Tag: amsterdam

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Martijn Sandberg (1967)

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Just a simple blog on a great artist and his ideas . I admire Martijn Sandberg for his art. Every few month i look at his site and find some new works that fascinate me . Just take a dive into Martijn’s ideas and visit the link below. An internet related project by Martijn Sandberg. An art work he exclusively made available on the internet

http://www.msandberg.nl/noimageavailable/

Martijn Sandberg ‘Image Messages’The work of Amsterdam based visual artist Martijn Sandberg (1967) constantly explores border areas, such as the tension between text and image, illegible into legible, the private and the public domain. ”I make Image Messages, image is message is image.” The image hides the message.
In the cut paintings, such as ‘Sorry No Image Yet’ and ‘Im Westen Nichts Neues’, there is a subtle play between the language of the image and the significance of the image, and this gives rise to questions. Here, even the lack of image seems to be elevated to an image by the artist.


The direct relationship between the image, the material bearing the image and the environment is also expressed in his site-specific works in public space and architecture. As in the ‘De Oude Weg Naar De Nieuwe Tijd’ artwork, integrated as a brick relief in the walls of the gates and the pavement of the Spaarndammerhart building, Amsterdam. Or in the sculpture ‘I Will Survive’ located at the border of a burial ground in Hardenberg, The Netherlands.

BTW. For those interested in the editions by Martijn Sandberg please visit his shop at :

http://www.msandberg.nl/shop.php?shop=yes

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Thomas Struth (1954)

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One of the aspects i noticed in the works by Thomas Strutch that this photographer includes in many of his photo’s another art object. Making this part of his own composition. An excellent example is this scene from the Chicago Art institute. Also just do a Google searcjh and notice the family group photographs which include in almost all cases another work of art.

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Thomas Struth was born 1954 in Geldern, Germany and currently lives and works in Berlin. He is best known for his genre-defying photographs, though he began originally with painting before he enrolled at the Kunstakademie, Düsseldorf in 1973. Struth has developed his individual photographic practice, often penetrating places of the human imagination in order to scrutinize the landscape of invention, technology, and beyond (as in his recent CERN and Animal images). Celebrated for his diverse body of work—Unconscious Places, Familienleben (Family Life), Museum Photographs, New Pictures from Paradise and Nature & Politics—Struth continues to advance his vocabulary with each new series, while maintaining the same principles core to his practice.

Recent comprehensive exhibitions of Struth’s work include the major touring exhibition Thomas Struth: Nature & Politics exhibited at the Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany; the Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, Germany, the High Museum, Atlanta, Georgia; the Moody Center for the Arts, Houston, Texas; the St. Louis Museum of Art, Missouri and the MAST Foundation Bolgna, Italy (2016-2019) as well as Figure Ground which opened at the Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany and traveled to the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain (2017-2019).

www.ftn-books.com has the catalogue available which was published for his Stedelijk Museum exhibition.

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Koen Wessing (1942-2011)

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Koen Wessing was and remains on of the Netherlands most important icons photo journalism. Wessing started as freelance photographer in 1963. In his early years he became renowned for picturing the May protest of 1968 in Paris, the occupation of the Maagdenhuis of the University in Amsterdam in 1969, and later the military coup in Chili in 1973. Later Wessing produced more uniquely powerful work in Ireland, Guinea-Bissau in West Africa, Nicaragua, El Salvador, China and Kosovo.

Seen retrospectively, his work from South America probably received the most attention throughout the years. His images of the 1973 coup in Chile against the progressive government of Salvador Allende, as well the insurrection in Nicaragua and his reportage of the massacre during the funeral of Archbishop Romero in El Salvador, were all striking and alarming. His engaged work in these countries made him an internationally renowned photographer.

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Regrettably, Koen Wessing was never able to see the finished exhibition as he passed away in Amsterdam in the morning of February 2, 2011. Until the last moment he had been involved in the preparation of the exhibition. Knowing that the show was going to happen gave him a lot of strength during the last period of his life.

www.ftn-books.com has the Stedelijk Museum catalogue on Koen Wessing now available.

wessing china

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Posters by Willem Sandberg and Wim Crouwel…part 8

Roger Bissiere held an exhibition in 1958 at the Stedelijk Museum. Catalogue and poster were designed by Willem Sandberg. In 1966 it was again time for Bissiere to show his latest works. This time Wim Crouwel designed both catalogue and poster. With the poster he was inspired by the one Sandberg had designed before. The poster is almost classic Sandberg in its approach. Colors, graphic design. red lettering all strongly influenced by Sandberg. But the catalogue!…there it was ….a typical Crouwel design…., size, binding, colors every aspect oozes Crouwel. Here are both and both are available at www.ftn-books.com.

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Another visit to the Stedelijk Museum

Readers know and read  that i was not very enthousiastic about the presentations of the Stedelijk Museum during our last visits. Very little that was appealing and lacking all the quality the Stedelijk Museum is famous for.

Last week we visited the Stedelijk again and what a difference. This was an excellent presentation/exhibition with all the art the Stedelijk Museum is famous for and with some great additions. the Bruce Nauman exhibition itself was well worth visiting, but what pleased me the most was the way some of the highlights from the collection were put together on show in BASE  1 and BASE 2.

A true feast and the only part i thought was not there was some of the Minimal Art from the collection.

The first picture is the one on the Wim Crouwel publications the Stedelijk commissioned during the Sixties and Seventies. Recognized as top quality design and becominmg more and  more important as part of the collection. many of these publications are also available at http://www.ftn-books.com.

Rating this presentation….B+.

 

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Lei Molin (1927-1990)

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Lei Molin followed in his very own way “the road to abstraction”.

Making black and white landscapes in the early years of his career, painting portraits to make a living, he moved in the mid Sixties to Amsterdam where he made a connection with Pieter Defesche, Jef Diederen en Ger Latster, they were called the ” Amsterdamse Limburgers”, because they all moved from Limburg to Amsterdam. In Amsterdam he was influenced by Cobra and Minimalism, resulting in a style of his own losing the bright colors and presenting his works in a sober black an white. In the early Eighties color returned into his works and the us e of plastic foils made his paintings stand out from the ones of his colleagues.

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After Amsterdam he movend to Ijmuiden, where he became a member of the Ijmuider kring and got inspired by the harbors of Ijmuiden.

In 1986 he told the interrviewer for a nespaper that he considered his latest works to be the ones of his 40 year career. I have known i could make it, but now i finally i am confident enough to make it. It will not become better, also not worse…this is the result of a lifelong career.

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Thr above titles are available at www.ftn-books.com

 

 

 

 

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Lothar Baumgarten (1944-2018)

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Lothar Baumgarten is one of those artists who’s fame never was never worldwide, but who rightfully deserves to be known and admired by many more. In recent years a new reveived interest grows in his works. Baumgarten, a conceptual artist< has had his exhibitions in the Netherlands at the Stedelijk Museum and Museum de PONT, but these have been some years ago, but lately i see a raised in interest and the works that appear at acution are sold at fair but rising prices. A good work from an edition is sttill to be acquired far below euro 250,–

Baumgarten is an artist to follow, and if you admire his works, like i do, focus on the editions. These are still to be bought at low prices.

www.ftn-books.combaumgarten bulletin has some nice Baumgarten publications available.

 

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Jan van Munster (continued)

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If i would make a top 10 of my favorit Stedelijk Museum publications this Jan van Munster publication from 1970 would be ceertainly somewhere in my top 10.

 

Published in 1970. It is typical Wim Crouwel design, but some details make it exceptional. First there is the use of a viny cover which has a silkscreened print in bright red on cover and backside. The vinyl cover is used as a portfolio for just one 2 page publication. Printed recto/verso and protected by a blank sheet of white paper. This publication is very special and instead of being a full catalogue with the exhibition , this is a true artist publication making this much more valuable for all Stedelijk Museum collectors and Jan van Munster admirers. The Jan van Munster 1970 / Stedelijk Museum by Wim Crouwel publication is now available at www.ftn-books.com

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Wim Crouwel designed series for Museum Fodor

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Around 1972 , Wim Crouwel started to use a computer design inspired layout for the Museum Fodor publications.  A bright orange/red color with in the background a pattern of fine white dot. Just below the middle a tin white line. Fodor in Pink. On the left half the exhibition in info and in Most cases above the white line the artist name. Over 40 publications have appreared within these series and nearly all belong to the very best of Crouwel designs from the Seventies. http://www.ftn-books.com has many of these publications available. This is a typical connoiseurs choice, not expensive and with all the qualities of a Seventies Crouwel designed publication.

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Stedelijk Museum “on line” visits

Blog readers know of the large collection i have for sale on the Stedelijk Museum, its artists and its exhibitions ( http://www.ftn-books.com), but it is hard to grow this collection . No book markets, no museum visits and the only thing i could do is to photograph and describe my stock and add this to my inventory. It has now grown over by 1100 entries and i am convinced it is one of the largest collections for sale on the Stedelijk Museum and itss history. But to bridge the time between closure and reopening its collections to visitors, they made available some interesting virtual visits to the museum and its collections. Guided by curators and director Rein Wolfs , you can now make a virtual visit. One of the best i think is the one Rein Wolfs hosts. It shows the direction into which the Stedelijk is developing for the next decade or so. Interesting…. yes…., but i do hope they still will keep their focus on their history and great collection, they build over the years.