vrijdag 9 november 2012

Exhibition Laura de Josselin de Jong in Gallery/Shop 10 plus 10

Curated by Karin Bos (opening speech in Dutch:)

Karin Bos heeft een selectie gemaakt uit het werk van Laura en schreef daarover:


Laura de Josselin de Jong

Laura lijkt mij iemand zonder angst. Ze is gaan schilderen. Al haar ervaring en kunde, de bijzondere installaties, decors, kostuums en theatrale objecten die ze eerder maakte, dat alles laat ze los en ze begint opnieuw, met niks; een leeg wit plat vlak met als gereedschap slechts wat penselen en verf. Ze is niet bang om te falen, ze twijfelt wel, dat doen alle kunstenaars, dat is goed en hoort bij het proces. Een schilderij kan van alles worden en leidt soms zijn eigen leven. Het toeval, de mislukkingen en de rafels zijn juist spannend en leveren nieuwe inzichten op.
Als ik tijdens het proces in haar atelier mag kijken, ben ik verrast. Er staat een sterke serie landschappelijke schilderijen van verschillende formaten die een ode lijkt aan kleur, lichtval en schaduw. Niks geen gepriegel, maar mooi open, luchtig en gevoelig geschilderd, beelden die ikzelf mag invullen. Ik zie blauwe bomen waar het licht doorheen lijkt te schijnen tegen een paarse lucht bij een gifgroen poeltje – of is het gras, dat doet er niet toe. Het trekt me naar binnen in de wereld van de kunstenaar waar ik mag meekijken door haar ogen. Dan kan water roze zijn, dat overwoekerd lijkt door organische vormen, waterplanten wellicht. Op een verlaten stoel in een landschap ligt een jurkje, of liever, staat een jurkje merkwaardig stijf rechtop, alsof het niet wil accepteren dat het niet meer gedragen wordt. Soms zijn er mensen aanwezig, als silhouetten in de schaduw of juist in het volle zonlicht. Ik herken een riem, nou ja riem, dat klinkt wat te gewoontjes, eerder een heupsierraad, wat ze gemaakt heeft voor de winkel. Op het schilderijtje is het een organisch bouwwerk geworden. Mysterieus van vorm, opgebouwd met mooie contrasterende kleuren. De schilderijen verraden een onmiskenbaar talent voor compositie, licht en kleur. Haar toets is soms licht, bijna aquarelachtig en dan weer zwaar, met donkere accenten.

Ze vertelt: ”Ik schilder alles wat mij in het leven dierbaar is; mijn nichtje Cecilia, die zich speciaal voor mij in klederdracht tooit, Hanneke in Turkije of elders, de zon op onze tafel in de vroege ochtend, het zachte licht door de bomen van Bhutan, waar Gepke woont en een treffen met Eva in Parijs. Stofdessins verworden tot natuurlijke grillige patronen en de onweerbarstige vormen van de natuur worden navolgbare ritmes; een hommage aan mijn vader… en moeder.”

Dat is te zien. De energie en levenslust spat van haar werk af. Het is liefdevol en mooi, maar niet behaagziek, het is mooi en eigenzinnig. Op z'n Laura's.

Karin Bos, 29 augustus 2012
installation view exhibition Laura de Josselin de Jong at 10+10
opening speech by Karin Bos at exhibition Laura de Josselin de Jong
15 september t/m 27 oktober 2012
Openingstijden: vrijdag en zaterdag van 13.00 tot 17.00 uur, of op afspraak.
Quellijnstraat 92, 1072 XX Amsterdam, tel. 020-6750361

vrijdag 3 augustus 2012

Artist-in-residency Karin Bos & Erik Wuthrich at Zuiderzee Museum - Part Four

We are in the third week of the artist-in-residency project at the Zuiderzee Museum where museum room 4 is transformed into our temporary artists studio. Karin just finished her third oil painting. Source of inspiration for this painting "Bird Island" was a picture she took at the dike between Enkhuizen and Lelystad.
Karin Bos, Bird Island, oil on canvas, 40 x 50 cm.
The blog continues: August 2nd: In the morning we received a private tour at the depot of the museum, which was very interesting. Lots of paintings, furniture, objects, ceramic tiles, clotches, etc.

Depot Zuiderzeemuseum.
 In the afternoon the press arrived to interview us and report the launch of "Time".
Deconstructing TIME at the museum room

The sculpture is carried out through the garden of the indoor museum

The procession continues along the dike of the outdoor museum

Arrival at the outdoor museum docks

Entering the boat

Dropping the first ring of TIME into the water

Handing over the second ring

yes it floats

The third ring is launched
Rearranging the rings

audience

Is this the right spot?

A wire got stuck in the pump

The press is making pictures

Tada, let's do it.
Floating TIME in action.

Ready. The rings will stay in the water until August 12 and Erik will rearrange them on a regular base to try out different options.

Dinner on the street in front of our house at the outdoor museum
 August 3rd: Erik is busy rearranging TIME

Now the pump is not covering one of the rings anymore, but all three are clearly visible.
Karin Bos, Objects of desire, Venus II, mixed media on paper
Meanwhile Karin is working on her "Objects of desire" in the museum room, and trying to explain to bewildered visitors how the mind of an artist works..

Another amazing spot at the outdoor museum to catch some evening sun after opening hours.
August 4th: Erik is working on applying a pattern on his pond sculpture.
Erik draws the pattern which will function as a guideline for applying the mosaics.
It would be great to use tiles (the broken ones from the D-collection of the museum) from the depot of the museum! We discussed it with the museum staff members a week ago or so, and are now waiting for a go or no go..
The pattern is based on the nerves of a waterplant leaf, which does not follow the shape of the sculpture, therefore adding another layer to the piece. The lines will be filled with dark blue tile mosaics, and the forms in between the lines will (hopefully!) be filled with some of the amazing tiles we saw at the museum depot.
In the mean time Karin finished two more sketches of Zuiderzee Museum Girls for her fund raising project.
The sketches can be purchased for a symbolic amount of 150 euro per piece to support the Moving Targets projects. They are also available online: see blog post number 3 for the complete series.

August 5: The last week!
The drawn pattern will function as a guideline for the mosaics.
Karin is looking for pin-up girls to use them for her "Objects of desire" series. She found the perfect one in yesterdays newspaper: the icon Marilyn Monroe who died fifty years ago today. In the watercolour drawing the pose looks uncomfortable and the model not at ease, as if she is struggling, with her "shell dress" or her role as sex symbol.
(Popping up question: How would Marilyn look today if she would be young and alive, would she have an anorexia figure, or perhaps a tattoo?)
Karin Bos, Objects of desire III, Marilyn shell dress, mixed media on paper.
August 6th: It rains all day and it is so dark in the museum room that Karin decides that it has no use trying to produce a new work. In her Amsterdam studio she would just switch on the lights (special day light lamps) and paint.
Erik is still waiting for the white smoke to come, so both artists are visitor guides today instead of producing artists.
August 7th: There's another (very nice!) article published about our project in todays newspaper of Noord Hollands Dagblad, written by Tanja Koopen.
Unfortunately the scan we received from the museum can't be published or altered to fit on the blog, so it has to wait
August 8th: Tada, here it is:
Noord Hollands Dagblad, August 7 2012
August 9th:
One thing we didn't realize when we said yes to this project is the impact it has on ones mind being under constant surveillance. Of course we are watched by the visitors while we are working in the museum room, that's part of the whole concept. However, next to this, there's a huge 360ยบ vision camera right above Karins worktable, and Erik is being watched by a camera as well. It makes one super conscious of every gesture one makes.
The premises of the outdoor museum are also very well protected. Cameras are covering every inch of the village and as the security guards told us: “We can see everything and the cameras also have perfect night vision.”
So we are under 24/7 surveillance!
There are several smoke-detectors in our house. We start to wonder if they are really just smoke-detectors or … Paranoia kicks in: We might think that we signed up for an artist-in-residency project while in fact we are acting in a real life soap without knowing. The movie The Truman Show comes to mind.
A security guard tells us that we are not supposed to leave the house and roam around after opening hours. When we want to get out we have to walk in a straight line from A to B. (A being our house and B the exit gate.)
The, let's call it the 'artistic type', of course, never walks straight from A to B, but want to make d-tours, try out C or D and then perhaps decides to go for B but along the road discovers E. It is definitely a culture clash. Our 'Big Brother is watching you'-feeling is complete when a speaker suddenly shouts “It is forbidden to walk on the dike after opening hours”.

at the outdoor museum
One could consider it a gift, this unexpected side-effect of our project. Well, a gift .., let's call it a learning experience. To experience the feeling how it might feel to be locked-up, without actually being imprisoned; we can leave whenever we would like. How it affects ones mind when realizing being watched all the time. It's a eery feeling when each step can trigger a silent alarm, but which step?
Also, how it feels not knowing when one might bend or violate a rule. Because the 'rules' are a mythical thing; everybody might have a different set of rules, or the rules alter all the time.
Another fine example was a night when a friend surprised us by sailing to the museum. We reported security, following the house rules, that we had a guest coming by boat. It was a fairy tale sight when the boat sailed in under a starry night. An hour later, after emptying the wine in our fridge, we went back to the boat to collect another bottle when suddenly a guard appeared shining a flash-light into our eyes shouting “You don't make the rules! I have to report this!”

We talk a lot about the novel Der Prozess by Franz Kafka and, of course, 1984 by George Orwell during this residency. In daily life we tend to forget that our privacy is often under attack. Governments, banks, Google, Facebook, all know more about us than we might like or feel at ease with.

August 10th: Today the works are selected which will be part of the exhibition "The Colour of Water" at the museum which runs until October 28th 2012. The artists will receive these pieces back afterwards.

The three rings of TIME by Erik Wuthrich are from today part of the exhibition.

The watercolour of Zuiderzee museum girls by Karin Bos is placed in the exhibition next to her watercolour Safe Haven from 2011.
August 11th: Last weekend!
Last change to visit the 'live artists studio' in museum room 4 at the indoor Zuiderzee Museum.

Erik Wuthrich, untitled, glass, acrylics, stone.
Obviously the visitors look at us and our work, but we look back! We observed that the two blue glass sculptures of Erik Wuthrich are so tactile that almost every child walking in touches it. The parents say "do not touch that" to their kids, but they can't resist it themselves and the adults touch it too. It is very funny to watch and every day we wipe the fingerprints off the glass with a smile.

August 12th: Last day with lots of friends and relatives visiting.
August 13th: Moving all our stuff back to the artists studios in Amsterdam and Maarsbergen.

Now we are working again in the private practice of our studios. Of course you can still visit us, but you'll have to make an appointment first: karinbos@xs4all.nl and wuut@xs4all.nl
The pond sculpture in progress (upside down) by Erik Wuthrich in his Maarsbergen studio.
And finally.......TADA it is finished!! The floating fountain by Erik Wuthrich can be purchased, just contact the artist for more information: wuut@xs4all.nl
The complete series of Zuiderzee Museum Girls by Karin Bos is purchased by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.


www.karinbos.info
www.erikwuthrich.nl
www.zuiderzeemuseum.nl

donderdag 26 juli 2012

Artist-in-residency Karin Bos & Erik Wuthrich at Zuiderzee Museum - Part Three

All the art works in the exhibition are for sale. Also, to fund this project and make other future Moving Targets art projects possible SUPPORT US by joining this special FUND RAISING EVENT:

BUY A DRAWING FOR 150 EURO
This offer is only valid until August 12 2012!

Normally notes and sketches by Karin Bos are part of her private sketchbook collection.
Especially for this project she bought beautiful paper (acid free Hahnemuhle 220 gr. 24 x 32 cm) to draw the sketches. Her drawings are observations of the visiting children at the museum who dress up in historical Dutch costumes.


At the museum it is cash & carry. It is also possible to buy the drawings online: send an email to karinbos@xs4all.nl to place your order.
1: Karin Bos, Zuiderzee Museum Girl 1. (This first sketch is done on 120 gr paper size 28 x 24 cm).sold

2: Karin Bos, Zuiderzee Museum Girl 2. sold

3: Karin Bos, Zuiderzee Museum Girl 3. sold

4: Karin Bos, Zuiderzee Museum Girls 4. sold

5: Karin Bos, Zuiderzee Museum Girl 5. sold

6: Karin Bos, Zuiderzee Museum Girl 6. sold
7: Karin Bos, Zuiderzee Museum Girl 7. sold
8: Karin Bos, Zuiderzee Museum Girl 8. sold
9: Karin Bos, Zuiderzee Museum Girls 9. sold


10: Karin Bos, Zuiderzee Museum Girl 10. sold
11: Karin Bos, Zuiderzee Museum Girls 11. sold
12: Karin Bos, Zuiderzee Museum Girls 12. sold

(shipping fees are not included)

July 26th: The temporary artists studio of Karin Bos and Erik Wuthrich is located in museum room 4 at the indoor part of the Zuiderzee Museum. The outdoor museum where their temporary house is located is also very nice. It's like walking through history.
at the outdoor museum
The inside of one of the houses. This is at the hairdressers.
The center of Enkhuizen is also filled with beautiful historical buildings.
After opening hours when all visitors are gone silence takes over at the outdoor museum. We are alone watching the dance of mosquitos in the sunlight.

Extreme crowded mosquito party, luckely they are all male, so they don't sting.
July 27th: Hurray, it is now official, Karin finished her first painting!
Karin Bos, De Peiling, oil on canvas, 40 x 50 cm, 2012.
Here's a sneak preview how it would look being part of the "Colour of Water" exhibition at the museum.
It combines very well with the watercolour "Safe Haven" in the show, so Karin is very pleased with herself.

July 28th: Erik starts to apply the Acrylic One to make his sculpture strong.
It looks a bit like cooking.
Cutting the glass fiber.
In the mean time Karin is framing her large watercolour.
Karin Bos, watercolour on paper, 102 x 66 cm
After 5pm we go back to our temporary house at the outdoor museum and admire the little fish drying in the sun.

at the outdoor Zuiderzee Museum

Karin finished her second painting. It's oil on canvas, size 40 x 50 cm.

July 29th: Today some old friends dropped by to visit us at the museum which was a nice surprise.
Today was compliment-day; we had lots of visitors who were very enthousiastic.
Erik is applying the first layers of Acrylic One

The mouth of his fountain sculpture has to be firm and strong

The fiber is attached to the surface with a brush using raisin.
July 30th: Both artists work so hard that they forget to lunch.
Erik wants to apply three layers of Acrylic One today
In the mean time he is talking to some 300 visitors during the day.
What is it? No, Erik is not re-inventing the wheel, it is hanging on its side..

All right, now the visitors can imagine that it will be a fountain.
The museum room is so large that the artists have to shout: hey neighbour can I borrow your crepe tape? And then roll it over the floor. Otherwise they keep walking forever.
That tiny little man in the distance is Erik at work from Karins point of view.

Karins work table
Karin finished the 8th Zuiderzee Museum girl sketch. It is becoming a cosy laundryline party.
Eriks favourite spot at the outdoor museum after hours.
July 31th: Karin went into the water to collect some waterplants for Erik. He wants to use the pattern of the nerves for his tile mosaics.
Erik is studying the leafs.

Karins work table

Small watercolour, Objects of desire, Venus.

August 1st: The artists have a day off.

The artists are out


The artists are out

On a boat trip: the museum has super handy ferries which are included in the tickets. It's a circle line between the parking lot, the train station and the outdoor museum.
August 2nd: Today at 4pm a performance by Erik Wuthrich is sceduled at the docks right behind the restaurant at the outdoor museum. Come and join us to witness FLOATING TIME!

www.karinbos.info
www.erikwuthrich.nl
www.zuiderzeemuseum.nl