Shop
Draagstoel II
Sedan chairs you only see them in museums nowadays, a relic from times gone by. Now you can see the car as a modern version of a sedan chair, a self-driving one even. That development and the associated improvement of the road network manoeuvred the sedan chair into oblivion.
Another angle is a chair with a recess in the back so that it is easier to lift. You often see these in catering- and school situations. See for example Duet and Duet II or Snorrenstoel.
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.
Twee dimensies
Playing with dimensions is something I do quite often. In this case you get a clear two-dimensional image partly made with three-dimensional parts. The result is simply alienating. This tubular frame chair, which I know from the beautiful exhaustive overview of the tubular frame chair by Otakar Macel, lends itself perfectly to this.
Pas de deux XVI
This sixteenth Pas de deux definitely belongs in the series because just like the other fifteen, both chairs share a part somewhere or they touch each other on one spot. Just like in a pas de deux when both partners also alternate very intense and then again extremely subtle contact with each other. Yet this one is also very different from the other fifteen.
For those who are interested: Where is that in?
Mail me your answer via the contact page and you will receive a book in return.
Spel
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.
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?
Framing Saarinen
The ‘framing series’ started with this one: ‘Framing Rietveld‘. Four more followed to arrive at ‘Sleep‘. An unintended side effect, especially if the frame is relatively large/wide in relation to the drawing, is that the frame then seems to fold back as a plane on which the image is drawn. An exploration also of whimsical frame shapes, although in this case too it is debatable to still speak of drawing and frame. The Tulip chair (manufactured by the American Knoll) by Eero Saarinen is then a very suitable starting point. A tribute.
Solo simili
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.
Bookaction
A special offer for this occasion because during Huntenkunst 2024 you can purchase both books in one purchase for only 30 euros. And I’ll sign them for you too.
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.