Yayoi Kusama and the Nul-movement in The Netherlands

 

We are all very proud at the SKMU: Yayoi Kusama has been a great part of the world history of art, and we can show a tiny bit of her oeuvre here in Kristiansand with Dots Obsession. Could kick myself though for not having been to the Tate to see her big retrospective exhibition in 2012. Will stay more alert in the future when it comes to such opportunities.

 

This chair from the Whitney museum of modern art shows one of her earlier obsessions, those with stuffed 'stuff'. Here one of her 'Accumulations'. 

 

She also organised performances and happenings in the late sixties where  nuditity formed a part of the expressive elements of her art. Seeing herself as the High Priestess of the hippie scene, she channeled the provocative energies into artistic ends. This became a crucial factor in the life of a Dutch artist, Jan Schoonhoven.

 

 Schoonhoven was one of the Nul-movements artists in the 60's in The Netherlands. Together with Henk Peeters, Armando, Henderikse and Herman de Vries they conveyed an artistic vision of repetition, monochromy, seriality and something they called 'directness of material'. 

 

Schoonhoven worked as a clerk at the Dutch PTT, ordinary hours, and worked on his art in his spare time. When Yayoi Kusama came along though for one of her exhibitions i The Netherlands around the time of the NUL-movement (1962 in Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam), she initiated another of her events with naked people painted with dots. Schoonhoven was, as you can see on the picture above, one of the participants. Largely spelled out in the papers it was, scandal of course! And Schoonhoven missed his Christmas-bonus that year at that traditional PTT.

Henk Peeters (see above, red furry thing) was also one of the NUL-movement, and I was happy to see that he actually curated this Tentoonstelling Nul (Exhibition Nul) at the Stedelijk in Amsterdam in '62. So at that time, in the sixties these guys appreciated and probably found some of their own artistical drive in the works of Kusama. And she brought them that extra little flair that lifted the level of their exhibition to a more scandalous one.

Wattenbolletjes from 1962. Henk Peeters expressed herewith some childlikeness.

 

The later works of Peeters incorporates his series of cow-hides, either hanging, used in art or neatly stretched up like canvases. To get a better view of seveal of these, you must contact Kunstruimte Wagemans in Beetsterzwaag, The Netherlands. He might be able to help you out. OR maybe galerie Conny van Kasteel. From her website the cow-object by Peeters: Hommage aan Mondriaan.

 

The funny thing is how some older artists reach a certain goofyness at the later side of their artistry. Peeters passed away this april. Kusama is still going strong, and not surprisingly goofier than ever.

ARoS i Århus: Olafur Eliasson, Ron Mueck, KLEIN/BYARS/KAPOOR

Reisende fra Groningen til Kristiansand bringer alltid med seg overraskelser, via vær og føreforhold, fine mennesker vi møter eller trafikkaos. I påska fikk vi med oss vår tradisjonelle stopp ved Ørby Hage.

Traveling from Groningen to Kristiansand always brings surprises, through weather, drivingconditions, great people we meet or traffic jam. With Easter we made our traditional stop at Ørby Hage. Best B&B in the world by the way.

Deretter vendte vi nesen mot Århus og gamlebyen pluss ARoS. Veldig fint museum, bra program, og nå med en norsk direktør Erlend Høyersten. Tidligere dir for KODE i bergen. Visstnok kom tilliten fra hans samarbeid med ARoS rundt Matelliutstillingen som dere selvfølgelig har fulgt på denne bloggen!

Then we took the trip to Århus and its old town plus of course ARoS. Very good museum, good program and now soon with a Norwegian director, Erlend Høyersten, till now the director of KODE in Bergen (NO).  The mutual trust came from the cooperation between him and ARoS around the Matelli-exhibition in KODE which you might have seen a glimps of in this blog.

Først litt om Olafur Eliasson og hans monumentale prosjekter. Sjekk The Weather Project som ble utstilt på Tate i 2003. Det var veldig inntrykkvekkende og en skikkelig publikumstrekker. Nå har ARoS slått på stortromma, påbegynt allerede i 2007 med Your Rainbow Panorama. Et permanent byggverk i en ring rundt toppen av museet, en svevende korridor i regnbuens farger. 52 meter i diameter og 3,5 meter over museumtaket. Kunstverket er lyst opp fra innsiden om natten med spotlights fra gulvet. Prosjektet kostet mer enn 60 millioner danske kroner og byggingen begynte i mai 2009 og ble avsluttet i mai 2011.

Now first some stuff on Olafur Eliasson and his monumental projects. Check The Weather Project from Tate in 2003. Really impressiveand a true mass-success. Now ARoS hit the big drum too, beginning allready in 2007 with Your Rainbow Panorama. A permanent building in a circle around the top of the museum, a floating corridor in the colours of the rainbow. 52 meter in diameter and 3,5 meter above the roof of the museum. The artwork is being lighted up in the dark from the inside with spotlights on the floor. The project costed more than 60 million Danish kroner and the building started in 2009 and ended in May 2011.

Kan ikke la være å vise til Ron Mueck, siden jeg sammenlignet ham med Tony MAtelli i en tidligere blogg. Bortsett fra mediumet de begge bruker, er det to vidt forskjellige kunstnere. Jeg må sjekke litt mer om livsverket deres før jeg kommer med 'sweeping statements'. Husker en utstilling av verkene hans i Kunsthallen i Rotterdam (eller var de De Hallen i Haarlem) for ti år siden. Spesielt hans Mother and Child (2002) gjorde inntrykk på meg. Her ser du Boy (2000). Fem meter høy. I ARoS' eie. Kudos.

Have to show Mueck's work here, since I compared him with Tony Matelli in an earlier blog. Except from the medium they both use, they are two very different artists. Need to check more on their oeuvres before I come with any 'sweeping statements'. Remember an exhibition with Mueck's works in Rotterdam (or was it De Hallen in HAarlem...) ten years ago. Especially his Mother and Child (2002) made an impression on me. Here you see Boy (2000). Five meters tall. In ARoS collection. Kudos.

En annen stor del av utstillingen var viet til Anish Kapoor, James Byars og Yves Klein. Herunder vokskanonen til Kapoor. Det var egentlig ikke lov å ta bilder, så du får nøye deg med et par bilder plukket fra internet!

Another great part of the exhibition was dedicated Anish Kapoor, James Byars and Yves Klein. Here you can see the wax-cannon of Kapoor. I was not supposed to make photos, so please bear with these other photos plucked from internet.

Selve skuddet ble avfyrt under strenge seremonielle handlinger hvor man ikke hadde lov til å forstyrre assistenten. Han var en del av performancen.

The wax- shot was fired under a strict seremonial happening where we were not allowed to disturb the assistant, who was a part of the performance.

Her ser du The Human Figure, 100 Spheres of Marble (1992) av James Byars.

Past, present, future av Anish Kapoor (2006).

Yves Klein, Installation MAMAC fra 2012.

Det litt morsomme var at ARoS i sin iver etter å presentere disse tre kunstnere sammen også gjorde et modig forsøk på å vise hvordan de egentlig også i bunn og grunn hørte sammen, som kunstnere, metafysisk. "Hos Klein, Byars og Kapoor tillægges farven en spirituel dimension, og alle tre kunstnere benytter sig af et minimalt udtryk, hvor de med få virkemidler formår at skabe en intens og kompleks oplevelse." Om det er noe kunstnere vanligvis ikke liker er det å få en livsverksammenligning tredd over hodet sitt. Men det var et ærlig forsøk fra museumets side, og litt sjarmerende også.

The funny thing is that ARoS in their eagerness to present these three artists also made a brave attempt pointing at how they really belong together, as artists, metaphysically. "With Klein, Byars and Kapoor the colour gets a spiritual dimention, and all three artists manage a minimal expression, where they with minimal means manage to create an intens and complex experience." If there is anything artists normally do not like, it is getting their life-oeuvres compared to that of another artist. But it was an honest attempt of the museum to do so, and quite a charming one as well.