Art The Hague 2017, Fokker Terminal, The Hague

Although still one of the smaller art fairs, Art The Hague has expanded a bit this year.

Jan Henderikse, Schoots & Van Duyse, Antwerp

Jan Henderikse, Schoots & Van Duyse, Antwerp

Joel Mpah Dooh, Sanaa, Utrecht

The restaurant has been removed from the main hangar to one of the side rooms which has created more space to present more galleries and to create more leeway for visitors.

Joel Mpah Dooh, Sanaa, Utrecht

Joel Mpah Dooh, Sanaa, Utrecht

Anton Vrede, Hommes, Rotterdam

Art The Hague describes itself as ‘quirky’, but that probably still needs some time, as still some more kitsch could be removed, although progress has been made in that field (and i seem to be a hardliner on the subject).

Wycliffe Mundopa, Twelve twelve, The Hague

Gert Scheerlinck, Twelve twelve, The Hague

Emanuel Tegene, WTC The Hague Art Gallery

And wouldn’t it be a good idea to ask galleries not to show more than three artists each?

Emanuel Tegene, WTC The Hague Art Gallery

Ron Amir, WTC The Hague Art Gallery

Karolina Orzelek, Dukan, Paris, Leipzig

Of course galleries would like to present themselves as one big and divers family but does that really add to the characters of these galleries?

Geert Baas, Ramakers, The Hague

Pat Andrea, Ramakers, The Hague

Andrea Freckmann, Maurits van de Laar, The Hague

With only three artists a gallery can really make a statement about itself without being excessive and new artists may get more attention.

Andrea Freckmann, Maurits van de Laar, The Hague

Hamid El Kanbouhi, Nouvelles Images, The Hague

Marc Mulders, Dom’Arte, Rucphen

Especially in a smaller fair the focus on individual artists could be an asset.

Elke Lutgerink, Wilms, Venlo

Elke Lutgerink, Wilms, Venlo

Elke Lutgerink, Wilms, Venlo

Art The Hague promised some focus on African artists, but that doesn’t really stand out.

David Pedraza, Heden, The Hague

Jef Gysen, Shoobil, Antwerp

Erik Buijs, Huub Hannen, Maastricht

To really focus on something like the African art market you need to be very well prepared and you need to invest in research, otherwise the quality – as it is now – will be mixed.

Coen Vernooij, O-68, Velp

Gregor Gaida, Hoorn en Reniers, The Hague

Lucius Pax, WTC The Hague

The ‘quirkiness’ of the fair is probably best presented in its side rooms.

Robbie Cornelissen, Maurits van de Laar, The Hague

Kevin Rausch, Hoorn en Reniers, The Hague

Paul Nassenstein, Luycks, Tilburg

This year the second floor isn’t used but the ground floor has been refurbished and tries to present an alternative to Drawing Amsterdam, which will be missed this year.

Erika Cotteleer, Shoobil, Antwerp

Hamid El Kanbouhi, Nouvelles Images, The Hague

Jimi Kleinbruinink, Allard Wildenberg, Naarden

Of course only four rooms can’t be an alternative to a whole fair but the presentations are very good and they make for one the best aspects of the fair.

Jimi Kleinbruinink, Allard Wildenberg, Naarden

[Click on the pictures to enlarge]

©Villa Next Door 2017

Content of all picture courtey to the artists, the galleries and Art The Hague 2017.

 

Bertus Pieters

Art The Hague 2016; Fokker terminal, The Hague

Art fairs aren’t the most exciting places to see real surprises and Art The Hague is no exception, in spite of it calling itself ‘quirky’.

To be honest, compared to last year the ascending line seems to have levelled.

Klaas Gubbels – Rento Brattinga

Pieter de Krom – Vonkel

In the offices next to the hangar (places where you might expect something interesting in the very short tradition of this fair in this place) there is little reason for excitement.

Marie Pop – Vonkel

Ko Aarts – Rento Brattinga

Johannes Langkamp – A Gallery Named Sue

Although some interesting items are on show, the arrangements are a bit messy (the best presentations are the rooms of Livingstone gallery and Rento Brattinga), and the Blueprint presentation shouldn’t even be mentioned.

Auke de Vries – Nouvelles Images

Auke de Vries – Nouvelles Images

Auke de Vries – Nouvelles Images

Auke de Vries – Nouvelles Images

Central to the hangar, which serves as the main hall, is Nouvelles Images gallery’s presentation of works by Auke de Vries, one of the grand old men of Dutch sculpture.

Lotte van Lieshout – Galerie Wit

Ruben Terlou – Galerie Fontana

Ruben Terlou – Galerie Fontana

Miranda Meijer – A Gallery Named Sue

Hernán Ardila Delgado – A Gallery Named Sue

Geert Baas – Galerie Ramakers

Eric de Vries – WTC Rotterdam Art Gallery

Further on in the hangar it was the usual stuff, including – of course – some real gems.

Kevin Bauer – Galerie Helder

Micha Patiniott – Heden

Summer Matthews – Aboriginal Art Gallery

Coen Vernooij – Gallery 0-68

Coen Vernooij – Gallery 0-68

Unknown artist – WTC The Hague Art Gallery

Marc Mulders – Galerie Dom’Arte

Still, i know it is a hell of a job organising an annual art fair, but it would be about time to outgrow a bit the sedate image of this town.

Dirty Daisies

Dirty Daisies

Dirty Daisies

Dirty Daisies

Dirty Daisies

Dirty Daisies

However, the best place to be is outside and behind the building: it’s Dirty Daisies, a co-operation of 15 artists from The Hague and Amsterdam.

Dirty Daisies

Dirty Daisies

Dirty Daisies

Dirty Daisies

Dirty Daisies

Dirty Daisies is curated by Steef Crombach and there is some good stuff on show.

Dirty Daisies

Dirty Daisies

Dirty Daisies

Dirty Daisies

Dirty Daisies

Dirty Daisies

The artists are: Candela Bado, Zeno Beikircher, Yair Callender, Daniel Dmyszewicz, Frederik & Jacob, Doris Hardeman, Josje Hattink, Bas Kaufmann, Koolen & Van de Lande, Tobias Lengkeek, Leslie Nagel, Jeannette Slütter, Marnix van Uum and Victor Yudaev.

Dirty Daisies

[Click on the pictures to enlarge]

Content of all pictures courtesy to the artists and galleries

 

Bertus Pieters

Art The Hague 2015; Fokker Terminal, The Hague

Art fairs are usually not the places for great artistic surprises. If you regularly visit galleries, an art fair acts as a sum of what you have seen before.

Erik Buijs

Still art fairs are different in atmosphere and quality and Art The Hague positively seems to have found some stability in both. Indeed there are galleries who show a mixture of artists whose works they have or will have on offer currently, which is generally what art fairs are good for.

For instance Vonkel gallery of The Hague presents some interesting works by some of their very different young artists like Inge Aanstoot,

Maarten van Soest and

Romy Muijrers who graduated from the Royal Academy of The Hague only this year.

Helder gallery shows amongst others these attractive objects made by Eelke van Willegen specially for the five year anniversary of the gallery this fall.

Heden will open a solo exhibition of works by rarely exhibiting Nies Vooijs this Friday and already shows some works here at the fair.

Nouvelles Images presents this sculpture by Joost van den Toorn amongst many others.

Ramakers gallery has some nice works on show by Geert Baas and

by Joncquil.

Kers Gallery from Amsterdam presents amongst others these fine paintings by Thomas Rameckers.

The Rotterdam Aboriginal Art Gallery shows some interesting works by Australian aboriginal artists Summer Matthews and

by James Budiyalil.

Some galleries just present virtually the same kind of things as last year.

These are two of last year’s pictures of works by Stefan Gross at Bob Smit’s gallery from Rotterdam, but the same pictures could have been taken this year.

Some galleries organize a special event, like a solo presentation for an artist. For example Het Bouwhuis gallery from Deventer made a small solo show for painter Aart Houtman. The room is very small and has more or less turned into a kind of chapel with Houtman’s work.

Livingstone gallery of The Hague presents a new book about painter Simon Schrikker who currently has a show at the gallery, about which i reported here.

Here is Schrikker in conversation with my blogging colleague Kees Koomen.

A Gallery Named Sue, always good for something exceptional, has a very special event with A Print Factory, where you can choose your print and buy it for just less than 100 Euros.

The best features of Art The Hague however are usually in the offices next to the hangar. On the second floor some galleries show some extra works of their artists,

like Livingstone gallery with Simon Schrikker,

Helder with Alex de Witte amongst others,

(and where did we see this before?), and

Vonkel with Romy Muijrers and

Wim Warrink amongst others.

On the ground floor Kers gallery gives a very strong performance of some young artists with amongst many: Stig Steijner,

Thijs Linssen and

Mathieu Klomp who imitates with plastic the bombastic outlook of monumental sculpture with gestures of daily life.

[Click on the pictures to enlarge]

Bertus Pieters

Art The Hague, Fokker Terminal, The Hague

Art The Hague is quite a small fair but it takes some time to see it all. There is a kind of limbo before you enter the real art fair,

which gives you the idea that things are not really important in that vestibule. The Hague Historical Museum shows some pictures of its sympathetic project Den Haag, Stad van aankomst (The Hague, City of Arrival) by Conny Luhulima and Geert van Kesteren, while

WTC-Gallery shows some expressive postmodernity to fit modern suburbia, with amongst others this diorama by Demiak. And further on?

Well, they probably forgot to put this sculpture by Joachim De Block in its right place and left it in limbo to be ignored by the visitors. And on entering the great hall

you might think you entered a luxury poster shop, but

do turn left to Seasons Gallery to take a look at Gerard Verdijk’s paintings. Verdijk (1934-2005) was one of the best painters in The Hague.

Work by Lauren Hillebrandt at With Tsjalling, playing with colour, shape and meaning.

Gallery Project 0.2 shows Denis Rouvre who always uses the same clair-obscure, presented by the gallery in an aesthetic, stark and clean way. A modern way of having trophies on your wall. But

why do i think Rouvre’s work is slick and this drawing by Arike Gill (at Vonkel Gallery) isn’t?

Talking about slick photography (and there is quite a lot on show), you can’t say Merijn Koelink’s pictures are slick. He concentrated on the use of LED in public places at night. Colour, light and dark tell a story here with more aspects. Koelink is a fresh graduate of the The Hague Royal Academy (at A Gallery Named Sue).

Helder Gallery shows, amongst others, sculptures by Willem Speekenbrink and paintings by Jakob de Jonge who will both have an exhibition at the gallery soon.

This year some Belgian galleries are represented at the fair. Amongst others Eastmen Gallery with works by Kamagurka and

by Gommaar Gilliams, a painter who isn’t very well known in this country.

Nouvelles Images gallery shows, amongst others, geometric abstract works by Cor van Dijk (very fine sculpture) and

Ditty Ketting (painting).

Some galleries give special attention to just one or two artists. Others who don’t, have sometimes difficulties in showing where their priorities are, like Van Hoof Gallery (is it just aesthetics? funny but silent pets?),

Chiefs and Spirits (art from Africa? art from elsewhere? and why exactly this choice?)

or Het Bouwhuis (the aesthetics of nature? or aesthetics based on nature?).

Compared to these Bob Smit Gallery has no qualms showing what it stands for, as these works by Stefan Gross show.

At Mirta Demare gallery Sandro Setola silently steals the show, while

in the next booth Buro Rotterdam has a small but very fine solo presentation of works by Olaf Mooij who gave cars a different, more organic life (and who also made the sculpture you can see on the very first picture of this posting).

Next year herman de vries wil represent the Netherlands at the Venice Biennial and as such he has been given a booth of his own.

That you can perfectly well show quite a few different artists in one booth without losing your identity as a gallery is shown by Ramakers gallery

and Heden, the place in The Hague where you can borrow art. Heden also

shows work by Anne Forest who will have an exhibition there soon.

Livingstone gallery pays some extra attention to small but very fine works by Jan Wattjes, while

Dom’Arte shows amongst others works by Marc Mulders and

Han Klinkhamer.

But the best prominent and defining features of Art The Hague are the informal solo presentations, away from the egalitarian dictatorship of the white cube.

On the ground floor is a presentation of works by sculptors who graduated from Belgian Academies this year. They all exhibit interesting work. I’ll give an impression here without comments: Jean-Loup Leclerq,

Marjorie Kapelusz,

Clara Gallet,

Jeroen Van der Fraenen,

Joachim De Block and

Ruben Podevyn.

On the second floor there are some special presentations by galleries,

again without much comment: Livingstone shows Simon Schrikker’s marvellous Pulpo series together with the stop motion video he made with it;

Bob Smit Gallery shows that being over the top says more about art and society than just being slick,

as shown here by Pieter W. Postma;

Helder gallery has an impressive combination of works by Willem Speekenbrink (sculpture),

Jochem Rotteveel (paintings with duct tape) and

Roland Sohier (drawings); and

Ramakers gallery shows Joncquil’s fine series 60 Ways to Hold a Rope.

Although the exhibition has no real surprises, this year’s edition is stronger than last year’s,

but it could be much stronger.

(Click on the pictures to enlarge)

Bertus Pieters