Notes on an artist and his world
EX-MÊKH is preparing for the Hybrid Art Fair and experimenting with their materials. Here some try-outs by Kees Koomen who is looking for a interesting way to present his series of New Encounters The work is intended as an homage to the sketches Goya made in the streets of Madrid and elsewhere. Those drawings and etchings were my favourite artworks in art-school:
Like every year Ron van der Ende invited artists to send their favourite music or sounds they play during artistic work. These Studio Playlists are published on a site he runs, Art BBQ. I participated since 2006 (at least, that’s the oldest I can find) and it’s each time a pleasure to elaborate on the music I play during the year past.
Yesterday, art celebrated it’s 1.000.061st birthday at HOK Gallery and a number of other FLUXUS minded galleries all over the world. At HOK a new exhibition had just opened last week, but the festive make-over’s of single-sleeve’s have been naturally integrated in the present show: Long Bord Slaatje, bij Jesus Cinco and Rowan van As. I was able to take part in the anniversary project, and I chose Gilbert Becauds Toi, le musicien to elaborate on further.
On saturday December 2 Het Grote Aanschouwboek (The Big Aanschouwbook) was presented, a survey of 22 years of De Aanschouw in the Witte de Withstreet in Rotterdam. De Aanschouw is the smallest art gallery in Rotterdam and in The Netherlands if I am not mistaken. It used to be a display case on the front of a café, De Schouw, which was situated opposite the building in which De Rotterdamse Courant had it’s offices. As soon as the newspaper went to the printer it was put in the display case and the editors went to De Schouw to have a beer and to discuss the contents of the new edition.
The presentation of Het Grote Aanschouwboek took place in a well filled auditorium in TENT, you can see an account of the happening here! The book shows all the exhibitions and artists, weekly changes and the Overschilderschilderijen (overpaintpaintings) of which documentation is still available. We are happy to say that very few is missing. Edo Dijksterhuis wrote a history of De Aanschouw and collected anecdotes can be found in the back of the book. The participation of EX-MÊKH can also be found including a poster of underground member Ben Faydherbe who is responsible for the design of our publicity. An overpaint-painting of EX-MÊKH member Kees Koomen can also be found in the book. The graphic Design of bureau 75B is special for a relatively small book with no less than 1150 pages. It developed into a brickstone-account of a period of art and friendship!
Friday September 29 was the day RUW #6 was presented to the public. It happened during Hoogtij, the two-monthly open platforms evening in Den Haag. For the occasion HOK gallery was available and the editor decided that a large drawing was to be made by all participants in this edition of RUW. This drawing was going to be auctioned on sunday.
The presentation was a succes, many visitors came by to see the new RUW Magazine and not many magazines were left in the end. You can find an account of the opening here!
Then sunday the auction of the large drawing took place. It did not draw a lot of attention but those who came were a motivated public. After some useless attempts of the auctioneer Geert Schriever to sell the drawing as a whole details of the drawing were offered for which two ladies showed the formats with wooden angles. This worked better and the afternoon ended with a positive amount of money on the account and everybody enjoying a glass of wine.
Equinox was a succes with more then twenty performers on the Hof in Dordrecht. There were moments that the atmosphere was beautiful in slow movements with colour and sound.
My own performance existed of soundbytes that I spread out over the square by speaking them out to people, by writing them on little scraps of paper and hiding them on the square and by listening for sounds of the past on different places of the historic square. The soundbytes were pieces of conversation or cries that I noted during my project Walks to the Malieveld. You can find an account of the afternoon here! And a video by Steef van Lent can be found here!
I did also make two sketches of performers which you can see here:
On March 23 in this year 222 lodge invited performance artists to gather in the Hof in Dordrecht in the Netherlands to celebrate the equinox, the moment the sun passes the equator in spring. There will be a second equinox on September 23. Consequently September 24 there will be another performancefestival in the Hof in Dordrecht. I was not able to attend in spring but this time I will participate with a performance after a new invitation by Frans van Lent.
The first Equinox took place in the rain, I hope this time the weather will be more cooperative. To get an impression of the first Equinox you can watch this!
In spring I started the project page on this website on which I show the source of a lot of my work. It shows the sketches I make next to my texts in my diaries. Lots of them are the inspiration for new paintings, installations or performances. I recently published sketches from my trip to the US and Mexico in 1984 which proved a change of focus from the USA and western culture to the more European background I grew up in. I realised that I admired the Spanish colonial heritage in Mexico and California and that I never traveled to Spain. My interest in Spanish culture and Mediterranean culture in general began to grow. Ezra Pound’s translation of French troubadour poetry and Spanish Renaissance poetry was also an inspiration.
De Aanschouw is the smallest gallery in The Netherlands. Until now it’s location is in the Witte de With straat in Rotterdam, better known for its terraces and art centres Melly and TENT. The gallery is a showcase across from where the NRC was once produced. Once the newspaper was ready for print the first newspaper to come out was shown in the showcase across the street, next to café De Schouw. The bar was famous for its clientèle amongst which artists, writers and editors of NRC. When De Aanschouw started it showed an art piece once a week. The initiators invited curators to present weekly art pieces. Daan den Houter, famous Rotterdam artist, started his project Overschilderschilderij here also. After painting a self-portrait he invited painters he knew to paint a new painting over it. Each new painter covered the preceding painting. This way the painting became a brick-like object , it has hundred forty-nine paintings covering it now. The new exhibitions of paintings and of the Overschilderschilderij always open at de wissel (the change), on Thursday night at 21.00 h.
Volunteers took care of the exhibitions and organisation of it and to get some working-capital they thought of an annual auction at the start of the season. This took place on the street in the Witte de Withstraat at the opening of the cultural season. Lately TENT invites De Aanschouw to do it in their space. Because of Corona the auction has been postponed for three years. This time it took place at the end of the season though, coinciding with the end of De Aanschouw at café De Schouw. The gallery-showcase will move to Café Ari at de Nieuwe Binnenweg in Rotterdam.
Because I had the honour to first show a painting in De Aanschouw and to paint a painting on the Overschilderschilderij . Later the organisation invited me to participate in the auction, which I did with pleasure.
