Category: sculpture

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Cor van Dijk (1952)

Schermafbeelding 2019-12-23 om 14.45.07

It took me along time to fianally appreciate the sculptures by van Dijk. At first i thought them to be too much copies of Judd sculptures, but i discovered them to be completely different. Why….surface , composition and construction differ from the one by Donald Judd. Still i consider his sculptures to be Minimal art and not constructivist.

 

He was  born in 1952 in Pernis, is a Dutch artist. The steel sculptures of Cor van Dijk are characterised by clear lines and geometric shapes. From first stages of their design, the material used for these works – steel – and their realisation are inextricably linked. To create his work, the artist uses separate sheets of solid steel, which he joins together with extreme precision. Van Dijk bases the dimensions of his sculptures on the standard gauge of the sheet metal. As a result, the mill scale found on the rolled steel is left intact in the finished works.

Viewing Van Dijk’s sculptures, one’s eyes constantly move across their surface and one’s attention keeps shifting from areas of open space to sections that take up space. The seams between the different segments play a key role in the works, since they lend a sense of scale to the mass of steel and define its different volumes. The artist strives to show interior space – its layout, possible compartments, the spaces between the segments and the massive quality of the steel itself. The different dimensions all interact with one another. Ultimately, this is also what gives the sculptures their specific presence: the precise handling of volumes and the perfect connection of individual sections in space. Each newly-realised concept is intended to bring even greater clarity to the context of the preceding work – while also pointing ahead, suggesting new concepts that are still waiting to be developed.

Van Dijk’s most recent sculptures comprise a single segment. The location of the open space and its dimensions determine the scale of the work as a whole. The result is an object in which mass (matter) and open space interact more intensively than ever before. In technical terms, the steel used for the sculptures shows no traces of machining or processing. Thanks to their mass, the open space and the interaction of these two elements, these tranquil objects seem to speak directly to the viewer.

www.ftn-books.com has the monograph on van Dijk now for sale

cor van dijk

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Ru van Rossem (1924-2007)

Schermafbeelding 2019-12-14 om 11.50.59

I started to take in interest in the art of Ru van Rossem the time i acquired a large collection of small signed and dated etchings by the artist. Among them, small etchings, lithographs, art libris and new years wishes. They had some elements in common. The human figure was important as well as horses and religion.

These three elements define the works by van Rossem. Perhaps it is not your kind of art, but study these prints and you will discover that van Rossem was an etcher “pur sang”. and that the art of etching held no secrets for him.

www.ftn-books.com

has recently acquired the most important monograph on van Rossen which is now available

 

Posted on by — Leave a comment

David Bade (1970)

Schermafbeelding 2020-02-29 om 14.36.20

It must have been round 2002 that i first saw a sculpture by David Bade. It was the Yellow one/ BIG FISH DAY  that was placed at the entrance of the GEM, the contemporary museum next door to the Kunstmuseum Den Haag.  A bright yellow sculpture with a stork ( weapon of THE HAGUE) in top .

Schermafbeelding 2020-02-29 om 14.37.01

My personal thought is that this is a monstrosity and over the nearly 20 years now that it is at this spot i never learned to appreciate it. Last week i walked by it , looked at the sculpture and noticed it was worn at some places and a thin layer of green algae is covering the sculpture, so perhaps in short time the sculpture will be removed from its spot and placed elsewhere. So far the negative on David Bade, because one always must have an open mind and when i leafed through the 2010 David Bade catalogue i was impressed….powerful sculptures, great paintings and drawings which reminded me of the great Expressionist painters . So there is a shift towards the positive. It does not mean that i now admire the sculpture outside GEM, but i definitely makes me look different to David Bade his art. The 2010 book is now available at www.ftn-books.com

david bade

Posted on by — Leave a comment

An important Tajiri/Crouwel book

Schermafbeelding 2019-11-29 om 09.05.04

It was in the earliest years of his career that Wim Crouwel was invited to design the catalogues of the van Abbemuseum and in these years several iconic publications were published that were designed by Crouwel. I have encountered over the years many of them and have a nice selection for sale at www.ftn-books.com, but until last month i never had seen the Tajiri catalogue from 1961. It was one of the earliest of Tajiri his catalogues for a major museum, but Wim Crouwel must have felt the same about the catalogue as Tajiri did. Both must have the iedea that is was important for them personally. The typography on the cover is outstanding and the photograph by Cas Oorthuys even enhances it. This is a thin 12 page catalogue with a special 4 page inlay ( with photographs of sculptures), but every page shows the quality of Wim Crouwel his design in combination with the works by Tajiri.

tajiri abbe a

 

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Frank Mandersloot (1960)

Schermafbeelding 2019-05-31 om 17.01.51

Frank Mandersloot is still one of the great sculptors in the Netherlands . Piules of furniture, draperies seemingly random placed, but always making curious and interacting with the space in which it is placed.

Educated in Den Bosch he nowadays is a valued teacher at the Rietveld Academy. For me the Frank Mandersloot catalogue is one of the best the Museum Boymans van Beuningen has published in the Nineties. Designed by 8vo from London it is a highlight among their publications. The catalogue is available at www.ftn-books.com

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Posted on by — Leave a comment

Sérgio Camargo (1930-1990)

Schermafbeelding 2019-09-01 om 11.31.07

Camargo was an almost forgotten sculptor until there was a sudden raise of interest in Brazilian art in the Nineties. This meant that his works were considered to be important for the development in Modern Art and sculpture in Brasil. When you look at the studio pictures in the books that is for sale at www.ftn-books.com, you will soon conclude that Camargo was inspired by Brancusi and Chillida, but still there is so much of his own .

Where Brancusi was inspired by nature, Camargo is much more inspired by the minimal forms. It has been over 20 years now that the last show took place in Europe. Time again to present Camargo again and put his works into context with European and minimal sculptors.

The Nineties catalogue is available at www.ftn-books.com

camargo

 

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Adriaan Rees (1957)

One of the most astonishing and surprising books i came across during my search for art books in the last year is certainly this Adriaan Rees book. Published in english and chinese. Containing cut outs, double pages , velvet cover this is a true artist book. Central theme within the book is the sculpture SCREAMING IN A BUCKET . Adriaan Rees is an exceptional sculptor in many ways.  Here is the text he wrote on himself and published it on his site.

EXPLORING WANDERER

Adriaan Rees (1957, Amsterdam) lives and works in China and Amsterdam. Rees is famous for his large-scale projects and assignments for public space. He makes sculptures and installations in many materials such as ceramics, bronze, glass, textiles, plaster and stone. He also works with photography and video.

When he works with clay, traces of his hands and the use of extreme power can easily be seen at the surface. He is approaching his sculptures almost as a landscape or a human body, sometimes in a sensual, sometimes in a brutal way. He is an artist who is not predictable, someone who always surprises with new ideas and approaches, a cosmopolitan artist.

Exploring wanderer, 2015

From 2000 Rees increasingly travelled to Asia, specifically to Japan, Korea and China. He is intensely affected by these cultures and settled in Jingdezhen, China where he works in his own studio among the thousands of craftsmen locally.

Tradition and innovation, humor and seriousness, monumentality and intimacy, vulnerable and tough, traditional and contemporary, religion and war, fantasy and reality. All this you can find in his sculptures: it is a dialogue between cultural traditions like Europe and Asia.

His work can be found in collections around the world, in museums, private collections and in public space. Rees teaches in The Netherlands, Germany, Finland, USA, Japan and China and frequently gives lectures about his own work, art and art in public space.

He also works as an art advisor and curator. Since 2008 he is the initiator and project leader for the Exchange project 400 years Delft – Jingdezhen. This project brings artists, designers, archaeologists and museums from both cities together. Famous are the Blue Revolution shows in museums in Delft (NL) and Jingdezhen and Donguan (CHN). The shows attracted more than 40.000 visitors in Delft, more than 80.000 in Jingdezhen and more than 200.000 in Donguan.

Rees was the curator of these shows.

The Adriaan Rees book is now available at www.ftn-books.com

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Wilhelm Lehmbruck (1881-1919)

Schermafbeelding 2019-08-28 om 13.33.10

A sculptor, not that very well known outside Germany, but a sculptor who nevertheless has its own museum. The Wilhelm Lehmbruck museum in Duisburg has a nice collection, but the Lehmbruck name is kept alive by practically all large museums in Germany.

Personally i do not know the fascination , because in my opinion Lehmbruck has not freed himself of making classical sculptures. He did not make the full transition into modern sculpture as for instance Giacometti did. Perhaps this is explained from the short life he had and he did not have the time to develop himself completely. If you look at that way, Lehmbruck took the first steps into modern sculpture but never had the time to complete his ideas on modern sculpture. www.ftn-books.com has some nice Lehmbruck publications available.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

 

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Black Friday at FTN books

Not just a 3 days discount but a total of 11 days, a one period discount of 10% on all your FTN books purchases. Valid from the early hours  of Friday the 22nd of November until midnight on the 1st of December 2019. Use the special Black Friday 10% discount code:

                                                               B2019F

 

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Carel Visser…the 1975 van Abbemuseum catalogue

Schermafbeelding 2019-08-19 om 12.15.01

This is the catalogue which started it all for Carel Visser in the Netherlands. After having had his exhibition at the Art & Project gallery in 1974. Visser was considered to be one of the great talents in the dutch art scene. the result…. museum exhibitions like this first one at the van Abbemuseum in 1975

visser abbe aa

and in the following years consecutive exhibitions at the art & Project gallery, the Stedelijk Museum, Kröler Muller museum, Haags Gemeentemuseum and Museum Boymans van Beuningen. All these contributed to the fame of Carel Visser in the Netherlands resulting in many more gallery exhibitions, commissions and exhibitions abroad too. Carel Visser has become now one of the recognized leading sculptors and the catalogue which is now for sale at www.ftn-books.com is arguably one of the most important ones in the long list of publications Carel Visser has made during his career.

Visser abbe bb