Piet Dirkx cigarbox 681
Jake & Dinos Chapman ( 1966 & 1962)…brothers in art.
Their art is “fun” for the art nlover that takes his time and wants to discover. Not only highly original but beside the the horror depicted, there is always a layer of humor and fun in their works. I first encountered their works at the Groninger Museum , where a large Retrospective in 2003 was held and i was sold. ( catalogue available at www.ftn-book.com) and it struck me these works are not only filed with horror, but study them closely and you will find humor in them too.
Jake and Dinos belong to the ( not so ) young and influential British art scene which appeared in the Nineties and gathered , because of their recognizable, original works a huge worldwide following and in 2003 their works were presented at the Groninger Museum. See these and they will leave you wondering is this horror or are these scenes entertain. It leaves you thinking about them for a very long time and they stay with you in your memory. These are not light works of art, because some are so powerful and explicit, but stay with them for some time and you will distinguish some lighter parts and sometimes downright ridiculous elements within them.
Piet Dirkx daily …680
Piet Dirkx cigarbox 680
Haus Konstruktiv – Zurich- Suisse
Museum Haus Konstruktiv – the Foundation for Constructive and Concrete Art
It was 2 months ago that i visited the museum HAUS KONSTRUKTIV. At first a little disappointed but the Graevenitz exhibition made the visit worthwhile . Personally i think it is importnat that such a small part of the modern art scene has an excellent platform in which special exhibitions can be held.
The Haus Konstruktiv is located in one of the most distinctive icons of Zurich’s industrial architecture, providing a space for concrete art.
The museum is dedicated to the exploration of concrete, constructive and conceptual art. The Museum Haus Konstruktiv focuses on making it part of a living dialog with international trends in contemporary art.
Over the five floors of the former Selnau electricity sub-station, visitors discover works of art in the context of their historical background through temporary exhibitions and collection presentations. Also on permanent display are treasures from the museum’s own collection, the legendary “Rockefeller Dining Room” by the Swiss artist Fritz Glarner. Beside the special exhibitions the Haus Konstruktiv has an excellent exhibition program of which some publications are available at www.ftn-books.com
( to be continued )
Piet Dirkx daily …679
Piet Dirkx cigarbox 679
“Negerkunst uit Centraal Afrika”
Yesterday morning there was an article in the Volkskrant about the way art in museums by colored people and minorities must be described . The reason why the dutch museums are also looking for a desirable idiom is that also in dutch history there is a part of their history which is very doubtful. The catalogue which is in the title is the example which was given in the article ( available at www.ftn-books.com ). The exhibition was in those days, (which is very recent history) announced by the journalists and museum as “primitive art by natives inspired by western civilization a way of announcement as if we in Western Europe were civilized and others not.” A complete wrong way of describing the art from these artists. On the positive side…Sandberg was the one who thought these artists deserved a museum platform in the Stedelijk Museum as early as 1957. which was the place for these artists where they could, for the first time, present and show their art , side by side with Malevich and Mondrian. I can really understand why some words and expressions can not be used any longer, however …where a museum decides to remove an object from an exhibited collection and with this action denying some of the history from a country, should not be done…. in my opinion a better way would be to keep it within the collection and add an explanation why the museum thinks different nowadays about an object . This way explaining and not judging. Let the public judge for itself if the object is still beautiful or not.
Piet Dirkx daily …678
Piet Dirkx cigarbox 678
Norman Parkinson (1913-1990)
Another photographer . Yesterday William Klein and today Norman Parkinson. Two different approached to photography. For me Parkinson stands for typical sixties photography. Fashion and Royalty were his expertise and because of that expertise he stayed practically his entire life the preferred photographer choice of the British Royals. These photographs were typically staged photographs, they showed nothing spontanious and every pose, setting and prop was well thought over an staged. ( Yes, Audrey Hepburn is some kind of cinematic Royalty too)
His fashion photographs were much more loose and therefore i prefer these above the Royal photographs.
It is noot a very common book to find. A monography with photographs by Norman Parkinson is a rarity , but still www.ftn-books.com has one in its inventory.
Piet Dirkx daily …677
Piet Dirkx cigarbox 677
Seven Deadly Sins (1969) and Gerd Arntz
In 1969 the Walburg press published a prestige publication containing . original prints by dutch artist on theme of ZEVEN HOOFDZONDEN / SEVEN DEADLY SINS . The edition only 375 copies were printed. Bound in a beautiful gold special paper cover. Among the artist there is Gerd Arntz who made a print on the ENVY theme.
There si no way i can describe this publication in a way to do it justice so i decided to publish all the print pages of the book. The book is available at www.ftn-books.com
