Cat

alog

ue W

orks

#5

Nov

embe

r 20

10

artists

Marit Maes | the Netherlands Tessa Reintjens | the Netherlands Wieneke Gerrits | the Netherlands Sabine Bolk | the Netherlands Giel Louws | the Netherlands Tamara Dees | the Netherlands

Virtual Art Residence

Image | Rice carpet for Vincent | ©Sabine Bolk | photo ©2010 Ron Dirven

VAR

YOUNGILLUSTRATORS

Aafke de Groot

Esly van den Elsen

Marit Maes

Suzanne de Zwart

Tessa Reintjens

Thei Evertz

Wieneke Gerrits

Plek - ergens waar je kunt zijn

Tessa

Er zijn van die beelden die je ooit eens gezien hebt, en dan zo nu en dan weer eens in je

gedachten opduiken. Afgaande op mijn vorige

bericht, vind ik ook dit een soort weerspiegeling.

Het gaat zijn eigen leven leiden en vervormt zich naar

je eigen beleving. Ik wil graag verder gaan met dit gegeven.

Beelden die zich in mijn gedachten lijken te hebben

vastgezet en zo mijn kijk op dingen kan beïnvloeden.

Wieneke

VAR

youngillustrators November 9 & 14 2010

Previous Post De plek is daar waar ik in mijn hoofd naartoe reis. Soms vergeet ik te gaan, maar een mooie zin, een fijne film, het juiste gevoel herinnert me eraan dat die plek er is. Onaantastbaar, ondefinieerbaar. Ik wil hem zo graag grijpen, vasthouden in mijn handen, substantie geven. Maar eigenlijk ook niet. Want juist het feit dat ik de plek alleen in mijn gedachten bestaat, dat ik hem kan vormgeven en veranderen zoals ik wens, maakt die plek bijzonder. Alleen ik weet wanneer ik ga, niemand ziet het. Soms ben ik daar en hier tegelijk. Tessa

Selectie beeldverzameling

Een selectie van mijn beeldverzameling voor „het einde van de

wereld‟, Finisterre Alle beelden gaan over een wereld op zichzelf. Doet me denken aan Finisterre omdat hier een kleine groep mensen in een eigen

wereld leven, die los lijkt te staan van de rest van de wereld. Selectie van eigen beeld volgt.

Marit

oude kaart die ik ooit ergens vond

flyer tent, Rotterdam

foto van Don Sars

VAR

youngillustrators November 14 2010

Ithaka Als je doel Ithaka is en je vertrekt daarheen, dan hoop ik dat je tocht lang zal zijn, en vol nieuwe kennis, vol avontuur. Vrees geen Laistrigonen en Kyclopen, of een woedende Poseidon; je zult ze niet tegenkomen op je weg, als je gedachten verheven zijn, en emotie je lichaam en geest niet verlaat. Laistrigonen en Kyclopen, en de razende Poseidon zul je niet tegenkomen op je weg, als je ze al niet meedroeg in je ziel, en je ziel ze niet voor je voeten werpt. Ik hoop dat je tocht lang mag zijn, de zomerochtenden talrijk zijn, en dat het zien van de eerste havens je een ongekende vreugde geeft. Ga naar de warenhuizen van Fenicië, neem er het beste uit mee.

Ik [ Marit ] vond ook een gedicht

Ga naar de steden van Egypte, en leer van een volk dat ons zoveel te leren heeft. Verlies Ithaka niet uit het oog; daar aankomen was je doel. Maar haast je stappen niet; het is beter dat je tocht duurt en duurt en je schip pas ankert bij Ithaka, wanneer je rijk geworden bent van wat je op je weg hebt geleerd. Verwacht niet dat Ithaka je meer rijkdom geeft. Ithaka gaf je een prachtige reis; zonder Ithaka zou je nooit vertrokken zijn. Het gaf je alles al, meer geven kan het niet. En mocht je vinden dat Ithaka arm is, denk dan niet dat het je bedroog. Want je bent een wijze geworden, hebt intens geleefd, en dat is de betekenis van Ithaka. 4

Konstantinos Kavafis (1863 – 1933)

VAR

er kwam een beetje regen op mijn schrift

youngillustrators November 16 & 20 2010

Tessa Tessa

Fragmenten

Een beetje verfijning van het idee achter mijn project: de fragmenten die ik wil uit-beelden zijn de beelden die mijn bele-vingswereld vormen. Die mijn kijk op de dingen, op de wereld bepaalt. Het zijn de dingen die zijn blijven hangen en die mijn gemoed kunnen bepalen of juist bij een be-paalde emotie naar boven komen. Tegelijkertijd besef ik ook dat deze beelden eigenlijk universeel zijn. Iedereen kent ze en ze bestaan uit herkenbare fragmenten. Maar ik denk dat het juist de combinatie is, de manier waarop de details samengaan, die het persoonlijk maken of bij de beleving van een bepaalde persoon laten horen. Bijna een soort hermetisch afgesloten ruimte, zowel persoonlijk als universeel. En waar ligt die grens? Wieneke

photo‟s ©2010 Hans Overvliet see also PZC-video [ Dutch spoken ]

VAR Middelburg protests against the cutbacks on art & culture November 20 2010

VAR

On Saturday 30 October I went back to Zundert to see what was left over of the rice carpet I made for Vincent. I expected to maybe document one last grain of rice, but I found the carpet almost intact. I still don‟t know what‟s stranger. The fact that the carpet was almost still complete and that only 2 apples where missing.. I‟m thinking it were the cooks of the restaurant, the local squirrel is the next suspect. Or that Coal Tits read newspapers… I told the local newspaper BN de Stem that I preferred little birds like Coal Tits eating my carpet, instead of seagulls…

Sabine Bolk

Sabine Bolk November 1 2010

VAR Sabine Bolk November 1 & 2 2010

photo ©2010 Ron Dirven

Just called the Vincent van GoghHuis to check on my rice carpet. This week it‟s not possible for me to go back to Zundert. The lady of the reception told me, after one of her colleagues went outside to see if the carpet was still there, that it was still mostly intact. She said: “Only small birds come here, they “scharrelen” around the carpet all day, but they don‟t make a mess of it like big birds”. I ask the director to make some pictures, hope he will, and then I share them with you! [ see last page ] I booked the Van Gogh caravan again for later this month till end of December. My plan for then, for now, is to explore Vincent‟s use of patterns (background of the portrays) he made, his use of color and his love for Japan, my love for Indonesia and how Asia inspires art & artist now & always.

VAR

Sabine Bolk November 3 2010

ZUNDERT – Op het tuinterras van het Van GoghHuis ligt sinds afgelopen donderdag een zonnebloem in de vorm van een rijsttapijt. Vanwege vogelvraat echter zal het kunstwerk slechts korte tijd te bewonderen zijn. Vogeltjes in allerlei soorten en van ver-schillende grootte proeven er volop van. Zeker nu de zomer is verwisseld voor de herfst, komt de lekkernij bij onze gevederde diertjes als een Godsgeschenk. Rijst, zonnebloemzaden, maïs en fruit zijn onder meer de materialen waarvan de zonnebloem op kunstzinnige ma-nier door kunstenares Sabine Bolk op het tuin-terras is neergelegd. Ze heeft dit gedaan als onderdeel van een Virtual Art Residence waarvoor zij verblijft in de zogenaamde Van Goghcaravan. Sabine Bolk studeerde af aan de kunstacademie Sint Joost te Breda en heeft iets met Van Gogh. De zonnebloem die een doorsnee heeft van ongeveer 2,5 meter is ook te zien via de weblog sabinebolk.wordpress.com

Atelier “Haar project in de tuin van het Van Goghhuis geeft een feestelijk tintje aan de start van de bouw van het gastatelier naast de kosterswoning uit de tijd van Vincent van Gogh waaraan de aannemer inmiddels is be-gonnen,” zegt Ron Dirven, directeur-con-servator van het Van GoghHuis. Naast het nieuwe atelier komen in de gerestaureerde kosterswoning een galerie en een gastenverblijf. ”Kunstenaars uit binnen- als buitenland die in de voetsporen van Van Gogh treden kun-nen er gebruik van maken,” laat Dirven we-ten. Het gastenverblijf wordt op de eerste verdieping gerealiseerd. Het project dat dankzij subsidie van de Provincie mogelijk wordt gemaakt, wil men in maart volgend jaar afgerond hebben. Charles Luijten in de Zundertse Bode 03|11|2010

Start bouw atelier Van GoghHuis, kunstzinnige zonnebloem op tuinterras markeert aftrap

VAR Giel Louws November 1 2010

Today I was back in my studio after a week working. Not too much energy to start painting though. I did reframe a work on a smaller frame. So it does get more abstract and up close. I feel it is a good way to refresh your work, and it is added too our possibilities since Jackson Pollock. I‟m not sure yet of the result, let‟s hang it on the wall for a while. Hanging it, I realized there were no open eyes left in the whole series. Can you get in some ones soul, without going through their eyes?

Eyes shut

Giel Louws

Giel Louws November 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 2010

VAR

Back This work has undergone many changes. Sometimes images are so powerful, they tend to be obvious. I toned this one down many times. Let‟s see if this version will hold its ground.

It did not happen I worked very hard today, and I had superb control over my brush. That meant that a few boring works were made. The magic happens somehow when coincidences occur. So working hard, and being brilliant does not mean too much. This profession is hard to explain…..

Yesterday I did a workshop for children. Sometimes you just have to love them for their openness and directness. Those can be two parameters to come to a piece of art. Of course, for a real piece of art you need more, but some of their works came quite close. One of them made a great monument for his cat, who died recently. He drew himself as his cat, what a great kid ! (well done T. ! for raising such an open minded darling)

Dante Alighieri Divina Commedia Today I finally finished reading these books, I must say, quite hard work. Especially the last book, Heaven, is seriously boring. Interesting is the Medieval look on life and religion, by the 35 year old Dante. The view on the world is as being centre of the universe, with hell beneath us, and the heavens above us. He travels in a vision from the deepest circles of hell via the purgatory to the highest heavens, which reside on the planets. Guides for this journey are Vergil and his first love Beatrice. A large part of this book is about dogmatics, and Dante‟s view on his time. Which make it a hard read, because he talks about a lot of people who are totally unknown to the every day reader. The interesting thing is the mix of religion and mythology, and his total adoration for Beatrice. The first book about hell is naturally the most interesting read. I can‟t really recommend reading this trilogy; it took me months to finish.

Not sure yet Worked hard on this picture. It has certain qualities, especially when viewed from different distances. Hard to show on the net. But no excuses.

Art and society Recent developments in politics, art sales and debates make clear that there is a large gap between modern art and the public. A lot of the artists even do not seem to be bothered by that. The public is not informed about the facts, but has a strong opinion anyway. And the government is on the side of the public, and seems evenly informed. When did this gap occur, or was it always there?

| see next page|

Giel Louws November 8 & 9 & 11 & 16 2010

VAR

Art and society | continuation It‟s true that in the 17th century almost everybody had one or more paintings on the wall. But those paintings were not con-sidered to be art, as these works were valued in a total different way as art now. So maybe we can conclude that a painting then equals a flat screen, antique or design piece now. The question is, does the public need to learn more about art, or does the artist need to learn about his public ? Or do we continue as we are now, and be comfortable with our positioning as high culture ? It looks to me that there is a defining moment to come in this matter. The government is drastic-cally reducing the subsidies on art, and has even an attitude of contempt. For example by appointing a secretary for the arts, who does not seem to be very much interested in art. Maybe there is a new era on the ver-ge for the arts, closely attached to, and financed by the society, or even more separated from society, Art for Art. I really do not know where we are going, and probably reality proves to be more complex as my theory, but it feels like a defining time to me.

Today

Foggy day Maybe it‟s the rising clouds of fog I saw this morning, that make me a bit woolly today. My head is not really clear, and I‟ve only done some smaller jobs today. Adjustments to some works, and vacuuming the studio. So the work I will show today is possibly not great, I excused myself on forehand. I‟m showing this one on the wall, because I freshly painted it. So you can see that I filled my time wisely.

Not sure yet | 2

I reframed the picture from the earlier post. It‟s now square, and I got rid of the orange. The sides still show the reframe, and that‟s o.k. with me.

Giel Louws November 18 & 19 & 21 2010

VAR

Reworked

Today I found the courage to rework this painting.

I thought it was alright, but decided that is never good enough. So I picked up the brus-hes and reworked it. It is now in this state, that is already more to my liking.

Reappearing-themes My dear friend M. is making a short documentary on me and my work. She really moved me when she expressed her love for my work to me. Looking at my work from the last ten years, some themes seem to come back over and over again. They seem to be anchored in my subconscious. For example the faces, as this one from about 2000, that also misses the eyes.

One of my concerns was the surface of the painting, it was flat and a bit too shiny. I tried to make more of a painting of it, meaning that it should be more than a picture of a face. A good picture has the complete range of colors in it, and is monu-mental. It has a variety of brushstrokes, and the surface has a range of different re-flections. The picture is anatomically cor-rect (or feels so), even the sides of the pain-ting count. There should be a balance be-tween esthetics and rawness, spontaneity and hard labor. Every millimeter counts. Pretty impossible.

Bach

Today I made the mistake to listen to the Goldberg variations by Glenn Gould again. They always haunt me for days after relistening them. For me they belong to the greatest marvels on earth. Somehow this music summarizes life. In its mathematics it measures the universe, and in its poetry the human experience. Especially the 1955 recording is astounding, Gould takes great liberties in his performance. Somehow he seems to extract the beauty out of these pieces so that I can understand it. Seeing him play is also very moving. He was one of the first classic performers that understood the power of recording. In his recordings we can hear the search for the ultimate. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv94m_S3QDo&feature=player_embedded

Giel Louws November 21 & 23 2010

VAR

Reappearing-themes | continuation

And to my surprise this sleeping self-portrait from 2006!

First set-up for a painting in charcoal, today.

Size

This week I will make an attempt to create some larger works again. Same themes, but on a larger scale. The questions about scale are constantly there. Why small size, and why big ? There are some pictures that I want to make that I simple cannot get to work on a small size canvas. There is a totally different relation to a large work then to a small work. A small size work does force you to approach it. A large work tends to include you more, and give more variations in distances of watching it. In a small work the borders are more apparent. It is important always to make the decision again which size to use for what content, and which surroundings.

And the photographic study of myself with eyes closed. (2007 ish) Somehow comforting these surprise finds.

VAR G

iel Giel Louws November 25 & 29 & 30 2010

Moving pictures It took me ages to figure this out. Well here‟s a short sightseeing trip through my studio.

Beauty and consolation From all the magnificent arts, music is the most captivating to me. In these gloomy dark days I received today the cd with Gorecki‟s third symphony. It combines beauty, simpli-city and sorrow in a heartbreaking three movements. The second movement is based on the chilling writings on the wall of a Gestapo basement in 1944. The captured 18 years old Helena writes; No, Mother, do not weep. Most chaste Queen of Heaven support me always. Ave Maria. Yesterday there was a small festival of folk-based music. Eighty people sat in a small room round the performers. Whatever one may think of the music, we all set there; eighty people in a small room, round the performers. This one is for my friend, you know who you are, and where I am.

Night garden For a light project I‟m making some small pictures of nocturnal gardens. Never made paintings of darkness. At a certain point colors do fade into grays. So these paintings are balancing on the edge of color, and a sort of bizarre colors from electric lighting.

VAR

Sabine Bolk | second period

All paintings Yesterday I was “suppoosting” at the Interference exhibition I help organizing. Every morning going to work I pass my favorite bookstore “De Ezelsoor” (dog-ear). In de window I saw that they had a book about Vincent van Gogh, subtitle “All paintings”. Off course I had to have it. So I decided to buy the book, with the gift certificate Isa Gama gave me for my birthday, before opening the exhibition. The book shows literally all Van Gogh‟s paintings with when, where and why he made it. They tell a lot about the cultural philosophy of that time, like how “Japonisme” was popular in the West, in lifestyle and art. It also tells about how Vincent developed a fear of getting successful. He accepted that an artist life was hard and being poor & undervalued were part of that lifestyle. At the end of his life he became more well-known and got good reviews about his painting. He actually wrote the journalist and told him that he had it all wrong and gave credit to the wrong artist… When I started art academy I met this homeless person while waiting for my bus. He ask me what I did, after he told me he lived like this for many years. I told him very happy that I just started the art academy in Breda. He sighed and nodded his head. “You choice to suffer” he said.

Sabine Bolk November 13 2010

VAR

Sabine Bolk November 13 2010

Ending & start Received these photo‟s by Ron Dirven in my mail yesterday. The sunflower looks now like the Indian symbol “Swastika”. In Batik Simbut this symbol looks more like a sun with more “arms” like the sunflower in the pictures. It symbolize the turning sun, and with that, the cycle of life. Starting tomorrow with my next virtual residence stay, this is a nice and symbolic ending of my first period at the Van Gogh caravan!

photo ©2010 Ron Dirven

photo ©2010 Ron Dirven

VAR

Sabine Bolk November 19 2010

Japonisme Received these photo‟s by Ron Dirven in my mail yesterday. The sunflower looks now like the Indian symbol “Swastika”. In Batik Simbut this symbol looks more like a sun with more “arms” like the sunflower in the pictures. It symbolize the turning sun, and with that, the cycle of life.

This watercolor is based on a Japanese style dress I own with a flower motif & a block calendar (scheurkalender) which I had in 2007. Every day of the year a new, different motif/pattern, I used some of them in my work, like this one, and keep them all in a folder in my studio. These specific motifs where old Chinese wallpaper designs. Thinking about Vincent‟s “Japonisme”, I noticed that I did some “Japonisme” myself. My Graduation Project for the HAVO was about how Manga developed from Ukiyo-e (Japanese woodcut print) and how Manga influenced Japanese Youth (in fashion style. Me & Susan didn‟t know for a fact if Manga was the modern version of Ukiyo-e or that Youth was really influenced in there dressing style by Manga, but we used these starting-points for our research. The so-called “Harajuku” scene bloomed not so long after we did our project, it was really difficult to get all the information when we started it. During our project a publication called “Fruits” was released. The book was published by a Japanese magazine about street fashion & scenes. This book was the first (besides the Internet) to give a real insight in how Youth was really influenced by Manga. In 2004 pop star Gwen Stefani launched her first Solo Album backed up by the “Harajuku Girls” and even released a fashionline based on this Japanese street fashion scene. I will share more about the project I did with Susan van Uden later this week.

“Folding Screen”, Watercolor on paper, made in 2007

VAR

Sabine Bolk November 24 2010

For our presentation we dressed ourselves matching to the pro-ject. Traditional versus Now/Manga. I could only find this picture of me, I hope I‟ll find the one of us together soon! We made these old looking, paper roll, hangable, like woodcut prints, overviews, showing our story from Japanese woodcut prints, Ukiyo-e, till Manga and Japanese Youth inspired by Manga and Amimé.

Reading the report of the project I did with Susan van Uden in the last year of high school I was really surprised about how grown-up we sounded. It‟s a lot of information and I share it all with you!

“real” Manga & Japanese wood cut prints. These images are full of violence & sex. We weren‟t allowed to show these images, so the end result was a bit dull, but never the less it was a fun & inspiration (and still is) project to do.

See for the complete report: http://sabinebolk.wordpress.com/

Kamehameha

It‟s in Dutch, so I tell roughly what it is about in English. Me & Susan were big fans of the Animé T.V. series Dragonball Z. We had to do a project with a research and a presentation on paper and before an audience. It had to combine two of our school majors. We selected history and art. I don‟t remember how we ca-me up with this subject. I do remember that it was difficult to find the right information, I read a lot of books about the history of Japan. We even got in some trouble with it, because we wanted to show the

Hendrick Avercamp, Winter landschaps, Circa 1608

VAR

The Art Management November 22 2010

Virtual Art Winter Residence After a long and lively board meeting, the art management of Virtual Art Residence deci-ded to open a Virtual Art Winter Residence. Location and form are under investiga-tion. We welcome ideas from our current guests on this matter. Of course, as soon as a location is found, we will inform you.

Tamara Dees

About Oban Today I start my project about Oban. I will explain what Oban is and how I met Oban. It all starts with a famous print; The Great Wave off Kanagawa. This is the title of the woodblock print by the Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai. The print is part of a series of 36 views of the mount Fuji. Thirty six different pictures with the Fuji as a subject or in the background. One of the prints became more famous than the others. The Great Wave shows a boat in trouble on a huge wave. The wave is not a tsunami, that is a different shape. The shape is not as a tidal wave. It is an extreme overturning pyramidal wave (from the BBC documentary „story of a masterpiece‟). Probably it is meant to be a tsunami wave because the Kanagawa area was destroyed in the 15th century by a tsunami. The print size is called Oban. Oban is a standard size in woodblock printing like for instance A3 is for us. But what makes it intriguing for me is that the size Oban has several varieties. Untill now I found over 30 differencies.

23.5*33 24.1*31.8 24.1*34.9 24.1*36.2 24.1*36.8 24.1*36.9 24.3*36 24.8*33 24.8*36 24.8*36.1 24.8*36.2 24.8*36.7 24.8*36.8 24.9*35.9 24.9*36.2 25*36 25*37 25*37.9 25.3*36.8 25.3*37.2

From Oban to Oban While looking for everything about the size Oban, I learned that there is a place called Oban on the west coast of Scotland. A fishing harbor at Oban Bay. A bay on the other side of the world.

Tamara Dees November 15 & 16 2010

25.3*37.5 25.4*35.6 25.4*36.8 25.4*37.6 25.4*38 25.5*37.5 25.5*38 25.5*39 25.6*38.3 25.6*37.4 25.7*37.7 25.7*37.9 25.8*38 26*37.2 26*39.1 26.5*39 27*39.4 27.1*40.6 27.2*39.6

Old map of Kanagawa Bay or Jeddo Bay

I found this beautiful old map of the area Hokusai used as a base for his print. It was made in 1853 and can be found in the U.S.

National Archives. http://www.finebooksmagazine.com/issue/2

00907/japan-1.phtml

Sizes

Oban size variations found so far:

VAR

Tamara Dees November 16 & 20 2010

More sizes 22.5*36.5 23*38 24*35 24*36 24.5*35.5 25.8*37.1 25.8*38.4

Found a few more Oban sizes 22*33 25.2*38.8 25.5*37.2 25.6*38 26*38 26.3*38.7

Oban Scotland In Scotland there is a place called Oban. Not that special untill I found a book by Jules Verne, called The Green Ray. This story is placed in Oban area and is about a natural phenomenon called the green ray. A green light is seen sometimes when you sail out from Oban Bay. The book is illustrated by Le-on Benett. The first illustration shows a boat on a huge wave.

VAR

The Green Ray Today it looks like this is going to be a flut-ter theory so I just want to mention some-thing. The Green Ray is a work by Tacita Dean, a British artist with fascinating works. Her subjects and the way she approaches work have a lot of interfaces with mine and I love it obviously. She made a video in 2001 called The Green Ray of Madagaskar and a flipbook with stills from the video. In this work she documents the entire sunset at the sea of Madagaskar. The green ray is an optical phe-nomenon that occurs during the last moment of the sun‟s setting. Rarely seen from land, and then only when the horizon over the sea is 100% clear. In the video it‟s only a glimpse of a second, if you blink, you‟ll miss it. She said in an interview with The Independent; ”it looks like a pulsating lentil…but ac-cording to Jules Verne, if you see a green ray, you will be transformed.”

Tamara Dees November 21 & 23 & 25 2010

More Oban sizes 23.8*35.4 25.4*38.1 25.7*37.2 25.8*36 One more Oban size 23*33

VAR

still from The Green Ray of Madagaskar Tacita Dean

About Oban So far I found thirty nine variations of the size Oban. What‟s all this fuzz about size? Why do I want to research scale, size and it‟s relation to what you see and feel? I feel like I am hiding behind all the figures I found while I just want to enjoy travelling. Maybe I just want to make a trip from Oban to Oban and even through Jules Verne to Tacita Dean to find out about my work? It is all about digging into facts and be open to find new ways maybe with the same outcome. The trip is more important than the destination. Confused what to do now.

Virtual Art Residence

Cat

alog

ue w

orks

#5

Nov

embe

r 20

10

Image | Rice carpet for Vincent | ©Sabine Bolk | photo 2010© Ron Dirven