Piet Dirkx cigarbox 644
Hyperrealism Sculpture at the KUNSTHAL Rotterdam
The day we visited the Rajlich exhibition some months ago we also went to the Kunsthal. A totally different museum than the Boijmans van Beuningen. The exhibitions in there need to have a great appeal to many and that must be the reason that this hyper realistic sculptures were exhibited over there. Far too many people crowded the exhibition space to have a good look at the sculptures. For me this was not a group of visitors that wanted to see some great art, but far more they wanted to be amazed by the technique and craftsmanship…. because these were really hyperrealistic sculptures. Personally i did not like it very much, with some exceptions.
The baby by Mueck was fascinating and the sculpture by Allen Jones / girl in the Chiquita banana was a first for me, but for me personally the most amazing one was by a dutch sculptor Margriet van Breevoort.
Every detail in the self portrait of het body was perfect. Not near perfect, but really 100% perfect and one could not tell the difference between reality and the sculpture. Is it art?…i do not think so, but fascinating it is. www.ftn-books.com has some publications on hyperrealistic sculpture available.
here is the text the Kunsthal has published:
Following the success of the 2017 exhibition ‘Hyperrealism. 50 years of painting’, the Kunsthal Rotterdam crosses over to the third dimension with the exhibition ‘Hyperrealism Sculpture’. This exhibition will show a unique selection of three-dimensional works by all important hyperrealist sculptors of the past 50 years. From the early American pioneers, including George Segal, Duane Hanson and John DeAndrea, to the rise of the international movement, represented by Juan Muñoz (Spain), Maurizio Cattelan (Italy), Berlinde de Bruyckere (Belgium) and Ron Mueck, Sam Jinks and Patricia Piccinini (Australia).
With 35 artworks by 28 artists, the Kunsthal will present – for the first time in the Netherlands – an overview of the worldwide developments in hyperrealist sculpture over the past fifty years. In the 1960s and 1970s a number of sculptors, each from their own perspective, became interested in a type of figurative art based on representations of the human figure that were as vivid and lifelike as possible. Standing face to face with these works provokes a reaction from the visitors, raising questions about the extent to which human beings can be manipulated and about identity in general. How do we see ourselves and others? – An interesting topic in the light of the current selfie culture on social media.
HUMAN REPLICAS
In five different themes, the exhibition will show how our perspective on the human body is subject to constant change. ‘Doppelgangers’ zooms in on artists such as Duane Hanson and John DeAndrea who, in the 1960s, set the trend by making life-sized sculptures. To make the sculptures even more lifelike, they used extremely laborious, complex procedures and innovative materials to meticulously replicate the structure of the human skin, and combined the works with objects from reality. Also shown are the hyperrealist nudes of the American artist Paul McCarthy and works by the French artist Daniel Firman, who, by contrast, fully dresses his figures and systematically conceals their facial features and limbs.
DIMENSIONS
From the 1990s a number of artists, including Ron Mueck, Marc Sijan and Sam Jinks, started to drastically enlarge or reduce the dimension of their figures. Ron Mueck uses this method to focus on the transitional stages of life, such as birth, old age and death. By depicting the human body in an alienating way, he makes these themes even more profound.
A spectacular example of this is the five meter long work ‘A Girl’ from 2006 (from the collection of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art), representing a new-born baby.
DEFORMED REALITIES
The theme ‘deformations’ zooms in on artists such as Evan Penny and Patricia Piccinini who observe the body from distorted perspectives, Tony Matelli who, with his floating figure, seems to completely discard the laws of nature, and Berlinde de Bruyckere who explores themes like death and human existence with her sculptures of contorted bodies.
BODY PARTS
The theme ‘body parts’ shows the works of artists who, since the 1990s, have focused their attention on specific parts of the body. Maurizio Cattelan’s disconnected arms and Robert Gober’s apparently cleanly severed lower part of a hairy leg projecting from the wall, as well as the life-sized heads by John Davies and the almost surrealist human parts by Peter Land, all convey disturbing messages, occasionally with a touch of humour.
Herb Lubalin (1918-1981)… a 1965 series at FTN-books.
A blog on Herb Lubalin, because www.ftn-books.com has the rare opportunity to have for sale SIX original 1965 posters by Herb Lubalin.
Herb Lubalin was a celebrated twentieth century American graphic designer. He is recognized for his collaboration with Ralph Ginzburg on three of Ginzburg’s magazines. The magazines showcased his artistic skills as he brought out the creative visual beauty of these publications. ITC Avant Garde typeface is one of his creations and it is mostly known for being a revision of art-deco.
On March 17, 1918, Herbert F. Lubalin was born in New York, United States. At the age of seventeen, he was enrolled in a privately funded college located in the East Village, Cooper Union. An array of possibilities offered by the field of typography as a communicative implement fascinated him. Lubalin learned about the fundamentals of typography and was awestruck by the impact a typeface can have if traded with another and how it affects the whole text’s interpretation. Upon receiving his graduation degree in 1939, he had a rough time searching a suitable job. He was able to get a job at a display firm, though he got sacked after requesting a two dollar raise on his weekly salary.
Soon after, Lubalin found work at Reiss Advertising and eventually he was landed a job at Sudler & Hennessey. At S & H he became a practitioner of a wide range of skills. In fact, it was he who attracted talent from multidiscipline, such as design, typography and photography, to the firm. While working there he made associates with George Lois, John Pistilli and Art Kane. He stayed with Sudler & Hennessey for two long decades before he decided to establish his own design firm, Herb Lubalin, Inc in 1964. With the foundation of his private studio he enjoyed the liberty of taking on a variety of art projects. He excelled in a number of projects including poster designing, magazine designing and packaging and identity solutions. Lubalin’s talent was best manifested when he designed Ralph Ginzburg’s succession of magazines; Eros, Fact and Avant Garde.
Ginzburg first launched Eros which was dedicated to beauty and emerging sense of sexuality in the burgeoning counterculture. It had a large format, similar to a regular book rather than a quarterly magazine, with no advertisement. Lubalin’s editorial design for the magazine is considered one of the brilliant of its kind. However, following an obscenity case filed by the US Postal Service against the magazine it immediately folded. In response to the treatment Eros received, Ginzburg and Lubalin launched a second magazine, Fact. The managing editor of Fact Warren Boroson defined it as having spiced up issues instead of sugar-coated pieces like in Reader’s Digest. Lubalin applied an elegant design to the magazine with minimalist palette, based on dynamic serifed typography and exquisite illustrations. Notwithstanding the fact that the magazine received great reviews, it followed the lead of its predecessor and folded. It was a consequence of their publication of an article on the Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater, titled “The Unconscious of a Conservative: A special Issue on the Mind of Barry Goldwater” . Goldwater sued the magazine repeatedly and put it out of business eventually.
However, Lubalin and Ginzburg stayed undeterred by demise of one magazine as they released another one by the name Avant Garde. Lubalin created ITC Avant Garde typeface for the magazine. During the last ten years of his life, Herb Lubalin supervised various projects. His most distinguished works include his typographic journal U&lc and the foundation of International Typographic Corporation.
www.ftn-books has also one of the most important Avant Garde magazines for sale.
Jan Cremer (1940)
I only met him once. It was at the time we had a meeting and discussed an exhibition at the Gemeentemuseum . We all sat down at the Library and together with all the staff involved we discussed the event. Across the room there were Jan Cremer and Babette. I remember that Babette had a clear vision of what had to be done to make the exhibition a success, but this was of course not the only time Jan Cremer and the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag had plans. There has always been a connection between Jan Cremer and Den Haag. The first is that he studied at the academy, buying his paint on the Hoefkade and exchanging his paintings for tubes of paint.
One of these paintings is for sale at FTN art and secondly because he was one of the youngest, possibly the youngest artist that belonged to the Posthoorngroep and exhibited at the location of the Posthoorn. Others like Hussem and Nanninga were more important at that time , but the young Cremer soon found his place among them . His “barbaric” art was young and new and he had a good nose for publicitiy. His 1 million Gulden painting was discussed in practically all the newspapers in the early sixties, never found a buyer, but made his name as one of the young promessing artists. Later his name would be on everybody’s lips because of the controversial book “Ik Jan Cremer” , which was an artistic and commercial success.
But never forget that Cremer is in the first place a painter, which he still proves everyday at 77. He still is the young man he once was, but with one difference …his painting has matured. www.ftn-books has some titles available on Jan Cremer.
Classic catalogues part 1 …..Matisse
Today starts a 2 days period to focus on the classic publications from my inventory. Matisse is an important artist and deserves to be highlighted because of this importance. Since the 1940’s many publications have been published on Matisse and great designers like Sandberg and Wissing all made catalogues for exhibitions on this artist in the Netherlands. For 2 days these catalogues are available with a discount of 10% and because www.ftn-books.com has so many more classic publications this 10% is applicable on the entire inventory, but……. this lasts only 2 days!
discount code: CLASSIC10
Henri-Georges Adam (1904-1967)
One of the most striking catalogues from the Fifties by Willem Sandberg was done for the Adam exhibition in 1955. The use of simple brown colored paper and the special print by Henri-Georges Adam on the frontcover made this one very special and an example for many catalogues which were published since. The use of brown colored paper. the special print on the outside , the typography and lay out made this an outstanding catalogue by Sandberg . Willem Sandberg must have admired Adam, because you can feel the love that went into this catalogue.
Adam a typical Fifties artist was groundbreaking in his etchings and because of the forms he used is typical for the abstract art which appeared in that decade. In the Netherland there were Ouborg, Hussem and Nanninga in France there was Henri -Georges Adam.
Here is an excellent biography on Henri-Georges Adam i found at gallery MC.
Henri-Georges Adam was born in Paris in 1904. In 1918, after his studies at the school of clock industry, he started working in his father’s workshop, jeweler. He followed (1925) evening classes to the art school Germain-Pilon in Montparnasse, then to the Beaux-Arts. Henri-Georges Adam became a drawing professor of the city of Paris. Then, he made satirical drawings and political caricatures.
In 1934, he got injured after an accident and while his resting time he approached the etching. During all his life he wanted the etching to be black and white. In 1934 was organized his first exhibition. He met regularly Surrealists: Breton, Aragon and Eluard. In 1936, he created a series of etchings violently expressionists around the war of Spain. Adam adhered in 1936 to “the Association of the writers and revolutionary artists” where he met Estève, Manessier, Pignon or Arpad Szenes. He took part in the exhibition “July 14th” with Romain Rolland (and Picasso, Matisse, Dufy, Chagall, etc).
Mobilized in 1939, he was taken prisoner; drafted the hospital of Besançon as a medical orderly, he carried out many drawings of soldiers and casualties. Released in 1940, Henri-Georges Adam discovered the sculpture two years later. His etched work, initially figurative, stuck more and more to the purity of the lines, the plans and their articulation together. In 1943, he was one of the fifteen clandestine founders of the Salon de Mai. This same year, he created decorations and costumes for “Les mouches”, the first play of Jean-Paul Sartre, put in scene by Charles Dullin. The artist made friend with Pablo Picasso who lent him his atelier in the Grand Augustin-street until 1950 and his property of Boisgeloup (1948-1949).
From 1947, Adam made paperboards for the tapestry. An exhibition of his whole work was devoted to him in 1949 to the Maeght Gallery. In 1952, the Bookshop-Gallery La Hune presented his copperplate etchings cut. During 5 years, he was professor of drawing in Anthony (1950-1955). In 1955 a first retrospective of his work was organized in Stedelijk Museum of Amsterdam. Adam created in 1956 and 1957 one of his most famous series of etchings, “Dales, Sable et Eau”, around the plays of the sea, sand and the granite, and the series of sculptures “Mutations marines”. He carried out new tapestries (French Embassy in Washington, UNESCO, etc). “The Signal”, set up on the square of the House of the Culture in Le Havre in 1961, was the first of his monumental sculptures. Adam multiplied from 1962 the architectural sculptures. Henri-Georges Adam was named in 1959 etching professor then chief-professor-atelier of monumental sculpture at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts in Paris. He set up his own atelier and his printing press in La Ville du Bois, close to Montlhéry, while many exhibitions of his work were presented in the French and European museums. The artist carried out in 1961 an important series of sculptures, “Cryptograms”.
A retrospective of his work was presented in 1966 at the national Museum of modern art of Paris.
The following year, in full creative activity, Henri-Georges Adam had a heart attack at the 63 years age. Many retrospectives of his work will be organized after the death of the artist.
Some of the Henri-Georges Adam publication are at this moment available at www.ftn-books.com
Flowers and Art…it is springtime
This morning after visiting a local flowershop, setup every year near a field where these are grown, i realized that we always have a lot of flowers at home. The owner cut the flowers from the field while i was there. It is a wide variety of sorts that is now available and they all give color and atmosphere to the house.
The moment he came to me with the 2 freshly cut bundles of wild and cultivated flowers i knew the subject for todays blog, because at this moment the realization occurred to me ,that flowers are important in art too. Many artists have used the subject of flowers in their works. From very realistic. like Erik Andriesse to more abstract like Leo van Gestel ( from both www.ftn-books.com has publications available).
But for many these will not be very well known or familiar names, but there are many more…… How about Monet? a flower painter “pur sang” and Vincent van Gogh.
Just look at all the great names in art, even the almost abstract painters, They all draw inspiration from flowers. Perhaps the most beautiful ones come from Georgia Ao’Keeffe. Realistic, dreamlike and mystic these are perhaps the very best flower paintings in the world.
Josua Reichert ( 1937 )… a printer
Reichert is a typographer, designer, author and printer combined in one person. Take a little bit of Werkman, put in a dash of Piet Zwart combine this with the authenticity of Reichert and you have some idea of the fantastic prints he makes. Study his prints and you see mouvement and a highly original approach to printing which makes them typical Josua Reichert prints.
One of the publications www.ftn-books.com has for sale is the excellent Wim Crouwel designed catalogue for the 1966 Stedelijk Museum exhibition on Josua Reichert and his prints.
It is only 4 pages , but the fairly standard design by Wim Crouwel in blue was altered and printed on by Reichert with 3 special prints for this occasion. This combination of Reichert prints with Crouwel typography/design makes this for me personally one of the most valued and appreciated publications by the Stedelijk Museum in the Sixties.
László Moholy-Nagy ( 1895-1946)
László Moholy-Nagy born László Weisz; July 20, 1895 – November 24, 1946) was a Hungarian painter and photographer as well as a professor in the Bauhaus school. He was highly influenced by constructivism and a strong advocate of the integration of technology and industry into the arts.
This is how the Wikipedia article on László Moholy-Nagy begins. I know the art by him as complicated constructions of threads and pieces of metal, but it was not until some 15 years ago that i discovered a book on his “photograms” and it immediately fascinated me. It was the link between painting and photography, showing details of hands and objects turning them into abstract works of art.
With his photograms, such as Photogram with Eiffel Tower (1925-1929), Moholy-Nagy experimented with the abstract potential of a traditionally documentary medium. The artist’s photography was also distinguished by its abstract qualities achieved through his bold experimentation with perspective. Among Moholy-Nagy’s three-dimensional works, the best known is Light Prop for an Electric Stage (1930), a mechanical sculpture that used light as a material and cast shifting shadows on the walls around it.
Www.ftn-books.com has some very nice László Moholy-Nagy publications available
Nobuyoshi Araki (1940)
Araki has published over 400 books. He is known primarily for his photography that blends eroticism and bondage in a fine art context. But where he first was a rather obscure photographer who dared to photograph his subjects in “forbidden” poses and where his publications were originally sold under the counter. His photography has become mainstream, partly due to his dutch representatives of Reflex gallery and certainly by Benedikt TAschen who published several titles on Araki , including to super large sized ARAKI special publication in 2002.
Nobuyoshi Araki is known best for his intimate, snapshot- style images sensual flowers and of women often tied up with ropes (a kinky japanese art called Kinbaku). ( some of them availabel at Reflex galery / Amsterdam).The magnitude of Araki’s work is difficult to wrap your head around. Araki is an artist who reacts strongly to his emotions and uses photography to experience them more intensely. His work is at once shocking and mysteriously tender with a burst of power. But one thing strikes me about most of his photographs (besides the obvious nudity) is the relationship between him and the one he captures, the intimacy, the trust and the surrender. Araki is Helmut Newton on drugs but more amplified. He is not afraid of his emotions nor of showing them to the world. He is truly an exceptionally deep and emotional artist. In 1970 he created his famous Xeroxed Photo Albums, which he produced in limited editions and sent to friends, art critics and even people he selected randomly from his local telephone book. Araki has published over 400 books of his work. Including ARAKI, a super large publication, $4000.00 book of beauty.
About this publication said “this book reveals everything about me. it’s been a 60-year contract. Photography is love and death- that’ll be my epitaph” – Araki
But you do not have to spent as much as 4k USD. There are excellent Araki publications for far less money available at www.ftn-books.com
