I really thought i already had written a blog on Ansuya Blom, who i consider to be one of the greatest dutch artists to emerge in the last 50 years. I followed her work closely and when i finally had a chance to acquire an important work for our collection i did not hesitate. It is dark, filled with a veins structure and a central figure in the middle. Around the composition a halo of bandage clamps. Title…. Fata Morgana II ( a sister work is in the collection of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam). I love this work and for me it represents the best of art in the late 80’s.
Here is an excerpt form the Jury report from the Heineken award committee:
Her work does not clamour for attention, nor does Ansuya Blom herself. She chooses to stay in the background and lets her work subtly penetrate. For more than forty years Blom has been steadily working on an oeuvre that explores the boundaries of the inner world of experience. In films, drawings, paintings, installations and texts, she always manages to get under the skin and portrays humankind’s struggle with itself and the environment in an engaging and poetic way.
Blom’s work radiates a great social and societal commitment. With her interest in psychoanalysis and psychiatry, her work offers a space for the voices of those who are often not heard: the marginalised or forgotten people. The artist asks critical questions about the position of the individual, collective and society. At a time when much debate is polarised, her work is characterised by subtlety. Blom offers a look into the human soul, in all its fragile vulnerability, and does so authentically and autonomously.
http://www.ftn-books.com has some nice Ansuya Blom publications available.
