferrschtannning” appear, borrowed from literary works – as seen here, from Arno Schmidt’s “KAFF also Mare Crisium”.

www.ftn-books.com has the limited edition of PORTRAITS now available.

Dan Asher (American artist), hailing from Cleveland, OH in 1947, was a resident of New York until his passing in 2010.

Excelling in various mediums such as photography, painting, sculpture, music, and video, Dan Asher had a prolific career. However, it is his introspective works on paper, created in the early 1980s, that remain his crowning achievement. These pieces are characterized by expressive, mask-like portraits, defined by dynamic and vibrant strokes of graphite, oil, and tempera. They delve into the connections and gaps between the psychological and corporeal, the personal and public, and the absurd and austere.

Asher’s works can be found in the permanent collections of renowned institutions such as MoMA in New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, Museum Ludwig in Germany, and the Kunstmuseum Winterthur in Switzerland.

Notable exhibitions featuring Asher’s work include “An Anthropologist on Mars” at Martos Gallery in New York, NY (2018), “White Room: Dan Asher at White Columns” in New York, NY (2008), a solo show at Gavin Brown’s Enterprise in New York, NY (2005), “Red Aurora” at Galerie de Expeditie in Amsterdam, Netherlands (2004), “Dan Asher: Gastarbeither on the Planet” at Aurel Scheibler in Cologne, Germany (1998), “Dan Asher” at Kunsthaus Murz in Murzzuschlag, Austria (2003), and “Dan Asher: Recent Photographs” at Paula Cooper Gallery in New York, NY (2001).

www.ftn-books.com has the SALON VERLAG artist book by Asher now available.