Going back in time: Daniel Gould’s 3D List, Art in Amsterdam #47

How should 3D do this? I have neglected reviewing gallery exhibitions for reasons that have already been described. This is a disservice to the artists involved. So, should I just add on reviews to the current list, or advance it to a new one.

I do like the idea of maintaining the museum reviews, through the life of the exhibition, so this is what creates the quandary. What to do? How does this sound, I will list the museum exhibitions in the Index, but you will have to click on to List #15 to read them. 

I complained, on the previous list, that sales for the first two months of the year were not good nor promising to the future. However, back in December, I read this article, "At Art Basel Miami Beach, a new bouyancy on display" by KateTaylor. (www.iht.com, 8th Dec. 2010). Part of what it said was, "'The art market is back!' was the chorus this week among most of the major dealers at the fair...they were thrilled to see the new buoyancy playing out at the fair...'I could have sold almost everything twice,' an elated if slightly exhausted-looking Marc Glimcher, of Pace Gallery, said Wednesday, a few hours into the fair." Holland has a tendency to follow the lead of Americans. Let's hope they do in this case. And with that said, during the last few weeks, a few galleries have showed lots of red dots. At one the total was over 150 euro. At another, I couldn't calculate there were so many. 

INDEX:


Bits & Pieces: 

What You Have Missed...But the Show Goes On...

Review for The Club of Amsterdam: The Future of the Brain

Reviews for Current Museum Exhibitions: Van Gogh, Stedelijk, Hermitage - Amsterdam are on April: List #15.
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BITS & PIECES: 

The Broere Foundation and the Stedelijk Museum have announced that they have "dissolved [their] relationship on their cooperation for the 'Vincent Award.'" The two jointly hosted the prize in 2006 and 2008. No reason was given.
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The Service Garage has listed the names of contributors to their cause on "The calligraphed 'Memorial Stone.'" by Job Wouters. Several hundred names are noted. Are you one of them? https://bit.ly/2Mt48tB 
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"Art students"---3D doesn't know how that is defined---are invited to participate in a photographic interpretation of your intimate space.'" A total of 42 contributors will be selected and invited to show their work on the project's website, in a book and at the Olympic Village in Innsbruck. This is in conjunction with the youth Olympic Games 2010. https://bit.ly/2nUqlC5 
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"Your Name in Lights," by John Baldessari, with the Stedelijk Museum and the Holland Festival, invite you to submit your name via www.yournameinlights.nl. It will then appear on a large illuminated sign on the Museumplein in Amsterdam. Now is your opportunity for 15 seconds of fame. 
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"foam" has launched its 10th anniversary project called "What's Next."More info at: https://bit.ly/2Lavlwl 
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It has been announced that Heineken is now the main sponsor to the Hermitage - Amsterdam Museum.
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"A morning at an Israeli checkpoint," by Katia Salomon. She writes, "As Jews we were stunned by what we saw." www.iht.com (4th April). 
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The former Secretary General of the UN, Dag Hammarskjöld, noted, "The UN was not created to take mankind to heaven, but to save humanity from hell."
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...To which Mark Twain replied---had he been still alive: "Heaven is for the climate. Hell is for the company." 
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Garfield, the cat, had this recent observation: "I won't say Jon [his master] is a bad housekeeper...And I won't say this house is dirty...But I have to wipe my feet before I go OUTSIDE." 
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Laser 3.14 says "Corners of Reality, Slave of the Digital Overflow," at Centuurbaan 89. And at the corner of the Paulus Potterstraat and Van Baerlestraat he has penned, "Benzedrine, Benzedrine, Benzedrine, Benzedrine, Benzedrine, Benzedrine, Benzedrine." Well, when you do speed you have a tendency to repeat things...Say it ain't so Laser. Next to this was a poster that said, "Your Art Could Have Been Here." and it was...For Laser.
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How has computer technology advanced since 1960? Well, since we measure memory as how many bits of info, that is how many "1s" and "0s," with a prefix like "kilo" which stands for 1,000 bits the stages of progression has been as follows: kilo-, mega-, giga-, tera-, peta-, exa-, and now zetta- and in the wings, waiting for technological advances, is yotta-. Please don't ask 3D how many zeros that is. 
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WHAT YOU HAVE MISSED...And, STILL SHOWING...But, HURRRRRY!!!

Dick Cassée proves that artist neither die nor just fade away but they go on and on with each new creation, not only a work of art, but as something from the heart. I have been following his work for over 25 years after seeing him at Bram Volker's Assilyn gallery. At the time, he specialized with etchings that were minimal in their imagery. And, at 80 years old, he is still a conceptual minimalist and specialized in print making. In this show, at "galerie 9" (Keizersgracht 552), there are drawings and watercolors. The forms are simple and recognizable and tend to be monumental. (12.5x18 cms., watercolor @ 660 euro; 28x27 cms., drawing/watercolor @ 905 euro.) 

Also on show is Saskia van der Made who works in marble. She carves simple forms and both polishes the stones and leaves part unfinished and rough. (27x55x40 cms., marble @ 1,900 euro; 55x30x20 cms., bronze, Ed 8 @ 5,000 euro.) Until 29th April https://bit.ly/2O2dGJ6 
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Anton Reijnders is showing at De Witte Voet (Kerkstraat 135) with something a little bit unexpected for this gallery which specializes in works of ceramic. Indeed, each work, on display, has one or more elements that can be classified as ceramic. But it is the other element(s) that get your attention: A stool, folding chair, a "JUMBO supermarket" bag, flower pot, black drape....Hmmm. Hard to put it all together into any one image. So let's call this an exhibition of conceptual ceramics. The prices range from 300, 950, 1,300, 12,500 and to 5,200 euro.Until 7th May. https://bit.ly/2NSLxnD 
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Galerie Mokum ||(OZ Voorburgwal 334) shows the work of Robert Vorstman who is a contemporary impressionist with expressionistic brush strokes. The imagery is the city street. In fact, the streets of New York. His colors are true to the subject matter, but the representation is vague enough to give not only a sense of "anywhere" but also geometric abstraction. Three red dots and two green at opening. Until 1st May. http://www.galeriemokum.com/ 
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Two artists are showing at Galerie Clement (Prinsengracht 843). Inge van Haastert paints geometric abstraction with a difference...And it is a big one! The colors and color combinations are not what your might expect. Nor are the arrangement of symbols, colors, design and/or composition traditional. (50x50 cms., @ 1,100 euro; 100x120 cms., @ 2,420 euro.) 

Saskia Moro is an expressionist. But her colors and their arraignments almost unconventional for the genré. The color themselves range from those favoring earth hues to aquamarine to cobalt blue to a few that look like washes. Then there are a few that are representative like landscapes and sky scape's. (44x44 cms., @ 1,100 euro; 100x100 cms., @ 2,450 euro.) Until 30th May. https://bit.ly/2J3VcnE 
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Karin Hoogesteger is at Galerie Rademakers (Prinsengracht 570) with a show titled SUM. She paints portraits of young females, but that is only part of the story. Hoogesteger has a technique of doing washes on linen. She uses both ink and acrylic with nice visual results. In some works, she goes further by adding geometric abstraction to cover the subject matter creatng tension. (100x130 cms., acrylic on linen @ 3,400 euro; 160x200 cms., acrylic on linen @ 6,100 euro.) Until 29th April. https://bit.ly/2JvtSz2 
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...And just across the canal, at Galerie Brandt (Prinsengracht 799), is photographic work by Sabine Pigalle; and it defies classification. The works are not "portraits", but the imagery is just that! What removes it from that general classification is its conceptual nature. The subjects---both male and female---have had their bodies covered with what appears to be white powder. The females have very original and sculpted hairdos. The background is always black. The artist adds geometric abstraction with objects like arrows, bugles, leather caps, etc. Sometimes the added object is a bold visual like a model red sailboat against the model's body; or provocative like a woman with bleeding nipples, a man holding a heart and whose neck looks as if it has been garroted. Good work. (120x120 cms., Lambda on aluminium, Ed 6 @7,000 euro.) Until 24th April http://brandtgallery.com/ 
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She paints female portraits with a style that is reminiscent of Modigliani. She enhances the ladies with backgrounds that range from floral designs to art deco to typography. The backgrounds should not come as a surprise because the artist, Marie Godest, At Art A Casa (Kerkstraat 411), studied fabric design in Paris. she brings her knowledge of this craft to her art.Other pieces have a typographical theme in which the background is a newspaper. What you get is the figurative juxtaposed with the geometric abstraction. (40x30 cms., oil + collage @ 225 euro; 30x30 cms., oil @ 350 euro; 110x70 cms., oil/acrylic @ 1,500.euro.) Until 3rd May. https://bit.ly/2JL0Mff 
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"C&H artspace" (2e Kostverlorenkade 50) is showing Jarg Geismar who has several styles and techniques to amaze you with. On entering the space, you eyes revit on two neon signs; not to mention, the two dolls that dangle from the ceiling and just touch the floor. But then you get into the serious work. He does colorful abstracts on delicate cellophane and covers it with glass and frames it so that the imagery is on the glass but about 3 cms., from the backing of the frame. The result is twofold: the abstraction, itself, plus its shadow in gray and he sometimes adds color which mirrors that in the abstract. In addition, there are three figurative cut-outs which, once again, cast a shadow on the background surface. Plus, four miniature acrylic abstracts on cellophane from a cigarette package. Nice work! (950 euro for cigarette piece; 52x72 cms., cellophane, glass @ 4,300 euro; neon, Plexiglas and wires, Ed. 3 @ 5,000 euro.) Until 5th May. http://ch-gallery.com/ 
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BORZO (Keizersgracht 516) is exhibiting the paintings of Koen Vermuele. I describe his work as contemporary impressionism but with the added nuances of both expressionism and geometric abstraction. However, he tends to be light on color. In fact, some works have a heavy black background that enhances, dramatically, both the light and subject matter. A huge canvas |(200x360 cms) is a tour de force in combining monochromatic elements with linear abstraction. The subject matters range from a simple and streamlined landscape to the figurative. In the latter, and generally, the subject is in contemplation. Good work; and one or two masterpieces. (70x40 cms., gouache @ 2,200 euro; 60x125 cms., oil/acrylic on canvas @ 6,600; 200x360 cms., oil/acrylic on canvas @ 20,000 euro.) Until 7th May. https://bit.ly/2maQxaC 
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KOCH X BOS (1e Anjeliersdwarsstraat 5) is showing the French artist, CIOU, for what is the third or fourth time. Freud would have had a field day trying to get into the mind of this young females illustrator. She has a weird mind! It is filled with fantasy and often backed up "musically" or by journalistic reports from our time. Well, that's a cryptic way of saying she drawings on sheet music and newspaper, but, admittedly, it takes a little study to perceive it. First you must get through the figurative drawings which range from cartoon like damsels to an ET-like figure with a body of worms. Worms? Well, you ain't seen nothin' yet. Fun and whimsical; and the work comes in glorious colors or just plain b/w. The prices start at 290 euro for a b/w drawing. Who said you can't afford to buy a work of art? Also, for this show, there are T-shirts available in her unique design. All are 35 euro and the first 20 will include your name stenciled onto the back at no extra charge. Until 30th April. http://www.kochxbos.nl/
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Hieke Luik does ink and pencil on paper and sometimes adds a collage element. The work is minimal expressionism. In addition she sculpts in both bronze and wax. Again, the pieces are minimal. (49x65 cms., watercolor @ 1,000 euro; 150x275 cms., watercolor @ 3,800 euro; 278x100 cms., sculpture @ 8,750 euro.) Also showing at "g_i_s_t" (Bloemgracht 82) is the work of Marjolijn van de Assem who draws on paper, in b/w, expressionistic pieces with elements of geometric abstraction. (23x30 cms., ink on paper @ 450 euro; 50x40 cms., oil on linen @ 3,100 euro.) Until 15th May. https://bit.ly/2ORLnfX 
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Marieke Bolhuis is a photographer and glass sculptor; and to make it all the more exciting she sometimes combines both techniques into one work. She is showing at VERVERS (Hazenstraat 54) and does conceptual landscape photography. It is conceptual because she adds a recurring element into the pictures. An object that looks like a clay tumbleweed is prominent in the imagery. In a series of three photos, which have sort of surreal colors, she adds to the glass front half circles of colored glass. These add ons might, at first, be seen as kitschy, but since the colors reflects those in the photo it works beautifully. Two illuminated glass sculpture pieces are attention getting. (47x70 cms., digital print, dibond Ed. 5 @ 1,300 euro; 110x80 digital print, dibond, Ed 5 @ 2,200 euro; 200x40 photograph with glass, unique @ 3,000 euro.) Until 14th May. https://bit.ly/2mkqkqc 
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TEN HAAF PROJECTS (Laurierstraat 248) has a case of measles. Kid you not! Ten red dots, at the opening, for the work of the British artist, Andrew Gilbert. He has been here before with an installation that really got your attention. This show is no different in that respect. And in another sense it is a continuation of that show. He has a theme which is evolving: Military iconography. He manifest the subject matter in several ways. There are gouache drawings that in style border on the naïve, though when you see a line drawing, next to it, you know he is not a naïve. The drawings are military scenes or soldiers in 18th century style uniforms. He does sculpture pieces that might better be described as figurative objects. And he makes these objects more interesting by making the uniforms of canvas and then painting the designs and ornamentation on to that. https://bit.ly/2ux13gg 

The gallery space has been turned into an installation which is worth a trip to the exhibition in itself. The installation "frames" the watercolors and drawings. Everything is for sale including the different elements composing the installation. (40x29 cms., watercolor, pen on paper @ 1,300 euro; 100x70cms., watercolor, pencil on paper @ 2,200 euro; sculpture objects, 2 meters high @ 2,500 euro.) Until 21st May. https://bit.ly/2ux13gg 
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It may be the start of a measle epidemic. Not to be outdone, Galerie Gabriel Rolt (Elandsgracht 34) was awash in red dots too. In fact, no one knew exactly how many. The gallery holder, in answer to my inquiry as to how many had been sold, said "There are four left!" His assistant said, "I haven't counted the red dots yet." When I suggested the figure ten, she said, "That should be close!" All this excitement for the New York artist Ryan McGinley and his photos. And it is unusual photography. Strange compositions. Weird imagery. Some incorporate motion photography, there are portraits---one with a pussy cat----and nudes, but the latter pieces ask a question: has this person been physically abused? One amazing photo features a man and woman, seen from the rear, looking into an orange sky. (80x150 cms., Ed. 3 @ 10,000 euro; 200x300 cms., Ed. 3 @ 30,000 euro; no these prices are NOT typos.) The latest issue of the magazine "I-D" (Issue #312|) features an article on the artist. Until 14th May. https://bit.ly/2nFBTck 
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Galerie Fons Welters (Bloemgracht 140) is exhibiting the conceptual work off Gabriel Lester. Several objects are easily identified, but as to their meaning in regard to an artistic statement it is ambiguous. You will see a snow globe with the model of a church inside; a glass globe; a potted plant. All stand alone. There is a "slide show" that has different themes. The first, shows a piano keyboard and a pair of hands positioned on it, the next, in the series, shows the hands in another position, and so on. This is followed by a series with the sun peeking through the clouds and as the series progresses so do the clouds and finally it all morphs into a geometric design. 

PLAYSTATION features the work of Antonia Carrara. It consists of conceptual photographs and videos inter mixed with two molded wax hands playing with a small bronze ball. They are from molds made from the artist's own hands. Sorry, couldn't located the price list. Until ??? https://bit.ly/2LZAAPK 
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This review may be prejudiced. Prejudiced because the artist, C.A. Wertheim, and 3D use pretty much the same pallet. She supports her art making by delivering the mail. As she walks the streets, she collects material from the street: bottle caps (metal and plastic); paper products (reconfigured by the weather elements); fabric, springs, small brushes, tubes, etc etc etc. Where we differ is in how we use the detritus of society. She fashions bouquets of flowers and even makes "portraits" (One is a self-portrait). What makes it all so amazing is that you are not immediately conscious of any of this from a distance; the bouquet of flowers looks sorta like a bouquet of flowers. Nice! (52.5x40.4 cms., mix technique @ 1,400 euro; 70 cms diameter, mix media @ 2,400 euro; 180x120 cms., mixed media @ 5,500 euro.) At Cokkie Snoei (Hazenstraat 11) Until 8th May. http://www.cokkiesnoei.com/ 
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Ron Amir is at Serieuze Zaken Studioos (Laureirgract 96) with super large (300x200 cms) and intricate drawings that seem to be a contemporary resurrection of the 17th century artist H. Bosch with a touch of the Breughels. One work has one hundred or more figurative drawings. There is a moodiness to the work and maybe even melancholy, but if you can overcome these factor, his technique is masterful. A series of expressionistic figurative paintings puts a little color into the show. See the exhibition and make your own evaluation. (30x40 cms., oil on canvas @ 1,000 euro; 50x60 cms., oil on canvas @ 2,200 euro; 300x200 cms., charcoal on paper @ 10,000 euro.) Until 30th April. https://bit.ly/2mrkyDb 
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At the NO name gallery (Prinsengacht 575)---which really doesn't have a name---are the etching of Sanna Leupen. She has an unusual methodology for her technique: etchings on leather. As to the imagery, It ranges from figurative expressionism to conceptual redundancy to geometric abstraction. In other words, you won't be bored. 8 red dots at opening. Ooops, closed 17th April. Info at: sanna.leupen@xs4all.nl 
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At Van Zijll Langhout (Brouwersgracht 161) is the work of Boukje Janssen and, well, it is something completely different. First of all, ALL the pieces are in b/w and elegantly so. Eight drawings are figurative, sorta, but conceptual in nature. They are playful and at the same time representational. Two works on canvas are three dimensional. Both are portraits with added decoration like sewing pins. And the sewing pins, in each piece, are manifested differently. What can you do with a black feather? Apparently a lot without doing much of anything. Huh! Well, you gotta see it. Nice piece! And there is more, some with typography as a focal point. (24x34 cms., embroidery on white tracing paper @ 400 euro; 19x83.5 cms., pastel, graphite, pins @ 590 euro; 50x60 cms., acrylic on canvas @ 1,000 euro.) Until ???. https://bit.ly/2m7l7Sk 
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Michael Scott (USofA) is at "witzenhuisen GALLERY" (Hazenstraat 60) with very colorful linear abstractions in a variety of patterns. And that can be boring, if not banal. What saves Scott's work from being either is his chaotic and/or haphazard technique. But to understand that you got to GO! (43x43 cms., oil/enamel on aluminium @ 3,000 euro; 100x150 cms., oil/enamel on aluminium @ 20,000 euro.) Until 24th April. https://bit.ly/2zCqZwM 
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This is a fun show and you better hurry since it closes like yesterday, almost. Jochen Mühlenbrink, showing at "aschenbach & hofland galleries" (Bilderdijkstraat 165), proves that art is only an illusion. On walking into the space, your eye sees canvas stacked against the wall with their backs showing. Did someone forget to complete the hanging? A few people thought so. But 3D knew that they were really painted images of the back of canvases because I had put my nosed right up to the surface only to discover that there was not really a stack of canvases, well, maybe one or two were stacked and the rest only painted to look like that. Cool. Then there were all these boxes on the floor as if they had just been delivered by DHL and not yet been opened. But look closely. Very closely. It was all paint; even the taped corners were painted tape corners. (100x74 cms., oil on canvas @ 4,200 euro; 220x238 cms., oil on canvas @ 15,000 euro). Until 23rd April http://gerhardhofland.com/en/ 
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Check out the "International Art Exhibition," at the OudeKerk. There are 23 artists showing and the show is a WOW! Almost, without exception, every artists stands out: paintings, photography, sculpture, drawings, mixed media, video. etc. You name it; it's there. Until 12th May. Info at: https://bit.ly/2L488Lu 
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Jill Greenberg (USofA) is at Jaski Art Gallery (N. Spiegelstraat29) with large format photos of bears. And she bares all when it comes to the furry animals. She specializes in photographing them; all types and all possible poses and some that just don't seem possible. I mean, one of the bears winked at me. Kid you not! I asked her if she used stuffed bears or the real thing? She said, "Oh, they're are all alive." Hmmm. I then asked, "How do you get a bear to wink at you?" She replied, "You take a lot of snaps!" Each photo comes in two sizes: 61x51 cms., and 127x110 cms., And there is a progressive pricing system. Buy the first number in an edition of 10 and it is 3,500 euro; and the 10th number will cost you 9,500 euro. Two weeks after the opening there were 45 red dots. Until 24th April. http://www.jaski.nl/ 
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Two artists are showing at RON MANDOS (Prinsengracht 282). Carl-Johan Högberg has an unusual technique in his use of painting with b/w. It is sort of di-positive in that the black is the background that also defines the form. His subject matter and style sometimes has an African feel; sometimes reflects classical imagery; and sometimes Euward Muybridge's style of a rapid figurative motion. ((20 cm diameter, oil on MDF @ 1,000 euro; 230x180 cms., oil on canvas @ 9,00 euro.) 

Roderick Hietbrink is in the back galleries with his photography; but he adds elements to his compositions. He finds an outdoor scene and within the imagery he covers something with a heavy velvet like fabric. The color of the material becomes a factor in the overall composition. In a small gallery, there is an installation, with seven pedestals, draped in the same type of fabric. A video of flowers is both colorful and fun. In another gallery, there is a video projection presented as a trip-tych. In each, we see the same scene from a different angle and/or distance. And the scenes change. Suddenly, we realized that there is something going on. Slowly, it becomes a dramatic happening and with sound...But, hey, enough! You gotta see it to appreciate it. Hint: Its title is The Living Room. (2,500 to 16,000 euro.) Until 7th May. https://bit.ly/1NONWvU
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Paco Raphael is at "amstelgallery" (Stadhouderskade 155) with both a different and an unusual photographic technique and style. In fact, photography is only a small part of his technique though, admittedly, a major component in his compositions. Essentially, they are collages consisting of photographic imagery and typography; sometimes a pretty woman or two; with the New York city scape as a background and sometimes as the main attraction. He combines it all and plays with colors, b/w, mirror imagery, etc. The work is often busy, but certainly eye catching. (50x145 cms., mixed media @ 2,375; 175x75 cms., mixed media @ 3,075 euro.) Until 13th May. https://www.amstelgallery.com/ 
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TORCH is showing the erotic work of Terry Rodgers in his fourth solo-exhibition at the gallery. He does paintings, videos, photography and mixed media, but that's just a simple description. His compositions range from reprsentational to conceptual. In the latter examples, he uses photographic images then applies graffiti atop it along with other unusual components. His large paintings explore the depravity of contemporary society by picturing orgies, but while they are explicit scenes, they are not pornographic. A new technique and style are his expressionistic prints on canvas. A few have an added element with painted on imagery. All are unique. Two videos are on display. One features and erotic "dance." The other consists of a column of six black boxes---each with a video screen---and each feature an individual; there are four females and one male represented. (Paintings: the price list says, "Price on Request" and a bird whispered in my ear that that worked out to $120,000 each. But don't let that scare you...Hey, it is cheaper in euros; 112x213 cms., mixed media---ink jet and acrylic on canvas @ 10,000 euro; Video tower installation with original music, Ed 5, on a sliding price scale, #1 @ 7,000 euro and #5 @ 15,000 euro; Light boxes, Ed. #, #1 @ 3,200 euro; #3 @ 5,400 euro.) Until 4th June. https://bit.ly/2L7qYSK 
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At RudolfV (Kerkstraat 427) Roos Eelman shows her mixed media paintings. She paints b/w expressionistic canvas, but adds collage elements, also b/w, which blend in so well that it is hard to separate the oils from the printer's ink. How she combines them is marvelous as well as subtle. Nice! (1,500 to 2,850 euro.)...Manuel Esteban is an expressionistic abstract painter; and there is a subtle figurative element also included. Bright colors that border on the kitsch. (1,650 to12,000.)...Godelieve Geurts does figurative sculpture work, but with a radical technique. She cuts out (or collects?) scrap metal plates in various forms and welds them altogether. Wait until you see how she does hair. A nice touch is the humor she evokes like the smoker standing next to a butt filled ash tray. Good work! (4,000 to 8,500 euro.) ...Sofja Wolsky does representational paintings at their best.The style is contempory impressionism with elements of the avant garde; especially conceptual redundancy as exemplified with The Tower of Babel or the group of underground spies. (1,450 to 4,000 euro.)...Streamlined and simply carved marble forms is the work of Marja Verhage. It is monumental with subtle nuances. (1,600 to 3,500 euro.) Until 21st May. https://bit.ly/2mdb7ay 
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At the new jewelry location, Galerie Rob Koudijs (Elandsgracht 12), is the work of Felieke van der Leest. To give you an image to identify with think of those little finger puppets you would make as a kid. Now, put them in another context as jewelry and to be worn as a brooch or necklace. Of course, these are more elaborate and some resemble an Aztec' god; and they are made from silver and gold with beads. Beautiful and fun. The necklaces are often miniature tapestries made with beads, gold, silver and a small toy animal or, get this, pencils aligned in a series that makes a form resembling a house. (Brooch, Ed. 5 @ 750 to 1,350 euro; Necklace, Ed 5 @ 1,750 to 1,950 euro.) 

Felix Linder shares the space with simple forms and simple ideas. Many of the examples are monochromatic and one series incorporates alpha symbols in conceptual redundancy. A necklace is comprised of several blue star on a gold chain. (Brooch 780 to 1,750 euro; earrings @ 275 euro.) https://bit.ly/2LtDmQm 
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The KUNSTKAPEL (Prinses Irenestraat 19) presents 20+ young artists; and there are lots of surprises. Stijn Basianene paints and draws. The latter work is figurative with a surreal touch. The paintings are, well, different. Unusual compositions and imagery...The sculptor Caroline de Bruijn gives the technique a new dimension. As an example, there is a young deer in the position that an avant garde dancer might assume or a contortionist. But the piece is "wrapped" (framed?) in heavy twine. Another work hangs from the ceiling. Its form is conceptual and the way it all comes together is captivating...Sarah de Vos does photography in b/w using motion as a style and technique...Bram van Leeuwenstein has created a four by one and one half meter simple conceptual piece in conceptual redundancy by using gray plastic cups---in various shapes. It is a wall hanging. ..Tom Poelman paints. The style is basically expressionistic but he approaches it from several directions with nice results...Thijs Zweers does b/w drawings but he contrast the figurative and/or representational with the abstract and sometimes a conceptual edge. The works are all for sale. Don't miss this show. It is a WOW! Until 15th May. https://bit.ly/2BCWoQP 
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SOLEDAD SENILLE GALLERY (Sloterkade 171) is two spaces in one. It is a fashion design studio that presents two collections per year. After that is out of the way, the space is made into an art gallery. Emmeline de Mooij is a conceptual photographer and sometimes with something added on like the sitting man covered with mud and his over sized cartoonish head is made of clay. Two works are fashioned from material and are dimensional; plus an abstract tapestry. (830 to 1,900 euro)...Ruth van Beek does photographic collages which you really gotta see to begin to appreciate and not only for her sense of compostion and imagery but her sense of humor. (22x26 cms., @ 750 euro; 33x39 cms., @ 950 euro.)...Eleni Kamma does a series of cyanotype monoprints in b/w and gray. She also shows a five minute HD animation with voice over which is colorful and against a black background with a beautifully animated abstraction. (65x50 cms., @ 2,975 euro; DVD, Ed 5 @ 3,800 euro.) Until 15th May. https://bit.ly/2uPJHMD 
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Gallery Victoria Kovalenchikova (Centuurbaan _____) shows Victoria Kovalenchikova. This artist gives herself about three or four shows a year. Generally speaking, this could be boring. However VK continues to evolve if not reinvent her style and technique. Her current show is a mixture of almost representational works---a vase of flowers---to a fantastic b/w paintings that is expressionistic, representational and is a linear abstraction. In other words, it is visually exciting. In other works she has taken a page from Bram Bogart by her generous use of pigment. The flowers all seem to be real. From that description you might expect the work to be colorful, but this is really not the case. She uses color with discipline which enhances the imagery, but not overcoming it. (50x50 cms., @ 1,000; 210x185 cms., @ 10,000.) Until ??? http://www.vkgallery.nl/ 
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WALLS (Prinsengracht 373) is always a headache to review. Not because of the work; that part is most enjoyable. But by the fact that there are generally about 15 or more artist. Hey, give 3D a break. I get writer's cramps when there are more than five artists. But I digress. Fieke van Dieren proves that anyone can afford a work of art. The prices begin at 35 euro---framed! It is a photo print measuring 10x6 cms., and in an Ed of 20. The style is conceptual representational. She does larger work and there is always a mysterious aspect to the imagery. Nice....Corine Barendregt does lacquer paintings using symbols but with a raw and likable quality. (120x130 cms., @ 1,750 euro)...O.N.A. (three people) hangs photos on dibond. They are conceptual and in b/w; and they certainly don't look like photos...Tabitha Sluis uses mixed media to produce portraits of young girls. She draws then adds paint and various fabrics. Hey, it works! (30x21 cms., @ 150 euro; 120x100 cms., @ 1,300 euro).

Vera West has an intersting style and a good technique. She favors b/w and shades of gray. The work is representational. Sorta. Sometimes there is a strong geometric abstraction element and sometimes the influence of motion photography. (40x50 cms., @ 500 euro; 90x120 cms., @ 1,250 euro.)...Ingrid van der Kamp does minimal mix media. Simple figurative line drawings decorated with a few dabs of paint and gold foil. Nice. (80x80 cms., @ 1,000 euro; 120x180 cms., @ 1,825 euro)...Sigurd Koeleman uses, well, a variety of techniques and even imagery: expressionism, graffiti, strip art, collage and colorful; did I forget b/w? (30x30 cms., @ 250 euro; 90x145 cms., @ 2,000 euro)...Paul Tas does Delft Blue like ceramics but with humor. Vases and jars that reflect the classical with the Dada and a little kitsch thrown in. (150 to 250 euro)...Margreeth Evers' work is mix media on glass. The work is mounted about five centimeters from the wall. The ambient light does much to influence the imagery and the nuances of the contrast and/or color. Those factors change as the light changes. (62x115 cms., @ 1,200 euro). Well, sorry, I didn't mention everyone so it is up to you to go see what else is being offered. Until 4th June. https://bit.ly/2LRAexM 
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Susan Schildhamp has an exhibition at Fine Fleur Art Gallery (Weteringstraat 21) showing here Amsterdam city scape. And while she does paint canal houses, they are much different then you expect from the genré. The compositions look more like a color chart; and the compositions are geometric abstractions. There is also a naïve quality to her style. It will be her colors that win you over: Bright, vivid, vibrant, etc. (120x100 cms., @ 3,980 euro; 120x20 cms., @ 1,750 euro; 35x120 cms., @ 2,250 euro.) Until 16th May.
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It doesn't get any better than this...Melanie Bonajo is at outLINE (Oetewalerstraat 73) with a very personal and most unusual exhibition. She has arranged, on shelves, some 80 personal objects that reflect her life. She has labeled each as to their significance. And all this comes with a very nice surprise: EVERYTHING is FREE for the taking...But, one to a customer. At the opening, Bonajo sat blinded folded, in a chair. You would take the object to her and describe it. She would make a further comment and hand you a numbered tag with her initials. Here is a sampling of what you would have seen: "Lingerie. Saved for special moments, only used once," for a piece of underwear that looked like she had bought it from a Victoria' Secrets' catalog; "Two passports. 17 countries." One was described as a gift from her father: "Only personal gift ever received from father. Never worn. Golden Blouse." (Price List: FREE). Until 21st May. https://bit.ly/2LzEjXq 
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REVIEW: The Club of Amsterdam 

Once a month, The Club of Amsterdam, presents a program in which three or four people discuss a certain topic and each from a different perspective. Always interesting and from time to time even a bit provocative. The topic for April was "The future of the Human Mind." What I had expected was not what I got. I had been expecting neuroscientists, maybe a brain surgeon or even a psychiatrist, but what the audience got was the actress Adda van Zanden as the Moderator; Luc Sala, a media personality, though with a scientific background; Humberto Schwab, a philosopher; and Maurizo Zollo who was billed as a management expert, amongst other things. 

Luc Sala said that an individuals persona was a mask; and we must discover and understand out inter self. "We sense energies, past, the now and the future, but in a very distorted way...We create our own world." His overall approach was metaphysical. He quoted Jung in saying the brain functions with: thinking, Sensing, feeling and Intuition. One revelation was this: "You are your breath, not your heart. This is what a Yoga teacher will tell you." And some of you will like this, '" Astrology! I use it!."

Humberto Schwab got our attention by explaining some misconception that are common even to the well educated. He said in talking about Physics we are not really talking about a science. "Einstein said, 'physics is philosophy.'" And he extended that even further when he said that "physics is an artistic expression by scientist. Forget about facts." 

The next event is on the 19th May: The future of Singularity. See for more info: https://bit.ly/2nlASUj 
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That's it! Considering what the weather has been like---read: beautiful---it will probably take some effort to visit a gallery near you. And, what can I say, the parks have been like a work of art for the last two weeks. But, hey, TRY to take in a show or two. Remember, artists NEED your support. Kid you not!

Photo:  3D with his FREE t-shirt given by SM Bureau Amsterdam, Also on offer are a selection of FREE posters. Hurry...They are available until they are gone, Photograph by: Piet van der Meer

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