Just a simple message today…. I have added the very best book on Sigurdur Gudmundsson to my inventory. Published by Zsa Zsa Eyck who presented Gudmundsson several times in her gallery. A very large publication with over 300 pages and arguably the very best and most important book on the artist.
Joagoda Buic is now listed as a Croatian artist but in 1970 Seventies she participated for the former Republica of Iugoslavia at the Venezia Biennale. Her works can be compared to other artists like Pat Steir , but studying her works more closely is that their size in many cases differ.
Her works are oversized and abstract and the use of layers of Tissues makes them more like 3 Dimensional sculptural works. Flat against the wall or hanging from a ceiling their sculptural quality is always present. Recently i added the Venezia 1970 catalogue from the Jugoslavia contribution to my inventory. A nice and spectacular publications with 4 separate books in a cardboard sleeve. One on Buic and the other on Bernik and Dzamonja.
The Buic portrait is one of the most intriguing women protraits i have seen lately , A beautiful adult face with an artistic life ahead of her.
The French Republic commissioned the “creme de la creme ” of french photographers from the Magnum agency to contribute to a very prestigious photography project.
The publication was designed by Roman Cieslewicz and in it were contributions of the very best French photographers (Burri, Berry, Franck, Riboud and Kalvar) of the Magnum agency.
Photographs of all the prestigious architectural projects which were commissioned by Georges Pompidou and François Mitterrand. The renovation and rebuilding of the Musee d’Orsay, Le Grande ARCHE, L’Opera and many others made this decade of the Eighties stand out and because there were so many projects realized it is important that the greates of French photographers documented these. This publication is now available at www.ftn-books.com
A few years ago I wrote a blog on Sjoerd Buisman and explained that I admire his works since I met him at the Gemeentemuseum where he did a project with willow branches on the sides of the ponds of the Gemeentemuseum, but I could not find photographs of the project!
Now I can correct this omission since I bought 2 books on Buisman. One on his sculptures and other works from 1967-1992 and the other on his GROEIWERKEN in which I found the photographs I had been looking for for a very long time.
Both Sjoerd Buisman titles are now available at www.ftn-books.com
A few weeks ago i decided to sell my pristine copy of the Borek Sipek / Erwin Olaf catalogue they made together with Irma Boom for the STIJL VORMT FUNCTIE exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum in 1991. This is probably one of the catalogues i cherish the most, but since i have decided to sell part of my private library and only keep these books that are related to our personal collection it is now for sale. What struck me most were of course the photographs by Erwin Olaf. These are timeless and highly original in their approach of the subject…..except…. he must have been inspired by at least one painting of the impressionist period. The Eduard Manet / The bar at the Folies Bergere painting is certainly a source of inspiration for the photo het took in the early Nineties. The book is now for sale at www.ftn-books.com
In his work Fernando Sánchez Castillo analyzes the relationship between art and (political) power. The artist presents us with a different view of, and interaction with, reality in his work. Sánchez Castillo often uses existing “traces” from the past as a starting point for his work and as material for his analysis and transformations. He does so—on the basis of strong social commitment—in a playful and humorous manner. Sánchez Castillo’s fascination with the history of his home country, with the civil war, the postwar era and the dictatorship, but also with today’s world, departs from a concern not only for the political and the revolutionary, but certainly for the social aspects of historical processes as well. Collective memory extends far beyond national boundaries and finds its way into the present. The artist plays with connotations that once sought images to match and, conversely, with images that now demand new connotations. The work of the Sánchez Castillo is an attempt to rewrite history, at least to make us aware of its complexity and traces, and also to show that history is a story that is constantly being constructed from the vantage point of power.
Fernando Sánchez Castillo was born in 1970 in Madrid (ES). He holds a degree in Fine Arts from the University of Complutense Madrid, and a MA degree from the Instituto de Estética Contemporánea, Universidad Autónoma, Madrid. He is a former member of the research group of ENSBA Paris. In 2005 and 2006 he was a resident at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam (NL). Sánchez Castillo participated in the Research Team of the United Nations Geneva, PIMPA Memory, Politics and Art Practices. He had solo exhibitions at a.o. Shchusev State Museum of Architecture, Moscow (2019, RU); Kunstraum Innsbruck (2016, AT); Sala de Arte Público Siqueiros, Polanco (2016, MX); Stedelijk Museum ’s-Hertogenbosch (2016, NL); Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo CA2M, Madrid (2015, ES); OK Centrum Linz (2014, AT); Rabo Kunstzone, Utrecht (2013, NL); Kunstpavillon München (2013, DE); Kunstverein Braunschweig (2012, DE); Matadero Madrid (2012, ES); CAC Malaga (2011, ES). Group shows at a.o. Riga Biennial (2018, LT); National Center for Contemporary Arts. Moscow (2016, RU); Today Art Museum Beijing (2016, CN); Biennale Gherdëina (2016, IT); Centraal Museum Utrecht (2016, NL); Manifesta 11 Zürich (2016, CH); Albertinum Dresden (2015, DE); Palais de Tokyo (2015, FR); MOTA Tokyo (2014, JP); Goteborg Biennial (2013, SE); De Appel Amsterdam (2013, NL) and MAC Marseille (2013, FR). Works by Fernando Sánchez Castillo are part of international public and private collections.
the CAC Malaga exhibition catalogue is available at www.ftn-books.com
What better way to introduce a video artist with a video i found on the internet. Just a short video of 3 minutes introduces this Rotterdam born artist, but living almost his entire life in Canada.
Wyn Geleynse is a multimedia artist living and working in London, Ontario. Born in Rotterdam, Netherlands in 1947, Geleynse moved to Canada as a child and was raised in London, Ontario. Since 1969, he has exhibited extensively both in Canada and Europe. Considered one of Canada’s pioneer film and video projection artists, Geleynse’s career spans a period of nearly 40 years. His work raises questions about self and identity, commenting on the human condition with a subtle blend of irony and humanity. Interested in the notion of film projection as a metaphor for projecting one’s thoughts and desires, Geleynse worked primarily with installation-based projections in the past. In 2009, he produced an outdoor DVD projection work titled “Wyn Geleynse: The Peel Projection” for the site that will become the Art Gallery of Peel in Brampton, Ontario.
www.ftnbooks.com has 2 titles on Geleynse available:
Of course I can tell you that since his breakthrough exhibition HOVER HOVER at the Stedelijk Museum ( catalogue available at www.ftn-books.com) the conceptual works by Gerald van der Kaap have been shown all over the world and that he received public acclaim for practically all his installations and projects. Everything he takes up turns into a work of art. Whether it is a book, museum catalogue, Video, record or print everything turns into something special. Best is to show you what I mean with presenting two links.
the first the Gerald van der Kaap site at : https://www.geraldvanderkaap.com/
and the second at the Hollandsche Meesters series which devoted one of his video to Gerald van der Kaap:
these 2 books are among others at this moment available:
A key element in the works by Theo Schepens is “balance”. A physical balance but also a spiritual balance between man and women. The result sculptures of male and female figurines interacting with each other taking poses in which they try to find and hold their balance. It all starts with the smallest and extremely speedy sketches he makes and then uses these as a starting point for his sculptures.
These sculptures have a rare quality. These do not take any effort to understand the meaning of the artist and the world he has created with them is highly recognizable. since his figurines have not changed for over 30 years. The males and females in his sculptures still look the same as 30 years ago, but what has remained is the timeless quality of his sculptures. This is he kind of art that children will interact with when they see it for the first time and remember it because of the shiny quality and the highly understandable action they are in. Kissing on horses, on a wire and even love making . all these actions come along . Schepens has created a “shiny” world in aluminium to love.
One of the sites I visited on Sebastiaan Bremer wrote that his art is a mash-up of styles and techniques and I can agree with that description.
Sebastiaan Bremer, Living and working in New York, applies everything from paint and inks to physical etchings to his photographs, creating an utterly original art piece. Many of his photos are from his own past, personal mementoes that have become like a “distorted memory or a magical dream,” as Life Lounge describes.
Because he uses photographs and prints the size of his works is limited. The maximum size I encountered was 120 x 120 cm. Just leaf through one of the two publications available at www.ftn-books.com and you will notice that many of hs works would be even more impressive if they were executed on a larger size. On average they are 80 x 60 cm. Still, these are in many cases intimate and highly personal works where Bremer used his childhood and personal life as the first layer of his work of art.
