2024

I have been advocating for real encounters with art for many years. You have to be there to experience it. The disadvantage of art is that you are not allowed to touch it, while that touchability, being able to play with it, enhances the experience. Certainly for children. And I often receive groups when I exhibit, I make an effort for that. Playing with art; a series of drawings, 36 to be precise, with which you can play a game to determine how it will be hung. Try to make units of three where a similarity you find determines the choice. Then explain this to your opponents, especially if it is not clear. You can determine the rules of the game yourself or delve into the game Set, that comes closest. There is not one solution.

Incidentally, apart from the fact that they are (existing) chairs, there is one similarity between all 36 unique chairs.

Levelen V,(Leveling) where the tube frame appears drawn but is cut out, where the shadow effect still gives the shape the metallic color (or is that just projection based on conditioning?) which I made earlier this year, forced me kind of to go even further. That work challenged me to investigate whether it could be done with even less. A sample convinced me and here is the result: Solo simili. Simili refers to the paper used, namely simili japon. This is from the Dutch paper factory Schut.

The most concerned with his own reflection is certainly the Greek mythical figure Narcissus. The famous Italian painter Caravaggio made a masterful painting about it. This graceful chair turns its back on us, but in a detour its downside is clearly visible to us. In painting, the use of mirrors or reflective surfaces has a long tradition. An impressive example is Las Meninas by the Spanish painter Diego Velazquez from 1656. However, depicted in this sober way, in addition to the mirroring, the focus is also entirely on the chair depicted and on the frames. This combination forms an image that we know in many variations from popular culture.

This Carrousel II was actually made as a sketch at the same time as Carrousel. Because I didn’t have the frame for this one yet, unlike Carrousel, it was completed a little later. But there is more because in this drawing I have again used the cutting technique and also mounted the circle of chairs in front of the background, giving the light the opportunity to subtly influence the drawing. It creates subtle confusion.