Bekroond (Crowned), WTC The Hague Art Gallery, The Hague

Maarten van Soest

World Trade Centre The Hague has a small art gallery, like many official or representative institutions. Works on show at WTC are usually surprisingly good and the present show is no exception. On show are works by four young artists who were awarded prizes last year or who were nominees, as well as by four other artists.

Jouni Toni

However, the gallery space itself is far more problematic. When I visited, two of the three works by Jouni Toni (Royal Prize for free painting) were victim of the sharp midwinter afternoon sunshine.

Jouni Toni

And please ladies and gentlemen, Toni’s works are far too good and refined to hang them askew!

Jonas Raps

Comparing, Jonas Raps’ paintings (Heden Start Prize and nominee Piketprijs) are in a better position. The honoured artists all make colourful paintings but the presentation of their works by the gallery doesn’t really match a usual arts fair presentation.

Harry Markusse

Probably not much more is possible, but one would grant such wonderful paintings as Harry Markusse’s (nominee Royal Prize)

Maarten van Soest

 

Maarten van Soest

and Maarten van Soest’s (nominee Royal Prize) a bit more. Both artists make very fresh looking hardcore abstract paintings.

Wim Warrink

The exhibition has a sub-exhibition called Lichting ’15 (Class of ’15) with four artists who graduated last summer. The presented works by these artists are remarkably less coloured, but not less colourful.

Nora Axnick (left), Joyce ter Weele (right)

There is only one work by Nora Axnick which might have come out better in another context. In spite of its dimensions it differs too much from the very strong works by the other artists.

Romy Muijrers

The other works are by Romy Muijrers, whose works already stood out in her graduation show last year,

Joyce ter Weele

Joyce ter Weele whose works look at first glance a bit like abstract Muijrers (or the other way round) and

Wim Warrink

Wim Warrink, whose work (which was already present at last year’s Art The Hague) deserves a presentation of its own.

Wim Warrink

The sub-exhibition is, without too much direct daylight, better presented than the works of the four painters.

Jouni Toni

[Click on the pictures to enlarge]

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

Graduation Show 2015 at the Royal Academy, The Hague

In July i visited the graduation show at the Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague to write a review for the Villa La Repubblica blog. Here are some photo impressions for those who didn’t attend (or for those who did).

When entering the building the visitor was greeted amongst others by some girl power by Danicha Leliveld. The great exhibition hall opposite the entrance

was stuffed with works by students who apparently had to be showcased by the Academy. I can’t say I was much impressed by it, although i did like this poster by Hatice Kilinç in which internal organs set themselves free from the body of a veiled woman, who is clearly not amused.

Jordie Rovers’ photo book is by far the best part of his presentation about art as archaeology.

Roaming the ground floor of the old building i found myself

in the textile and fashion department.

The most spectacular presentation was by Olivier Jehee,

showing the visual language of power of both trash and decadence, which i enjoyed very much.

Up to the second floor! There i saw

a fine photo book about the migration problems in Europe (or rather the problems we created) by Hilde De Windt. Somewhere else

at the second floor of the old building Anne Kranenborg of the interior architecture and furniture design department showed some interesting ideas.

The most interesting presentation of that department was by Róman Kienjet who presents small found objects in small reliquaries, giving them the value of history and mythology.

Elsewhere on the second floor

Elske Verdoorn reported about the cultural passions of people living in the margin in The Hague. This is the presentation of Serge, one of them.

One of the most

impressive presentations on the second

floor was by Liza Pace.

Her project Going Solo

was especially photogenic.

The third floor of the old building has a tower with a room which contained works by three students:

Charlotte Ursem,

Elise Sothys and

Marija Angelovska. All of them

showed interesting work, but i don’t think the combination of the three worked very well,

the personalities overpowered each other.

Continuing my quest on the third floor

i ran into the interesting work of Najmeh Saghaei. Her projections tear bodies apart in search of the unknown parts of the human character.

Also on the third floor some more painters.

Amongst them Martin Gabriel who brings the world of

video games back to paper, cutting, pasting and painting;

Simon Oosterhuis who made some interesting works about the human body in

confined but expressive colour combinations;

Jonas Raps with some fine abstract paintings and

Bjorn Barendse, who

made a small painting installation, which

worked like a decorated chapel.

In the new part of the building (or rather the rebuilt part)

Max de Waard presented his No Rules in Space, which

was not photogenic at all, but

all the more interesting (and it made some good noise).

The installations by Mickey Yang

seemed to deal with

the peculiarity of the slowness of life processes, while

the objects of Victor Breton van Groll have come to a complete standstill in his presentation.

Romy Muijrers presented some good drawing.

While back in the old building i couldn’t resist making some pictures of Rob van der Burg’s presentation about plants with electronically improving devices which would make their lives easier.

Leaving the building i was enthusiastic about a lot of what i had seen, but it wasn’t the absolute top year like last year’s exhibition. A good academy easily spoils the viewer.

(Click on the pictures to enlarge)

Bertus Pieters
Full review on Villa La Repubblica (in Dutch)