The Mondrian House in Amersfoort is celebrating the 150th anniversary of Piet Mondrian's birth with the exhibition Onbegrensd. Seven duos of visual artists and composers have created new work for this exhibition. The result of this collaboration can now be seen and heard in the museum.
Mondrian is known as a pioneering artist who continued to develop and innovate throughout his life. The painter was one of the founders of De Stijl, an art movement in which members kept each other on their toes through the exchange of ideas and discussion. Inspired by the interaction within De Stijl, the Mondrian House brought together artists from two different disciplines. The museum selected seven visual artists and seven composers and asked them to develop new work in pairs. The seven duos were invited to meet, interact, exchange and push boundaries. This resulted in seven new artworks.
Visual artist Fadenka van der Sloot wrestled with the theme Unlimited. The infinity of possibilities was nipped in the bud by limiting thoughts of the artist. Van der Sloot depicted this with a canvas she painted with tipp-ex. What emerged is a wide and serene image. The young composer Noëmi Schermann hereby wrote the composition Seas of (im)possibilities. Schermann's composition can also be listened to online.
Visual artist Art van Triest collaborated for this project with composer Henry Kelder. The two found each other in a concept of degradation and encroachment. Together they drew up rules and both worked them out in their own language. The result is a work in three parts, disrupting a rigid order and leading to a new state of being, both in image and sound. Kelder's composition can be listened to online.
For composer Anne-Maartje Lemereis and visual artist Amerentske Koopman the collaboration consisted of a regular exchange of sketches. One person's sketch set the other on a track and vice versa. The end result is a spatial and rhythmic installation in which the process of making the visual work was also captured on video. Lemereis' composition can also be heard online.
For Unlimited, visual artist Jan Maarten Voskuil and media composer Devin de Vries with space and time. Voskuil's spatial painting invites the visitor to move through it. Through the technique used, De Vries' composition constantly adapts while moving. Thus, the visitor himself contributes to the final composition and each person has a unique experience in the installation. De Vries' composition can also be listened to online.
Visual artist Karina Puuffin and game composer Nathan Bonkerk unravelled their work in conversation with each other and discovered new insights about their own work(mode). In the process, Bonkerk was challenged to express his music in images. Elements of this were used again by Puuffin in a spatial installation that focuses on letting go of the familiar/traditional. Bonkerk's composition can also be listened to online.
The duo Hans Bakker and Jitske Bakker (no relatives of each other), chose 'Exposure' as a basic theme: exposure to binding and pulling apart forces. A triptych of three large, differently textured drawings emerged, breathing, bulging and seeming to want to escape from their frame. These suggestions are reinforced by Hans' composition. Read in the interview more about this special collaboration. How did it come about and what is the idea behind their work?
Hans Bakker's composition can also be listened to online.
The joint work of Ronald Nijhof and film composer Daan van den Hurk explores the boundaries between abstract and figurative, reality and illusion, sound and music. Nijhof built his studio to scale in which he keeps moving elements around. This process is captured with a rotating camera. What emerges is a disruptive alternation of illusion and reality. It inspired Van den Hurk to create a composition that he mixed with the sounds from the studio. Nijhof and Van den Hurk's video 'Studiotime' can be seen in the museum until 5 March.
Jitske: , "It was indeed an exciting and enriching process, in which we both looked beyond the boundaries of our own discipline and came to new insights and ideas." Photo: Peter Putters
Music
All compositions for exhibition Onbegrensd were performed by the Keuris Ensemble, consisting of Egbert-Jan Louwerse (flute), Anna voor de Wind (clarinet), Lis Perry (violin), Roeland Duijne (cello) and Henry Kelder (piano). On Saturday 19 November 2022, the compositions were performed live with video footage by the ensemble at the Eemklooster in Amersfoort.
Exhibition Unlimited came about with support from the Municipality of Amersfoort, Province of Utrecht, Mondriaan Fund, Prince Bernhard Culture Fund and the KF Hein Fund. Onbegrensd can be seen at the Mondriaanhuis from 4 September to 5 March 2023.
Mondrian 150
This exhibition is organised as part of Mondrian 150. In 2022, it was 150 years since Piet Mondrian was born in Amersfoort. The city celebrated this with a Festival of Imagination: exhibitions, theatre, music, workshops, outdoor activities and much more.