Paintings
Afstammelingen IV
What a goldmine the book 2100 tubular frame chairs (collectors item!) by Otakar Macel is for me. Certainly the cantilever as conceived by Mart Stam. This fits perfectly in an isometric grid. In this way I can combine Stam’s original version with many followers. I do not look so much at name, fame or country of origin but purely at form. Stam is again accompanied by his descendants in this fourth ‘Afstammelingen’ (Descendants).
Schaduwen III
Does this couple grab the countless spotlights? Judging by the large number of shadows, you would say yes. Another possibility is that two worlds come together here, the real one and that of the shadows. In any case, the shadow group forms a solid backup for the arm-in-arm pair of Thonet chairs. Are they the families who support a fresh new couple in the background and put them in the spotlight on this special day?
Gearmd
As a form, a repetition of that from Pas de deux XIV from 2023 and Pas de deux XV from 2024. I played the game with shadows earlier in the works Rising Revolt or Shadows. The arm-to-arm Thonet chairs feel as if they are supported in the back by the looming shadows. They push them forward, as if. A beautiful stage for a good conversation or a newlywed couple.
Babel IV
Cutting away the residual shapes when I arrange or stack chairs started with Rietveld and has since conquered its place in my way of working and also thinking. In a small drawing like Backwards or in a large work like Tijdkring X. When cutting out, I also try to push my boundaries. Reason to dust off the starting point behind Babylonian score from 2018. Spatial and flat interwoven in several ways into a subtle fabric that subtly seems to move with changing light.
Tijdkring X
In a sense, you can see the curved furniture as Thonet invented it as a precursor or, if you like, a preliminary stage of the tubular frame chair. In my work it worked the other way around. First the connection to a ‘multi-seating object’ of the tubular frame chair as recently with Tijdkring IX but also earlier with Tijdkring VII, VI and even earlier Tijdkring III (2007). In this work, as with no. IX, I used the cutting technique by making part of the image separately on watercolor-cardboard and mounting this part later. The shadows that are created this way provide a pleasant tingling sensation but also some confusion for the viewer. I briefly considered calling this work ‘Thonetwork’ but that went too far for me, although of course it is that.
Insiders will recognize Thonet no. 14, which has here interlocked the armrests, thus preventing this gathering from becoming too relaxed. Because leaning back is out of the question.
Pas de deux XV
The pencil drawing Pas de deux XIV asked, even screamed to my mind, for a place in the series of pas de deux watercolours. Added to Pas de deux X, Pas de deux XI and the somewhat older Pas de deux IX and actually also older versions that have since found a home elsewhere. The choice for a ‘back figure’ also imposed itself. Despite this wood bent by Thonet, they straightened their backs and, strengthened by each other, enter a future that we do not yet see. In the meantime we know that this future was rich and still is, this chair is still as popular as ever and is still produced. Who knows what the future will bring?
Tijdkring IX
The title Time Circle first appeared in my work in 2002. Before that, there were many works in which the circle was a crucial part of the image. Like, for example, Meal of Friends or Stoelendans (Musical chairs). Visualizing the intimate connection with each other is perhaps more beautiful than reality because friction quickly begins to occur there. The moment when every individual fits comfortably into the group never lasts long. Recognizing that moment and enjoying it is often only possible when you look back. The cutting technique that I first discovered in Rietveld and subsequently applied in many works such as Stampede or Babel’s End II is also applicable on this scale.
Levelen IV
In the series of ‘levelen’ this is also literally the next level because this time it consists of three layers. Once again indebted to the unsurpassed tubular frame chair, and more specifically the one made from one tube. Ode again to Mart Stam as far as I’m concerned. This chair lends itself particularly well in an isometric grid, see previous works such as Descendants and Descendants II. The isometric system, also known as ‘Japanese perspective’, is particularly known by MC Escher, who based many of his works on it.
Levelen II
The single-tube frame chair lends itself perfectly to this kind of rhythmic compositions with which I can combine my interest in patterns very well.
Depicted so flat via a photo, and now on a screen, you miss the subtle layering that is in the work. Commit yourself by looking at the work from different angles and the image seems to move. Grab the next opportunity to come and see it in real time.
Medusa’s moves
Making the pencil drawing Medusa’s chair, this possibility soon presented itself. The confusing pattern I expected as a result, when combining both points of view together in one drawing, seemed to me to be a nice interpretation of swishing ‘medusa legs’. Of course again with a thonet chair because its chair leg approaches a snake the best!
Shadows III
Shadows shadowing the chairs? Shadows that have come loose? Chairs that exchange their shadows with each other? This choreography of chairs and shadows is enhanced by the incident light adding extra shadows. The image therefore changes subtly under the influence of the variable light.
Shadows II
Making the light work for me. It remains a rewarding discovery. In fact, it’s so obvious that I’m surprised I didn’t think of it sooner. Watercolor lends itself particularly well to working with subtle tones and thus creating or suggesting shadows, for example. So after Shades of grey, Shadows and Rising Revolt I made this Shadows II.
Rising Revolt
It’s almost impossible, especially for someone my age, not to have sat in a revolt chair somewhere in your life. Manufacturer Ahrend still makes this Friso Kramer design. One of the reasons to use this chair working on this idea. Of course, a recently purchased booklet, entirely devoted to this chair, gave it another boost. It also appears in my much larger work Crowd which I just completed, which is another reason.
Crowd
A large number of very different characters all have the same goal, it seems. They come running and go to… But where are they going? Are they gathering and possibly getting ready for something that is about to happen? A speach or a performance. Or is it a protest march? Is there too little sitting nowadays? Or too much of course.
Shades of grey
Step out of the shadows. When does a shadow cross into the tangible world? Is that possible? You can at least make the eye believe that. Albeit only very briefly, because then the ratio always comes into play.
It makes a difference that you can go through this ‘process’ again and again, that certainly contributes to the durability of the work.