FTN-blog

Posted on 13.05.201711.02.2018 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

Michael Dudok de Wit (1953)

Linda on Cyprus gave me some time in catching up with Game of Thrones and the movie i was looking forward LA TORTUE ROUGE/The red turtle an animation movie by Michael Dudok de Wit, who’s career i have been following since the win of Father and Daughter.

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I can not recommend this movie enough. It has a rare quality…it is poetic, dramatic, lifting up and all those qualities combined in a movie made by the Ghibli studio’s with only a sound track to support the story. Ghibli became famous with the Miyazaki movies they made ( the last THE WIND RISES i can also recommend),

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but with this de Wit movie they struck gold again and in the combination of these 2 there must be another Golden 3 decades in front of them. Go see THE RED TURTLE and take a look at the books i have on dutch animation at www.ftn-books.com

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Posted on 12.05.201711.02.2018 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

Robert Morris, a true visionary (1931)

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Time to dedicate a blog to another icon of minimal art, but not only minimalism , but also Land Art was one of the key parts within his oeuvre. Robert Morris was one of the central figures of Minimalism. Through both his own sculptures of the 1960s and theoretical writings, Morris set forth a vision of art pared down to simple geometric shapes stripped of metaphorical associations, and focused on the artwork’s interaction with the viewer. However, in contrast to fellow Minimalists Donald Judd and Carl Andre, Morris had a strikingly diverse range that extended well beyond the Minimalist ethos and was at the forefront of other contemporary American art movements as well, most notably, Process art and Land art. Through both his artwork and his critical writings, Morris explored new notions of chance, temporality, and ephemerality. This makes him one of the most important contemporary American artists alive. As early as the early sixties thre has been an interest in his minimal and land art in the Netherlands. The Kroller Muller, Stedelijk Museum and van Abbemuseum all held exhibitions on Morris. Some of these publications are still available at www.ftn-books.com. Lately the interest in his works has decreased, but that does not mean that his projects are not epic. This is an artists of whom people say in the 23rd century…….a true visionary.

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Posted on 11.05.201711.02.2018 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

Wols (1913-1951)

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Wols is the pseudonym of Alfred Otto Wolfgang Schulze. Wols is not very well known by many, but if you ask among curators…. who is the the best Lyrical Abstract painter in the world?….. There is over 50% chance they will mention WOLS as being the most important one. Not only a painter , but also a very gifted photographer, Wols is possibly the artist which i learned to appreciate the most over the past 4 decades. In the beginning i did not understand his art at all, but when you see more of his art in relation to what others did at that time you notce that his art was “new” and intuitive and his photographs had a surreal quality in them. Wols is an artist you will discover in the coming years , because worldwide several shows with his art are planned . Wols is an artist to be discovered, his art is in many ways fascinating and even rooted in religious art. And because i myself am a Wols admirer i managed to collect a nice inventory with Wols publications There are some nice Wols publications which are available at www.ftn-books.com . You may find an excellent article on Wols at http://glasstire.com/2013/12/06/wols-a-misinterpretation/

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Posted on 10.05.201709.05.2017 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

Banksy did it again

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Banksy has once again taken to Instagram to claim his latest work which turned up overnight on a building on York Street near the A20 in Dover, England.

The three-storey high Brexit-themed mural shows a workman chipping away at one of the 12 gold stars of the European Union flag with a hammer and chisel.

The building is located near the Dover ferry port which connects England to the French port of Calais – a cheeky reference perhaps to the French election?

for more

Posted on 09.05.201711.02.2018 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

Kho Liang Ie ( 1927-1975) and dutch design

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It was the late 50’s and early sixties that a new generation of dutch designers stood up and almost all of them have been of great influence on corporate, furniture and book design all over the world. Kho LIang Ie was one of them. Less known than Sandberg and Crouwel , but still one who’s influence on design is still there. As i understand Pastoe is still making his couch C653, but not only furniture was designed by Kho Lian Ie.

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He designed complete exhibitions and ofcourse some beautiful catalogues of which some are available at www.ftn-books.com

To get a good idea of the importance of Kho Liang Ie, visit his website on which is explained in an excellent way the project which he was responsible for and for which he made some great designs. http://www.kholiangie.com

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Seven of the items from the above picture are available at www.ftn-books.com

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Posted on 08.05.201711.02.2018 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

A.R. Penck ps. for Ralf Winkler ( 1939-2017)

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A.R. Penck died 6 days ago i learned today from the Volkskrant newspaper and this brought back memories to the time Penck was invited by Rudi Fuchs to the Gemeentemuseum at the time he had an exhibition in galerie Auerbach in Amsterdam . It must have been somewhere in 1989 and Penck made some paintings on the spot in the museum and opened the exhibition with a drum performance. Because of the Amsterdam exhibition a nice box in a limited edition of only 10 copies was published and it contained 20 original photographs of Penck at “work” an extremely rare box which is nowhere offered, except at www.ftn-books.com ( not shown in te shop / if interested inquire ).

To commemorate Penck i will show the box in this blog and remember the one time we met and were introduced to each other ( although his mind was not clear at the time). Penck one of the last great german artists who made the new figuration famous all over the world.

The books are available at www.ftn-books.com

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Posted on 07.05.201711.02.2018 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

Robert Mapplethorpe in KUNSTHAL/ Rotterdam.

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An important exhibition in KUNSTHAL / Rotterdam. To be shown until the 27th of August there is a large Retrospective on Robert Mapplethorpe, one of the great photographers from last century who died sadly from HIV in 1989.

https://www.kunsthal.nl/nl/plan-je-bezoek/tentoonstellingen/robert-mapplethorpe/

Robert Mapplethorpe ( November 4, 1946 – March 9, 1989) was an American photographer, known for his sensitive yet blunt treatment of controversial subject-matter in the large-scale, highly stylized black and white medium of photography. His work featured an array of subjects, including celebrity portraits, male and female nudes, self-portraits and still-life images of flowers. His most controversial work is that of the underground BDSM scene in the late 1960s and early 1970s of New York City. The homoeroticism of this work fueled a national debate over the public funding of controversial artwork.

This is the text which Wikipedia uses to describe Mapplethorpe in a nutshell, but what is less known is that Mapplethorpe exhibitions were held in the Netherlands at a very early stage of his career in galerie Jurka. His earliest exhibition over there was in 1979, well before his works were collected and appreciated by many.

1979

“Robert Mapplethorpe: 1970-75,” Robert Samuel Gallery, New York

Texas Gallery, Houston, Texas

“Contact,” Robert Miller Gallery, New York

Galerie Jurka, Amsterdam

“Trade Off,” International Center of Photography, New Y

1978

La Remise du Parc Gallery, Paris

“Film and Stills,” Robert Miller Gallery, New York

The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, Virginia

Langton Street Gallery, San Francisco, California

Simon Lowinsky Gallery, San Francisco, California

La Remise du Parc Gallery, Paris

Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, California

1977

“Portraits,”Holly Solomon Gallery, New York

“Flowers,” Holly Solomon Gallery, New York

“Erotic Pictures,” The Kitchen, New York

1976

“Polaroids,”Light Gallery, New York

This exhibition means his photographs will come back to the Netherlands and one can see for himself what development and progression Mapplethorpe has made since his first exhibitions over here. And yes… the Jurka catalogue from 1980 is available at www.ftn-books.com

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Posted on 06.05.201711.02.2018 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

Gary Hill (1951)

Personally I find it an art form which is hard to understand, but sometimes there are Video installations which i appreciate. For instance the Erszebet Baerveldt ..Requiem is one of the most fascinating video’s i know ( search it on Youtube). Gary Hill’s video’s are more direct. In many cases filmed at close range with an intriguing voice over make these video’s very direct. They are not beautiful but highly intriguing and once you have seen them you will remember them.

It is not easy to find publications on Gary Hill and even more …is a book a suitable medium to promote a video artist?..i do not think so, but what makes the publications on Gary Hill i have at www.ftn-books.com worthwhile is the way these are published and designed. Great collectable books on a great video artist.

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Posted on 05.05.201711.02.2018 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

Ilja (Ilya) Kabakov (1933)

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Born in Ukrainia in 1933, he later immigrated in 1987 to Graz in Austria and after that he became an American citizen and moved to New York. Since 1987 his works /installations are executed by him and his niece Emilia, whi=o would later become his wife. Kabakov s considered to be one of the foremost installation/conceptual artists in the world and because of this status his works were presented and collected by the Stedelijk Museum. Many publications, including HET GROTE ARCHIEF,

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are still within in the collection, but rarely exhibited. Kabakov is one of those artists who are lesser known with the great public, but who works will become more and more important in the years to come. What his works make for me more interesting is the beautiful books which and catalogues which are published with his exhibitions and 2 of them are for sale at www.ftn-books.com

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Posted on 04.05.201711.02.2018 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

Annie Leibovitz (1949)

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Annie Leibovitz rose to fame when she published her first photographs in Rolling Stone Magazine. It was there that she met many of the artists who later asked and commissioned her to photograph the covers and inner sleeves for their albums. John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Joan Armatrading, the Rolling Stones and Whoopi Goldberg, all of them asked her to make their photographs and many of these became world famous. Later on in her career she made some unfortunate financial choices and was left with a substantial debt of over 15 million.

In February 2009, Leibovitz borrowed US$15.5 million, after having experienced financial challenges, putting up several houses as well as the rights to all of her photographs as collateral. The New York Times noted that “one of the world’s most successful photographers essentially pawned every snap of the shutter she had made or will make until the loans are paid off,”^[and that, despite a US$50 million archive, Leibovitz had a “long history of less than careful financial dealings” and “a recent series of personal issues” including the loss of her parents and the 2004 death of Sontag, as well as the addition of two children to her family, and controversial renovation of three Greenwich Village properties.

This overshadowed her carreer,in the last decade, but since 2010, her financial situation bettered with the help of Colony Capital. Leibovitz can now breath again freely and do what she is great in doing….making iconic photographs like the ones above. www.ftn-books.com has some publications on Leibovitz available at this moment.