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8/7/2010

Gilbert & George: The Paintings

Kroller-Muller Museum, Otterlo

The Paintings
(with Us in the Nature) 1971

From July 9th, The Paintings (with Us in the Nature) by Gilbert & George is on display in the large exhibition space in the Quist wing. This unusual "Sculpture" from 1971 consists of 6 huge painted triptychs. At that time, the artists called this a ‘new romantic sad beautiful sculpture’. Painted in oils on linen in the winter of 1970-71, the "Sculpture" is a recreation of the emotions they experienced the previous summer in the English countryside.

This is the only sculpture by these ‘human sculptors’ using this technique. The 1960s and 70s were a time of artistic experimentation around an expanded conception of art: artists broadened the possibilities for large-scale art and with tremendous ingenuity, which remains a source of inspiration. In those years Gilbert & George used various new and classical techniques in order to convey their personal experience of time and space to the public in the form of an artistic experience. They became renowned for their living sculptures in museums, with multi colored metallic powder on their faces and hands, but they also distributed printed sculptures by post, sung and danced as musical sculptures, produced video sculptures, made drawings as pieces of sculpture and wrote sculptures in the form of books.

Huge negative based pictures eventually became their most important artistic medium. In The Paintings (with Us in the Nature) they set out their relationship to nature. They depict themselves sitting and strolling in the overwhelming presence of nature. In every triptych (each measuring 230 x 680 cm) a single element from culture is always present as a counterpoint. The context of the museum and its collection, in which (critical) examinations of paradise form a spearhead, will allow The Paintings (with Us in the Nature) to be shown to optimal advantage.

Other pictures and charcoal on paper sculpture by Gilbert & George from the collection will be on display simultaneously in the museum’s print room.

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Cornelius Rogge
Armada
Until September 26th, 2010

This summer, in the activity area in the sculpture garden, the museum presents a boat project by Cornelius Rogge (1932). From a distance the boats appear to float on a sea of grass. They are museum boats: on the water these boats used to be carriers of all manner of cargo, now they stand aground and carry stories and legends. They have an undercarriage on wheels, which makes their material voyage easier; they tell tales of arrival and moving on and the memories of the water.

The vessels are part of an Armada of soul ships. The term ‘Soul Ships’ is a combination of something tangible (the ship) and something immaterial (the soul). Joost van den Vondel uses the term ‘soul ship’ in the context of liberation from the earthly and the crossing over to the heavenly. The ship is the pre-eminent vehicle of crossing, of transformation. And transformation is the connecting thread in Rogge’s work.

Rogge often provides his sculptures with a base. For the work Cicero, which is also on display in the sculpture garden, he uses a wagon; in this instance the boats are the bases. Four of the soul ships have been shown previously, for this exhibition they are supplemented by twelve new ships. According to the artist, the sixteen vessels can be seen as a sort of rebus: a few elements (often with religious associations) are provided, and observers can then seek their own explanations. The boats carry strange attributes and proclaim strange messages. The artist deliberate leaves the individual works untitled. The observer is free to provide his or her own interpretation.

Rogge is a good friend of the museum. Various other works by this artist are included in the museum’s permanent collection, including the impressive Tent project (1975) and Cicero (2000), which are on constant display in the sculpture garden.

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The creation of a lasting monument
From estate to national park De Hoge Veluwe
Until November 7th, 2010

In 2010, National Park De Hoge Veluwe celebrates its 75th anniversary. To mark this occasion, the museum is organising an exhibition entirely devoted to the Park’s unique history. The couple Anton and Helene Kröller-Müller purchased the estate in stages at the beginning of the 20th century. In this manner they acquired a large area of land that they arranged to their own taste. In spite of the private character of the estate the couple had a higher purpose, namely to create a "lasting monument, which would bring together nature and art in an unusual manner". In 1935 the estate was handed over to National Park De Hoge Veluwe Foundation and from then on it belongs to "the Community" and is open to visitors.

National Park De Hoge Veluwe is characterized by its natural beauty and by the remarkable way in which the small and large ‘monuments’ have been given a place in the park. Although the Kröllers stated that the notion of "the common good" played a role from the very start, the park’s initial private character is still visible, if only by the existence of St. Hubertus Hunting Lodge where Anton and Helene Kröller-Müller lived for several years.

The exhibition will outline the development of the ideas underlying the establishment of National Park De Hoge Veluwe. Examples in words and pictures give an impression of how the park got its eventual shape. Letters, documents and working drawings shed light on plans that were either realized or abandoned. In addition, historic photographs give an impression of the developments within the park from the very first acquisitions. The ambiguity of the private character of the park versus the notion of the common good is a constant consideration in the exhibition.

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Matt Mullican
Until August 29th, 2010

From April 2nd, work from the collection by American artist Matt Mullican (Santa Monica 1951) is on display in the Kröller-Müller Museum.
In its structuring principles and formal idiom, the world of Mullican has much in common with the utopian body of thought of the modernist artists (the classical avant-garde) from the 20th century. There is one important difference: artists such as Robert van ’t Hoff (to whom, starting April 2nd, a retrospective is devoted in the spaces next to these works by Mullican) and Theo van Doesburg wanted to improve the world and hoped to contribute to a change in the social reality, while Mullican is an individualistic thinker, who creates a virtual artistic universe in various media in order to sharpen the mind.

Press and publicity department
Drs. Wanda Vermeulen +31 (0)318 596152 pers@kmm.nl

Kröller-Müller Museum
Houtkampweg 6 - 6731 AW Otterlo, The Netherlands
Hours: from 10.00 to 17.00.
The sculpture garden closes at 16.30.
closed on: Mondays (except public holidays)
Day tickets
Children up to 6 years: free
Children 6-12 years: € 7.50 (Park € 3.75 and museum € 3.75)
Adults: € 15.00 (Park € 7.50 and museum € 7.50)
Parking fee car: € 6.00
Parking fee coach: € 27.50

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