“Buitenlanders en andere Papoea’s” continued

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In de boekwinkel…

Het boekomslag voor het boek met bovenstaande titel van Rob Verschuren waarover ik eerder schreef kreeg mooie reacties:

Op de cover van Buitenlanders en andere Papoea’s, de tweede verhalenbundel van Rob Verschuren (1953), prijkt een schilderij van de Haagse kunstenaar Kees Koomen. Na enig nazoeken kwam ik er achter dat het werk deel uitmaakt van een serie over zijn jeugd. Het lijkt erop of hij daarop reflecteert. Hij doet dat in spontane schildergebaren. Een goedgekozen omslag want in de tien verhalen die in de bundel schildert Verschuren de portretten van niet alledaagse personages, reflecteert hij op de samenleving, stelt hij alledaagse thema’s aan de orde. Hij benadert zijn onderwerpen vanuit een originele invalshoek. Kijken naar de samenleving, ethiek, geschiedenis, geloof en liefde het komt allemaal voorbij.
Jan Stoel op literatuursite Hebban

En verder:

De omslagafbeelding heet In de nacht en is van Kees Koomen. De sfeer en de kleuren van het schilderij passen prachtig bij de inhoud. Wat de verhalen ook met elkaar verbindt, is de originele manier van kijken die uitgedrukt wordt in de stijl. Die is nu eens poëtisch, dan weer ironisch, maar altijd fraai met treffende beelden.
Yolande Belghazi-Timman op literatuursite Hebban

Uitgeverij In de Knipscheer

Buitenlanders en andere Papoea’s

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Some time ago my friend, graphic designer Els Kort, noticed a picture of an old work of mine which I put on Facebook. I never exhibited the work which is part of a series about my childhood before. Els asked me permission to use it for a bookcover. She was convinced the “wild” painting suited the stories perfectly.

Kees Koomen: In de nacht – 1984
Acrylverf en oliepastel op papier

I thought this was a nice chance to attract attention to older work which nobody ever saw. The book is a collection of short stories by author Rob Verschuren. It will be published by In de Knipscheer in the Netherlands. I read some info about the author and I got the impression that this could work well so I gave my consent. This week Els sent the coverdesign:

I look forward to the publication of the collection of stories which is to be soon!

Presentation and auction large drawing RUW #6

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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!

Selfie Monika Dahlberg during opening
My contribution to RUW #6: La hora santa (coloourpencil, oilstick, ashes)

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.

left part of the drawing
right part of the drawing
The text in charcoal on paint is my personal contribution
The auctioneer and his assistants

RUW

Benefit auction De Aanschouw

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Auctionmaster Auke Triesschein hits the hammer, in this case for work of Toine “Dutch Bushman” Klaasen

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.

Auction assistent Maurice Meeuwisse showing my painting GREAT! which was sold at the auction

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.

EX-MÊKH in De Aanschouw 2015- Kees Koomen: Putin
Overschilderschilderij Kees Koomen: Malieveld – 2020

HOK CELEBRATES ART’S 1.000.060th BIRTHDAY

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I will participate in this with an edition of five prints of which I will show three:

Just a few more nights’ sleep and it’s Art’s birthday. HOK will be celebrating with a group exhibition! So put on a paper hat and join the fun. Just the Fluxus way.

To celebrate the 1,000,060th anniversary of art, HOK will transform into a FLUXUS gift shop for 60 minutes on Tuesday, January 17, at 8pm. Here the birthday art can be viewed, purchased, and taken home with you. With prices ranging from 6 to 60 euros.
The 60-minute sound of the FLUXUS gift shop will be broadcast as noise on the “Art’s Birthday” network and will be heard from Tokyo to Vancouver.

Didn’t Yoko Ono present her little bulbs ball of air to the MOMA gift shop, for the visitors to take home something unforgettable?
And what are we taking home from HOK this birthday? A genuine, unadulterated multiple by one of HOK’s ever increasing bunch of free-spirited artists and friends. That is: a signed and numbered piece of art, made in a small edition, at a friendly price. A print, a piece of ceramic, a button, a doll, a piece of fabric? Whatever the artists set their minds to. As long as it’s playful and not too serious.

You are totally invited for those 60 minutes, to share a slice of cake, fold a paper hat and stuff your bags. Bob Lens’ alarm clock concert has been silenced and with Willem de Ridder, Fluxus Northern Europe chapter has lost its chairman and mail order entrepreneur, but we are all still here to brew a party.

The multiples will remain on view and can be obtained in HOK even after the anniversary, the entire weekend of Friday 20, Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 January, in the afternoon from 1 to 5.

HOK Gallery

Jerusalem Diaries

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In 1997 I went to Jerusalem with my wife because she had to attend a congres. During the daytime, when my wife would be present at lectures and discussions on ancient languages, I made walks in the city. I walked along the ancient wall and visited some of the gates of Jerusalem. The thing that most impressed me was life in East-Jerusalem. The Israeli part of the city made me think of the US, the west coast. In the eastern part of the old city I felt I could experience life in the middle east. I made a series of drawings in my sketchbook. Looking forward to another visit to Israel, I thought it might be interesting to publish some from my 1997 sketchbook.

The text on the first sketch says:
This sketching book starts in Jerusalem on August 5, 1997.
It concerns only some small details that I noticed, that entered my eye and it mingles with what is already there.
The choice of subjects is probably decided by what preceded our journey.
I saw the eye in an advert in East Jerusalem, a nice start for a series of sketches.

ART BBQ Studio-playlists

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Last Sunday my personal Studio Playlist for the year 2021 was published on ART BBQ. Rotterdam sculptor Ron van der Ende publishes playlists of befriended artists every year since 2006. Its the music they hear during work in their studio. I have participated since the beginning and always found it a nice and reflective thing to do. He also asks for pictures concerning the art practice to illustrate the page the playlists are published on which give some very nice insights of the way artists do their work and what their studios look like.

FeMaler

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A-Trans in Berlin asked Ellen Rodenberg to make an installation in their Schaufenster exhibitions in Subwaystation Kleistpark. This season the theme of all A-Trans exhibitions is “A Femme City” dealing with the female gaze on urban developments. Ellen complied and decided to ask her male-EX-MÊKH companions Maarten Schepers and Kees Koomen to design a pendant of her installation focussing on the element of gender in EX-MÊKH.

The exhibition FeMaler will be visible from September 11 until Oktober 18 at Vitrine U – Kleistpark (U7) in 10783 Berlin.
The opening will take place with two performances on friday September 11 at 19.00 h.

“…When do we talk of a female gaze and of a female approach? What does it look like? I decided to engage the men of the EX-MÊKH-collective in this project in order to be able to hold the development of my work against the light of a male/female concept. Two shop windows next to each other, organized with work based on the male/female concept. I had discussions with Maarten Schepers and Kees Koomen about the difference in strategies, upbringing, social behavior and networking. When do we talk about expressing oneself with personal character and where do we observe the influence of gender?…”

(Ellen Rodenberg, 2020)

A-Trans