FTN-blog

Jonathan Meese, born in Tokyo in 1970, is a German artist known for his enigmatic and dynamic works of visual and performance art. He defies traditional norms with his fusion of philosophical, political, and cultural themes, described as liturgical in his performances and dionysian in his installations. Meese gained recognition for his performance at the 1994 Berlin Biennale and has since exhibited at prestigious galleries such as the Saatchi Gallery and the Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain.

His distinctive style was showcased in a major exhibition titled “Totalzelbstportret – Diktatur der Kunst” at the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag from October 2010 to January 2012. The exhibition featured his paintings, videos, and a basement full of unique objects and constructions, all orchestrated to challenge traditional notions of art.

In 2013, Jonathan Meese was charged with making a Nazi salute at a previous event, but he successfully argued that it was part of a performance-art piece and was subsequently acquitted. With his devotion to cultivating perplexity and burstiness, Meese continues to push the boundaries of art and provoke meaningful discourse.

The 2011 Invitation for the Meese exhibition is now available at www.ftn-books.com

Initially, Nanning works with ceramics before devoting herself to glass. In 1979, she graduates from the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam, at the same time as Geert Lap and Babs Haenen, forming the core of a new generation of Dutch ceramicists who gain international recognition. In 1994 – at the invitation of the National Glass Museum and Royal Leerdam Glass Factory – Nanning experiments with glass for the first time, an unfamiliar and distant material for her. She shapes her first sculptures by cutting and polishing the blown objects.

Over the past twenty-five years, Nanning has built an impressive glass oeuvre represented in numerous museum and private collections both domestically and abroad. Many of Nanning’s objects and installations suggest spontaneous growth, resembling crystals, jellyfish, flowers, or microorganisms. They elicit tension and demonstrate that the dichotomy of “naturally formed” and “handmade” is less rigid than often believed.

“In the center of the circle, there is a point of rest. Movement comes from that point. And that’s what I do; capture the essence of movement and growth in my work.”
– Barbara Nanning

Nanning’s unique visual language and way of working are largely influenced by her prolonged stays in the epicenter of glass production in Europe: Nový Bor. Every year she travels to this Czech city, where she collaborates with experienced glassblowers to create the most surprising shapes and structures

Yvonne van den Herik harnesses indian ink and a brush to create her unique drawings on paper. Recently, she has also ventured into tape-drawings, utilizing self-made tape on paper and XL-sized surfaces like walls and windows.

Her monochromatic works are a result of blending snippets from her previous drawings, visual notes, and explorative photographs- much like a DJ samples pre-recorded music. The lines, shapes, and (a)rhythms are born from a direct, physical, and visually intuitive process, as she switches between traditional paper and a digital tablet. Thinking and creating intertwine, as her eye and hand work as one.

Through constant innovative interventions, like connecting and disconnecting, or ‘adding and subtracting’, she challenges perception and visual thinking in her freehand drawing process.

www.ftnbooks.com has 1 invitation on a van den Herik exhibition available.

This time no blog, but just a short anouncement. Recently i acquired one of the ultimatei Crouwel posters. The importance of this one is the typography used. Not the best condition, but really really scarce and highly collectable.

now available at www.ftn-books.com

Alberto Magnelli chose to have the words ‘pittore fiorentino’ inscribed on his gravestone. The artist was intimately connected to his hometown and its artistic heritage in many ways. He was particularly influenced by the readability of the story and the clarity in the execution of renowned predecessors such as Uccello or Piero della Francesca in developing his own art.

Despite being an early friend of the Futurists, Magnelli’s works never possessed the rhythm of artists like Boccioni or Balla. For Magnelli (Florence, Italy 1888 – Meudon, France 1971), his painting style remained classical in nature. His compositions were never unbalanced, and his use of color always remained harmonious. Although he was the first Italian abstract artist, his formal pursuit was always focused on developing a decidedly modern but still elegant visual language. Even when he moved away from abstraction to practice a form of metaphysical painting, his illustrious predecessors continued to guide his hand. As a city-dweller, Magnelli was never a painter of nature. In many of his works, architecture acts as an organizing element; sometimes reduced to simple geometric planes in the background. For Alberto Magnelli, culture always triumphed over nature. When he returned to pure abstraction later in his career, it was through countless drawings/paintings where the development of line became just as important as chromatic exploration. In his best works, these two concerns converged, revealing a master of abstraction at his finest. Reality disappears completely, and we bear witness to the birth of a new, independent, and original world of forms, colors, and lines. Here, a modernity emerges that, though stylish and beautiful, is firmly rooted in a rich, classical history.

www.ftn-books.com has several Magnelli titles available.

David Pedraza was part of the residency program There van Heden in Yogyakarta for three months in 2011. In his work, Pedraza delved deeply into his Catholic upbringing, his family, and the hedonistic lifestyle of his generation. In the melting pot of Yogyakarta, where diverse beliefs coexist, he explored these themes in his art. His major wall installation, Eheieh Asher Eheieh, which he created there for the first time, will now be performed again in The Hague. Catholic symbols are intertwined with other religions, political doctrines, and philosophical and societal questions, while still paying homage to art history.

www.ftn-books.com has one pub;ication on Pedraza now available.

Tanja Ritterbex has been likened to an artistic counterpart of the iconic Lady Gaga. Brimming with energy and exuberance, Ritterbex possesses a keen awareness of the immense impact the internet holds over young individuals, and deftly incorporates it into her professional repertoire. In her practice, Ritterbex delves into the alluring fascination of online culture, expertly weaving it with a healthy dose of humor and introspection. Often, her vibrant and expressive paintings and video art revolve around Ritterbex’s own body and personal experiences, prompting introspection about our own identities and the concept of vulnerability.

www.ftn-books.com has the NEST invitation card now available.

WonderWood is a mixture between a shop and a gallery located in the heart of Amsterdam. Here you can discover the wonderworld of wood in design, furniture, art, gadgets and new talents. Every piece of furniture or art object has a story behind. Instore and on this online platform we like to tell you more about the designs, because it’s not just a chair or just a table. Most items made history in design and put their mark on the evolution of furniture design today. This backgound history we are so passionated about we like to share with you so you learn more about the history of design.

NICE TO KNOW IS EACH WEEK TOURISTS COME TO HAVE A LOOK AT THE CENTURIES-OLD WOODEN CEILING IN THE STORE. THIS 450 YEARS OLD CEILING IS STILL IN VERY GOOD CONDITION AS IT ORIGINATES FROM 1565.
WonderWood has an interesting wide collection of vintage chairs and tabels of the 1940’s, 1950’s, 1960’s. Nexto our rare originals we also sell re-editions of wellknown design furniture. These reproductions of old designs, we call them the Plywood classics. Imagine wonderful plywood chairs from famous designers and architects. Big names who made history in design; like the Norwegian Hans Brattrud, the French Jean Prouve, the American couple Charles and Ray Eames, and Alvar Alto etc. We also show new design pieces of Dutch designers like Richard Hutten, Aldo Bakker, Jeroen Wand, etc. that fit to our concept. Nexto all of this we also proudly present a selection of wellknown and new artists, such as Jeroen Henneman, Klaas Gubbels, Willem van Malsen, Wietze Jellema and Ton van Kints. This wonderful combintation, with the finishing touch of fun gadgets, makes what WonderWood is about today. An accesible high qualitive international minded gallery store where everyone can buy something or can just visit us to get inspired. So, WonderWood is THE spot in Amsterdam for everyone interested in plywood, design, art and some fun! Enjoy!

www.ftn-books.com has one WonderWood item now available.

Ingrid Simons (Eindhoven, 1976) currently inhabits and operates in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. She specializes in crafting imaginary terrains, at times characterized by a rough and tangible quality, while other times exuding a subdued and spiritual aura. Nevertheless, these landscapes always serve as conduits for powerful, atmospheric connotations of natural phenomena such as the earth, light, the cosmos, air, and water. Although familiar elements of the landscape, such as orchards, streams, trails, and skies, can often be discerned, Simons’ work is predominantly abstract in terms of visual language and use of color.

According to Simons, landscapes are “autonomous spaces of expression, actualized by the physical act of painting.” Through deconstructing the conventional landscape, she forges a new, raw, and tangible reality based on her personal experiences.

www.ftn-books.com has one Simons publication available.

Carlijn Kingma (Zutphen, 1991) pursued her studies in architecture at the TU Delft. However, upon her graduation, her project failed to meet the formal requirements consisting of a lengthy list of architectural products. In a bold move, she opted to create an animated film, utilizing fifty of her own drawings to bring it to life. This unconventional decision was ultimately rewarded with a perfect score of 10. In addition to this achievement, her project also received the prestigious New Babylon Award, recognizing it as the best graduate work at the intersection of art and architecture at the TU Delft. As a result of this recognition, her work was exhibited at the Kunstmuseum Den Haag. In 2018, Kingma was honored with the Architecture Drawing Prize in the hand-drawing category. As a result of this accolade, she was given the opportunity to showcase her drawings at the renowned Sir John Soane’s Museum in London, alongside the works of her idols Piranesi and the architect and artist Joseph Gandy.

www.ftn-books.com has 2 publications on Kingma available.