The 3d List week 39 by Daniel R. Gould. Amsterdam galleries & events

By Daniel R. Gould

This is it, folks, the final days of the Amsterdam Art Scene 2008-2009. There are fewer openings this coming weekend than there were on previous weekends. Well, that's okay. 3D needs a rest. Having fun is hard work! It has been a pivotable year for Amsterdam galleries. Many have closed, but 3D does not have an accurate count since galleries that close don't make a point of announcing the event. Can't really blame them. They tried to bring their view of art to a jaded public. Sometimes you get it right in understanding the "market" and sometimes you get it wrong. It is a difficult business. Only those who can afford to support their initiative privately/personally can really continue in the face of an economic calamity. I suspect that, come September, there will be another handfull or two of galleries that will not reappear.

INDEX:

Bits & Pieces:

What You Missed Last Week:

What Is Happening This Week:

BITS & PIECES:

...And now a word from our sponsor...The next showing of Frederieke Jochems' film "I LOVE ART," featuring the exploits of 3D, will be on the 20th, 23rd and 30th of June at Wijk aan Zee....wherever that is. Show time is at 20:15 and the MINIBOS (3D assumes that's the cinema) is a sea shipping container with ONLY 12 seats...come early. www.franjo.nl

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"Do you wanna dance under the moon light...?" The song was written and recorded by Bobby Freeman in 1958. Other versions have been done by The Beach Boys, Cliff Richard, Bette Midler and even The Ramones. And if you "wanna dance" here is your BIG chance...not to mention, it could make you a STAR! Kid ya not. Have you ever wondered when you see those MTV video clips who that big group of people is in the background? Here is your opportunity to be immortalized on YouTube, maybe. It is easy and you sorta get "paid" to do it.

"Le Madison" is the dance. It comes from a scene in Jean-Luc Godard 1964 film "Band of Outsiders." Annja Krautgasser, an Austrian conceptual video artist, is doing a contemporary and, presumably, avant gardé version at W139 on the 1st of July from 20-22:00. She will video tape it and you will be one of the STARS. Got kids? Bring them. Make it a Family Affair. You need not have any dancing experience and you learn the steps, on-line, at: www.le-madison.net. It is a "group dance." Oh, yeah, getting paid for it...well, sorta...you get 2 "FREE DRINK CARDS." Got questions? info@le-madison.net

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Gallery closings: Biking down the Prinsengracht it came to 3D that it had been several months since I had had an invite from Studio Apart. So I checked out the space. It appears that they have shutdown the operation. The name is off the front of the building; and boxes are stacked up inside. Pity. They had attempted---and in a very professional way---to attract the club crowd to the art scene. Their openings were lavish and the art a good representation of the "street art" style which has an international following. It will be missed.

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RETRACTION: When 3D makes a mistake he does it in a BIG way. I reported, on the opening at Gallery WM (Elandsgracht 35), for Theo IJzermans (1944-2008) on a show, titled "Run and Coca-Cola" (a series of photos documenting Cuban society) that each photograph was 2,800 euro. NOT SO! Not even close. The actual price is 55 euro for one of the snaps. VOOR NIX. The opening was crowded so I didn't talk to anyone involved including Wanda, the gallery holder...well, we did whisper a little. When she saw last week's list, she informed me of the error and included a little more bio info. IJzermans was a psychologist and the writer of several books in the field. He also authored two detective novels. Buy a print and you get a book thrown in at NO EXTRA cost. Until 14th July. www.gallerywm.com

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"Contemporary Art: Special Report" was a four page extra in the Int Herald Tribune (www.iht.com, 10th June). One article, titled, "Getting creative in a downturn," by Alice Pfeiffer, opens with: "Recessions has jarred the world of contemporary art as much as any part of the economy, but for art, the shakeup may turn out ot be inspirational. A wave of small-scale independent initiatives is leading a shift from self-referential conceptual and production-line out-put toward a rediscovery of accessibility and classical skills." Dutch sculpture artist Folkert de Jong is mentioned. Also in the same section is an article titled: "An investor's guide to art market pain," by Paul Sullivan.

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Bang! Bang! Kiss Kiss guns goodbye! "They say America is the land of the free, but since I moved to Germany five years ago, I feel considerably more free than I did in the US. Why? Because I don't have to worry about someone shooting me." Nancy McGonigal commenting on the www.nytimes.com article, "The Guns of Spring."...And how about this? "The Little Leaguer [baseball for children from 6 to 17] shot in the head by a stray bullet during a game in Brooklyn vowed to take the field again as he miraculously walked out of Brookday hospital yesterday." www.msn.com/

3D is reminded of a personal incident. Years ago, I was attending a conference in Dallas Texas where John F. Kennedy had been assasinated. My boss and I were crossing the street in the middle of the block. We heard a whistle, but ignored it. The sound persisted and we both looked in the direction the sound was coming from. There we saw a policeman looking at us. He said, "Yeah, you two. Come here." We walked over to him and asked what was the problem. He recognized immediately that our accent was not that of a Texan. He asked, "Where you come from?" My boss replied "New York" and I said, "Chicago." He said, "Do they allow you to jay walk up there?" He left us go with a warning. As we were walking away, my boss turned to me and said, "You can shoot presidents here, but don't you dare jay walk!"

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DEADLINE: A.I.R. Hotel Mariakapel (Hoorn) invites artists, curators and researchers to submit proposals for their 2010 program. Hotel Mariakapel is an artist-run residency and project space. They offer a generous support package. There is an opening the 21st June (with performance) at 16:00. Questions: call@hotelmariakapel.nl, or www.hotelmariakapel.nl

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An observation: Last Sunday, a bright and beautiful Amsterdam day, 3D decided to check out a bench of the Veemkade and read a book and watch the boats go by. Well, I biked from Panama to the Passenger Terminal and found ONLY one bench. And that was part of the architecture for a building located on the Jollemanhof, a small alcove. Strange that there is only one.

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TEFAF has announced that applications for the 12th to 21st March 2010 event must be submitted by the 1st October 2009. This is for the "TEFAF Showcase" section of the fair. It gives "recently established galleries the opportunity to participate...on a strictly one-off basis and gain experience of being part of a major international fine art event." The gallery must have been in business for three years and not more than 10. www.tefaf.com (click-on to "showcase).

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Again, there are people who want to reverse Holland's toleration for the sale of soft drugs. Do they have any idea what they are proposing? 3D has always appreciated the Dutch approach to crimes of sin involving sex, booze and drugs. They are a commodities to the Dutch. Always were and always will be things to sell. They can be regulated, but you can't prevent their use. In fact, American should had learned that fact from its era of prohibition of alcohol that such initiatives tend to only increase the abuse. Ronald Reagan and his beloved Nancy thought otherwise. At Ronnie's behest laws were introduced that made the drugs and the drug trade dangerous to your health, but not from overdosing or drive-by-shootings. Here is how efffective the program has been?

Nicholas D. Kristof writes (www.nytimes.com, 13th June), in an article titled, "Drugs Won the War," "The US now incarcerates people at a rate nearly five times the world average. In part, that's because the number of people in prison for drug offences rose roughly from 40,000 [when Reagan instituted his "drug war" program] in 1980 to 500,000 today. Until the war on drugs our incarceration rate was roughly the same as that of other countries."

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PHOTOGRAPHERS: Have you ever snapped someones photo on the street or at some public get-together and had the person come over to you and ask in an irritated fashion "Why did you photograph me?" Check out the article, "When observers are perpetrators," at www.iht.com, the 5th June.

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Quotable quote from Thomas Jefferson, second president of the USofA: "I hope that our wisdom [America's] will grow with our power and teach us that the less we use our power the greater it will be." Too bad that King George Bush II wasn't a student of history.

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"WIKI LOVES YOU!" A workshop for those who want to contribute to this on-line encyclopedia. www.wikiworkshops.nl

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"DROP YA STUFF! at CU@DROPSTUFF.nl" "Jóuw animatie, games of films op het vetste culturele podium van NL?"

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"De Optimist" is a new "digitall cultureel magazine," in Dutch: www.deoptimist.net

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Last week's list reviewed a show of drawings and a book presentation now at "witzenhausenGALLERY." 3D forgot to check the price for the book, "Roland Sohier and the Pleasure of Drawing" and by Roland Sohier is offered two ways: in a boxed set that includes an original drawing, in an edition of 20, and sells for 350 euro. The book alone, and without the box, is 29.50 euro. www.witzenausengallery.nl.

WHAT YOU MISSED LAST WEEK:

Thursday:

De Brakke Grond (VCC, Nes 45) began their "Kermis" weekend with an exhibition for Kristina Kersa's (Estonia) "I sing as the bird sings" which won the BNG Workspace Project Prize 2008. She traveled through Flanders and filmed people who sat for an hour listening to the caged bird, in front of them, sing. There are five video screens (180 cms., high x 250 cms., wide) and we see each of the people only from their back. Sometimes there are vague movements and, in one, the man appears like someone in a photograph. The soundtrack consists of birds singing...what else?

In the garden gallery there are a series of photos of pole dancers in a club and caught in ambient light. The latter creates an interesting color hue. In addition, at the opening, there was a performance. An installation that consists of styrofoam, tin cans and small cardboard boxes was the background. Two men pushed the tin cans up and down slanting ramps as if they were playing shuffleboard.The players were Ruben Kindermans and Wannes Goetschalck. There was no name tags indicating if they had made the installation and/or photographs. 3D tried to ask, but they indicated they would not respond to questions. What is this thing of not putting the name of the artist next to their work? I asked one of the functionaires of the VCC and her was reply, "Sometimes artist don't want their name mentioned?" Really? Until 5th July. www.brakkegrond.nl

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Friday:

"moooi" (Westerstraat 187) is a design gallery. This Dutch company (home office, Breda) now has distribution in 48 countries around the world. They select designers and their designs and give them a market place in which to sell it. They are always looking for the unusual and the unexpected. Their Amsterdam location is a large space and it is easy to spend an hour looking around. Presently, they are spot-lighting the design efforts of the Marcel Wanders' company which specializes in product design, interior design and has a small publishing arm. The general manager gave 3D her name card and, looking at it, something caught my eye. It was subliminal "print" that, to read, you are required to turn it this way and that and says: "Here to create an environment of love, live with passion and make our most exciting dreams come true." Hey, 3D won't argue with that philosophy.

The show: A "tree lamp" in the sense that these lamps are made of wood, but that's really where the comparison ends. The lamps staff is turned on a lathe but it is the shade that stands out. It to appears to have been turned on a lathe and a large wood cord had been hollowed out. Also, the wood's grain is used to create an geometric abstract design. Cool! A very large floor lamp (about two meters high) is rather spectacular, again, because of the exposed wood grains. There are several ceramic pieces on display in Royal Delft Blue. The "blow away vase" is a fine and unusual piece as is "killing of the piggy bank." Most of these designs are whimsical and tongue-in-cheek. A child's table, with two chairs---all in black---looks both rugged and sturdy plus utilitarian.

Also on display is what must be the world's biggest floor lamp. It is made of polyester and fabric and measures 350x350x350 cms. Well, there are chadeliers that were made in past centuries as large and larger than this, but I can't think of seeing a floor lamp this BIG. It is in b/w and is truly spectacular. Needless to say, it would dominate any room nor matter the room's size. You just gotta see it! The price? ONLY 59,500 euros. www.moooi.nl and www.marcelwanders.com

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"Gallery nine" (Keizersgracht 552) shows the work of Ioannis Kyriakongonas who is an expressionist. But what sets his work apart, from the field, are the perceivable compositions which seem to be there. Other pieces have a linear abstraction quality. His color range is from very colorful to the subdued. (12x17 cms., mixed media on paper @ 975 euro; 50x75 xcms., mixed media @ 1,950 euro.) Until 11th July. www.gallerynine.nl

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Galerie Clement (Prinsengracht 843) presents a book both with and without the binding. On display are colorful woodblock prints (edition 25) that were used to illustrate a children's book titled "AAP Beer Cheeta" (ISBN 978.90.468.0539.8, Nieuw Amsterdam Uitgevers, 12.50 euro). The artist, Henriette Boerendans, goes through the complete alphabet and illustrates an animal that's first letter, in the spelling, relates to a letter of the alphabet: "A" for "Ape" and "Z" for "Zebra." Her color combinations are special and appealing and don't necessarily correspond to the actual colors of the animal. Boerendans also wrote the text. The wood cuts are priced at 100 euro making it affordable as a birthday gift for a young child (up to age 10) and something they can carry with them into old age. The "letter + text" is also available, separately, at only 10 euro. Until 4th July. www.galerie-clement.nl

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Fons Welters (Bloemstraat 140) is showing the new work of Berend Strik. If you are not acquainted with his work, you should be. He has been with this gallery for over 15 years and has had a solo exhbition, several years ago, at the Stedelijk Museum. His unusual technique is to use fabric and stitching to enhance his paintings. In the past, there has been an erotic element in most of his work. He has evolved away from this. In fact, it appears that he is now scanning photographs of city scapes, onto a canvas, and then enhancing the imagery, again, with fabric. There is a dip-tych with amazing tension brought about because the original imagery appears to be the inside view of a cupola of a domed building. But the added-on fabric is an expressionistic arrangement with the two styles fighting out the other for your attention. Damn, forgot to check the price list.

In the PLAYSTATION is the video work of Yasue Maetake (Japan). There are three videos and each one represents "images that recall Shinto rituals." In one there is a young lady sitting in a creek and whipping herself with a tree branch. In another, we see a woman scooping up glass from a huge pile of glass and throwing it back unto the pile. However, 3D is not really sure how this relates to a Shinto ritual. Until 18th July. www.fonswelter.nl

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"Spookschipgenootschap" is a group show of 15 artists and was organized by Walter Bartelings and Krishna Salikram. Again, the theme was a "ghost ship" like the fabeled "Flying Dutchman" that is condemned to sail the world's ocean for eternity. Each artist has made an interpretation of the legend. the work is sculpture, objects, paintings, prints, conceptually, etc. The space, where the exhibition is, is almost as interesting as the show itself. Several years ago, the space was squatted by a group of craftsmen who now restore historically interesting boats that measure from five meters to about 10+ meters. You can visit the exhibition on the following dates: June 20th., 21st., 27th., and 28th between 12-20:00. Or call for an appointment: 06.14.78.73.91; e-mail: spookschipsecretariaat@gmail.com. No web-site.

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WHAT IS HAPPENING THIS WEEK:

Reminder: The (?) means the info could be WRONG. And the "*" symbolizes that the same may be true about the times. Call ahead or click-on to the gallery's web-site.

WEDNESDAY: 17th June, 2009

20:00 Mediamatic BANK (Vijzelstraat 68). "Electro clothing and dynamic maps lectures," by Nadya Peek and Jeffery Warren, MIT Media Lab. In English. FREE (at least the invite mentioned NO entry fee). RSVP: info@mediamatic.nl

THURSDAY: 18th June

16:30 BKVB (Brouwersgracht 276). Eylem Aladogan, winner of the Volkskrant Art Prize 2009. www.fondsbkvb.nl

17-20:00 LUX PhotoGallery (Gebouw Het Sieraad, Postjesweg 1). "De RoXY Jaren," Photos by Cleo Campert. If you never went to the Roxy, well you did miss something. It was a huge space (a former cinema) and Peter Giele, an artist, with a predilection for fetish and the bizarre was its founder and inspiration. He died suddenly and the day of his funeral the wake was scheduled to take place at the club. His own art work centered around the pyrotechnic. An example of one of his "composition" was the center of attraction that day but the flames soared into the air conditioning ducts and the result was the total incineration of the building. 3D watched it burn; and ironic conclusion to both the man and his creation. Opening speech by Erwin Olaf. www.luxphotogallery.com The "3D List" last week announced that the LUX space is available for rental during the month of August. Here is an opportunity to check it out.

FRIDAY: 19th June

17-19:00 outLINE (Oetewalerstraat 73, off the Linnaustraat, hard to fine but worth the effort). David Scheidler's "Multiple perception." He is the 2009 winner for the art prize "AanZet." Included will be a dialogue with sound artist Nathalie Bruys. www.outlineamsterdam.nl

(?)17-19:00 E. de Bruijn Projects (Rozengracht 207-A). Mark Kent-Vingerling and [George] Korsmit, Dolores: Uta Eisenreich. www.edbprojects.nl

18-20:00 De Veemvloer (Van Diemenstraat 410). "LFTFLD ART SHOW: Up from the Underground, wall painting, photography, installations, drawings, animation, music and performance." Also on the 20th and 21st. See: www.veemvloer.nl for times/

SATURDAY: 20th June

10:00 Hermitage Amsterdam (Amstelhof, Amstel 51). This is the OPENING day. Finally, after five years of renovation, the museum will open with an exhibit titled, "At The Russian Court." It is "a dazzling display of more than 1,800 treasures from the State Hermitage Museum at St. Petersburg." From the Dutch language press release, 3D Thinks he understands that the museum will be open from Saturday morning and through the night until 17:00 Sunday afternoon...and maybe it is even FREE entry. Check their web-site: www.hermitage.nl

10:00 Hermitage Museum For Children. There is a special program during this grand opening weekend. Learn about their summer workshops and other special programs for children...they will even throw a birthday party for your kid.

15-18:00 RON MANDOS (Prinsengracht 282). Peter Funch presents BABEL TALES, an exposition of photographs by the Danish artist. Two cities are featured, "Amsterdam Stories" and New York. Until 11th July. www.ronmandos.nl

(?)16-19:00* Serieuze Zaken Studioos (Lauriergracht 96). Theo van den Boogaard.

16:00 JASKI ART GALLERY (N. Spiegelstraat 29). Chris Berens, "White Ones." If you are not familiar with his work this is a good time to see it. His technique is truly unique with haunting over-tones. www.jaski.com

19-23:00 Maison Descartes (Vijzelsgracht 2). A summer party in their beautiful garden with lots and lots of music. www.maisondescartes.nl

22:00 Paridiso (Leidseplein). "Brand in Mokum: Club RoXY Revisited." A "performance" by "Eet--o-theek." You gotta see this. It is fun! Last seen at Brakke Grond. 3D has no idea if there is an entrance fee. Also on Sunday, 22:00. No web-site. More info: selina@superhallo.nl

SUNDAY: 21st June

15-18:00 Figaro (Begijnensteeg 10, off the Spui). "Het Ambacht," the photos of Dixie Solleveld. Pim Mass, her partner and the Dutch "Elvis," will perform. This is also the 45 year anniversary of Pasquale's barbershop. Perhaps the most unusual barbershop in the world. No web-site for either of them

16:00 Galerie 23/Heden daagse Afrikaanse Kunst (KNSM-laan 307). Alihonou Donatien.

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Now's the time to DO IT! Do What??? Buy! Buy!! & BUY some more!!! Come on folks, artists gotta live and gallery holders gotta pay the rent...Contribute. Be a cultural connoisseur...with your wallet. What's that? That's that thing in your pocket or purse filled with moths because it hasn't been opened for so long. A society SPENDS it way out of recession. Do your part...ART is society's SOUL!...and you heard it from 3D.

3D? Who's dat? "Dat" is that "dat" and don't forget it...Huh?