3D List Nov. 29th

By Daniel R. Gould

Hello everyone...ready for a little of everything that will make your week a bit more exciting and culturally profitable. And be assured that "profitability" isn't always represented by euro or dollar signs.

Remember, too, that because you automatically receive the 3D List it makes you a member of the 7A Club. For the new members, this is what the 7As

signify: Amsterdam Aesthetic Alliance Admirers Association of Authentic Art. What does THAT mean? Hell if I know. I just like the rhythm of the words. As I said at the beginning, I do endeavour to make the "3D List"

jocular. So, let me entertain you...now where did I put my clothes?

***

Again, there are more pearls of wisdom from the writing hand of 3D available

at this web-site: www.patners-inc.nl <http://www.patners-inc.nl/> . This

week I tell the true story of Joey. A person without worries or problems.

Sound idyllic? Check it out and determine, for yourself, if you would have

changed places with him.

***

The 3D List is available at these web-sites: www.agentur.nl

<http://www.agentur.nl/> ; www.hostels-amsterdam.nl

<http://www.hostels-amsterdam.nl/> ; and, maybe, at www.godsownmedicine.org

<http://www.godsownmedicine.org/> . I say "maybe" about the latter because

the director of the site tells me that his spam filter did not deliver "3D

List: #12." Hmmm, I'm being censored by a spam filter. Does that put me

amongst the big boys of internet abuse? Made my day.

This brings to mind something else that I should explain. Since the

beginning of the new season, I have had several requests from galleries and

individuals to send them the 3D List individually. They have told me that

their "spam filters" reject the list because it is being sent by "bulk" or

that they don't pay any attention to what comes in labelled "junk." I have

been consistent in making no exceptions. It would be an added burden of

trying to keep track of the "exceptions" and to single them out when I am

sending the list. Please for give my seemingly lack of sympathy, but please

try to understand that this is a free service and just trying to get it done

at the library is stressful enough.

INDEX:

Bits & Pieces:

Museum Review: FOAM: Stijn Verhoeff

Cobra Museum: Johannes Schwartz

What You Missed Last Week:

What Is Happening This Week:

BITS & PIECES:

This report from pAn: the Jan Steen's painting titled "Couple Dancing on a

Terrace" was sold for five million euro by Noortman Master Paintings

(Maastricht). This is the highest amount of money ever paid for something

sold at pAn.

It was also announced that just over 36,000 people attended the exhibition.

This is about 600 more than in 2006. I consider that that is a good

indication of the state of the economy.

***

I was going through a stack of newspaper cuttings and found this one. Allan

Stone, a New York art dealer, said: "The art world seems to me like a

madhouse where the inmates have taken charge."

***

Hollywood is facing one crisis after another. The story is now reading like

a disaster movie film script where everything goes wrong. This was reported

some weeks ago in the LA TIMES: "Last weekends film industry sales of about

$80 million...were a whopping 27% below the same weekend in 2006...this will

be the industry's worst October weekend since 1999 or 2000." Well, there is

a simple solution...make better quality movies and forget the $100,000,000

computer generated celebrity name thriller style crap!

The latest problem is that the film writers' union is still on strike

affecting both the commercial film industry and TV.

***

MUSEUM REVIEW:

At FOAM, in the upstairs library, Stijn Verhoeff exhibited photographs under

the title "Mesopotamian Marshes." These are water lands that exist along the

Iranian and Iraqi border.

But the flora isn't lush. The marshes are surrounded by desert or something

close to it. Verhoeff captures the wild life that survives the great odds

against living things. And while these photographs are in color there isn't

much color to see, it is almost subliminal.

There is also a video that he made with Pieter Paul Pothoven. It records the

aqua life of the marches in Turkey; the area often referred to as "The

Cradle of Civilization." There is a running commentary of script that

describes the region and how it was in marches like these that algae and

zooplankton formed hundreds of millions to billions of years ago that has

resulted in the oil deposits now sitting below the surface of the ground.

The text also describes the politics, religion, history, mythology and

ethnography. The soundtrack records the birds and other wildlife of the

area. It is a beautiful film.

***

The Cobra Museum in Amstelveen exhibited the photographs of Johannes

Schwartz (German). There were a series of six C-prints (about 150x100 cms)

photos of stacked canvases in racks. All we see are the ends of the

stretchers. The group forms a linear abstract which is natural, chaotic and

conceptual. A series of three photos of Van Gogh's painting titled "La

Berceuse"---that's the old lady sitting with folded hands in chair (each a

variation and from the collection of a museum: Amsterdam, Boston and

Chicago) have been photographed from her folded hands to the floor of the

museum.

Between these two series of photos is a latex wall painting titled

"Rembrandt." Rembrandt? What did this conceptual abstract black, white and

gray painting have to do with Rembrandt. I sought out the artist: "When the

Rijksmuseum removed the "Nightwatch" from the wall this was the view; and it

is in the same dimensions." Okay...and there is more, "It can also be seen

as a metaphor for art emerging from a Neanderthal cave." The caveman

cometh....sorry Eugene. www.cobra-museum.nl <http://www.cobra-museum.nl/>

WHAT YOU MISSED LAST WEEK:

Thursday:

Gallery LL showed Jeroen Buitenmann's "Haute Peinture." (Koningennenweg 83)

His painting is stylish. They are figurative and there is a touch of

impressionism in his technique and sometimes an abstract background. There

are drawing, on show, of aquarelle, acrylic with typography and they stand

out because of the bold and structured reds or structured black

backgrounds... (11x43 cms @ 1,750 euro.)

A few of the large paintings reminded me of end of the 19th century posters

by Toulouse-Lautrec and Mucha basically because of the imagery (pretty

ladies) the composition and typography. Some also emulates the glamour

conveyed by Vargas who illustrated for Playboy magazine. "Pollack's Nude"

(50x60 cms @ 3,500 euro) is a nice painting and "Stille Wateren, Diepe

Gronden" (125x125 cms@ 7,800 euros) is captivating. Until 21st March 2008.

www.galleryll.com <http://www.galleryll.com/>

***

Friday:

Olga Grtters' show is titled "Over ganzen, samenwerkin en mensen."

(Stadsdeelkantoor Oud-West, Kwakersstraat 3.) Generally speaking, I find

bird drawings and paintings, well, for the birds. Then there are the

exceptions. Grtter's does colored acrylic drawings of mostly geese with a

Dodo bird thrown in from time to time. The style is impressionistic in the

brush stroke work, but it is her unique signature. As I said, I'm not into

bird pictures, but there are three, four or five I wouldn't mind hanging.

There are a series of simple line drawings that are very nice too; they are

almost abstractions. She has hung two landscapes and both are exceptional

for their imagery and colors. Nice show. Until 17th December. (30x40 on

paper @350 euro; 60x80 cms on paper @ 600 euro; 102x70 cms acrylic, craft

carton on mdf @1,200.) www.zobinnenzobuiten.nl

<http://www.zobinnenzobuiten.nl/> ; www.wgkunst.nl <http://www.wgkunst.nl/>

***

Saturday:

Galerie Petit (N.Z. Voorburwal 270) exhibits a man and wife who both work

independently of the other. Theo Daamen hangs both paintings and drawings.

The subject matter is always female nudes often wearing masks. Obviously, it

creates a mysterious sense of being. The drawings are b/w and basically

studies. The paintings are done in an impressionistic style but really

without colors the latter being mostly earth and flesh colors.

Heidi Daamen does both ceramics and drawings. The ceramics will enchant a

small child: a boy riding a rabbit; two little girls sitting atop a turtle;

and a girl leaning over a big Cheshire cat. In fact, even adults will

probably be enchanted with these fantasy like pieces. Her drawings are like

comic strip art and like the imagery that style depicts there are whimsical

elements to the work though some are also serious. (350 to 3,200 euro) Until

5th January. www.galeriepetit.nl <http://www.galeriepetit.nl/> .

At Galerie Hans Appenzeller (Grimburgwal 1-5) is the work of Mieke Blits,

"Kan Combi & Unica Vazen," who does ceramics. She has a wide range of

styles. What are constant are the basically simplistic forms that result.

There are high standing vases---50 to 100 cms---that are monumental and the

design itself is like a bunch of wheat stalks clumped together with their

motion choreographed by the wind. The colors are pales blues, yellows,

purples and earth colors. There is a series of nine vases with the profile

of an art deco styled face and the hair flows, again, simulating motion. I

rather liked the eight vases that were either boots or a woman's high heel

shoe. Also a series of smaller pieces and each was in two parts. They were

vases with a form hanging from the lip. The prices are down right cheap:

75 to 1,000 euro; the majority is priced between 250 to 450 euro. Until 24th

December. www.miekeblits.com <http://www.miekeblits.com/> .

***

AARTACASA (Kerkstraat 411) had the official book presentation for the

publication ARTACUCINA. The highlight of the exhibition...well, I was going

to say the recipe samples, but that's my stomach talking because there was

also a very good overview of the gallery's artists hanging on the walls.

Each artist had donated a recipe and one of their works was illustrated next

to it. 3D was the one exception. I gave a recipe but was told that my art

would not be used as an illustration since I was not an artist of the

gallery. My recipe is "Danny's International Curry Chicken Mango Pasta

Dish." That was the only attribution I got. Fortunately, I share the page

with an artist that I like. For more info on this reasonably priced

cookbook---15 euro---see: www.artacasa.nl <http://www.artacasa.nl/> .

***

I must be getting old! I remember when comic strips were funny. Really. A

good laugh that started the day on a positive note. But this crop of award

winners of the annual Lףdz Comic strip competition didn't get any chuckles

from me. That's not to say that the exhibition at WM Gallery (Elandsgracht

35) of "Polish Comics Abroad" is not worth seeing, it is just a comment on

how the youth of today convey their view of the society through the medium

of simple line drawings.

The stories center on the subject matter of suicide, adultery, murder,

mayhem, people going crazy and cyborgs ruling the world. Here are two

samples of titles: "A Chair in Hell" and "Living Hell" by two different

artists. Now that's a helleva way to establish the mood for the day with

fire and brimstone as subject matter. Pass the red jam, sweetheart, I want

blood on my toast. The individual artistic style is good as well as the

actually drawings, but the story telling is heavy stuff. Of course, this is

the strength of the show; a good retrospective view of the current state of

mind of the strip artist. www.gallerywm.com <http://www.gallerywm.com/>

***

Gallery nine (Keizersgracht 552) exhibited Dorry van Haersolte's drawings

and objects. Minimalism at its best! He uses handmade paper. A portion is

cut away into a form and folded over and overlaps the lower half. He then

"decorates" the fold over with East Indian ink. There is a Japanese quality

to it especially in its elegancy. A series of five (15x150 @ 500 euros each)

resemble an EKG readout showing the rhythm beats of the heart. Nice work.

(43x43 cms @ 400 euro; 74x58 cms @ 500 euro; 15x38 cms @ 90 euro...yes, that

cheap!) Good Christmas gift. Until 22nd December. www.gallerynine.nl

<http://www.gallerynine.nl/> .

***

Well, 3D got his hands' slapped last week. On the "What Is Happening..."

list, I mentioned "Gallery Soco." The non-gallery gallery holder informed

me, on my arrival, that SOCO (ALL capitals, please) is not a "gallery."

Damn! Got that wrong.

He did give me a detailed outline and on the cover it says: "Blueprint for

a museum without a building." Then this: "The SOCO Vision: As the Social

Museum of Contemporary Art, SOCO's object is to break the museum out of its

fortified context and into a more social and accessible milieu. Instead of

merely purchasing and exhibiting existing art works we invite artists to

create entirely new and thereby truly contemporary works based on a thematic

basis and give them the production assistance and community support

necessary to realize works of the best quality

"SOCO is at its heart an art project, a reinvention, fusing the traditional

museum with a creative commercial company in order to develop a fresh

institution that pushes the museum, traditionally a non-profit organization,

into a truly self sustainable company which maintains the highest standard

of work through a purity of concept and intention that is vital to the art

world." That's what it is in its own words. So, if it intends to "break the

museum out of its fortified context" can it be a museum? It is neither a

museum nor a gallery; how about "art space?"

As to the actual show one work took a little effort on the part of the

observer or would be observer. Sometimes I was able to identify the location

of a piece of art because of the name tag attached to the wall or door. On

the door of the toilet, I saw a title "So now I have a well if I need one"

and the name Lucia Luptבkovב. I opened the door. To the left was a sink and

to the right a ladder. I looked above and there was a hole in the ceiling. I

climbed the rungs and stuck my head in the hole. And came face to face with

a wall. There was light coming from behind me. I had to twist around to

see. There was a flashlight lying on material pointed to something written

on the wall. Because of the distance and angle I could not read it. I

decided not to venture any further. Later, the artist told me that the idea

was for the viewer to venture further so they COULD read it. Oh! Another

time, sweetheart.

There were two opaque tables that reacted graphically when you touched the

surface. What appeared looked like coordinates and then they were followed

by colourful lines. I'm not sure what it all means, but the resulting array

of rainbow colors was pleasing as they danced across the glass surface.

Ralph Das did the interface and Bruno & George made the support table and

legs.

There is an extended section of the gallery...oops...space? That is in the

open air. Here there is a rather unusual installation by Janis Pצnish,

titled "A game garden." In some respects it reminded me of a miniature golf

course. There is an artificial surface over which two "chair" like objects

(and, yes, you can sit in them) are suspended. Also there is what seems to

be a miniature volcano and in the upper left hand corner of the space is a

"moon" like object that's light intensity changes with the proximity of a

solid body.

I rather liked the sugar cube by Ronald Nijhol. In fact, it is a plastic

reproduction of a sugar cube---actual size---and is illuminated from the

inside. It, too, reacts in light intensity which is determined by, let's

say, a finger coming near it. He also designed the kitchen cabinets in the

non-gallery art space museum where the doors are made of sugar cubes. I kid

you not!!! Until ? (I checked the web-site but there is no final date of

closing mentioned.) www.socoamsterdam.nl <http://www.socoamsterdam.nl/>

***

And now for the fun part...what you all came for...

WHAT IS HAPPENING THIS WEEK:

WEDNESDAY: 28th November 2007

20:00 SM Bureau Amsterdam (Rozenstraat 59). Mark Lewis (UK/Can) in

conversation with Jelle Bouwhuis. Lewis makes film installations and is the

editor of "Afterall." He will be discussing his essay: "Modernity our

Antiquity?" which was one of the guidelines for Documenta 12. FREE.

www.smba.nl <http://www.smba.nl/>

THURSDAY: 29th November

17:30 MLB (witte de Withstraat). From de Stichting Buurtwerkplaaten 13

artists: "Tiffany/Gals en Keramick."

20:00 BEP (Meet at Oud-West Stadsdeeel, Kwakerstr. 3). A walking tour of the

neighborhood to see the work of 13 artist showing work in the windows' of

shops. Reception follows.

20:30 De Brakken Grond/VCC (Nes 45). "One Minute Videos" from Belgium.

21:00 de Balie (Leidseplein). Moritz Ebinger (Swiss) "will be drawing almost

daily for the next three weeks at de Balie." www.debalie.nl

<http://www.debalie.nl/>

FRIDAY: 30th November

17:00 Soledad Senlle Gallery (Sloterkade 171). "Ash and Light," Lisanne

Sloots and Christina Della." This must be a new gallery, I have not heard of

it before.

17-19:00 Galerie ARTTRA (Tweede Boomdwaarstr. 4). Max Vilt, photographs.

www.arttra.nl <http://www.arttra.nl/>

20:00 De Brakke Grond/VCC (New 45). Expositie KOPSTOOT with a special

opening concert at 20:30. Well, this could be interesting! The VCC is really

promoting it. Myself, I have had four invitations from different mailing

list. For more info: www.brakkegrond.nl <http://www.brakkegrond.nl/>

SATURDAY: 1st December

The Rijksakademie will have an open house on Saturday and Sunday. I think

the times are 12-18:00, but check ahead. This is one of my favourite shows

of the year.

(?)15:00* Galerie Witteveen (Keizersgracht 538). "Groten uit Taxania,"

Woody van Amen, a 60s artist.

16:00 Galerie 59 (van Eeghenstrat 59). Marijna Hazra, works on paper.

16-19:00 KochxBos Gallery (1e Anjeliersdwarsstraat 5). Femke Hiemstra's

first solo show is titled "La Fenיtre Secrיte." Paintings and drawings.

"Shapes and objects come to life playing with animals, fantasy creatures and

typographies."

(?)16-18:00* R. Katwijk (Leuidesdwaarstraat 198). Zhuang Hong Yi.

16-18:00 Wetering Galerie (Lijnbaansgracht 288). Group show: Arie Bekulin,

Paul den Hollander, Marc Nagtzaan and Jan van der Pol.

16:00 Galerie W. van Leeuwen (Hazenstraat 27). Nick Brandt shots wild life

in b/w photography.

(?)_____* Hotel Pulitzer (Prisengracht 315)..Francastic that publishes the

"Kunstgids" will hang a show of six artists. The work is a mix of

figurative, light sculpture, naive and whatnot. I have no idea if there is

an opening. www.francastic.com <http://www.francastic.com/>

17-19:00 Huis Marseille (Keizersgracht 401). "The Power Show," Jacqueline

Hassink's exhibition is a retrospective from her New York home. Four series

of photos of her work will be shown plus the film: "BMW Car Girls."

www.huismarseille.nl <http://www.huismarseille.nl/>

17:00 Galerie Gabriel Rolt (Elansgracht 34). Masao Yamamoto (Japan).

"Photography installations of [her] photos of birds, trees, mountains,

skies, nudes can be seen as visual haikus."

(?)17-19:00* E. de Bruijne (Rosengracht 207). Jannie Regnerus.

17:00-19:00 Mart House (Prisengracht 529). Group show, 10 artists.

(?)17-19:00* Yoshino Matsumoto (Weteringschaans 37). Toru Matsuoka, new

sculpture.

17-19:00 Galerie Fons Welters (Bloemstraat 140). Ten artists from the

gallery.

20:00 De Service Garage (Stephensonstraat 16). Horse Move Project Space

opens a new location. The title of the show: "A New Culture Platform."

17-19:30 Canvas International Art (Fokkerlaan 46, Amstelveen). "China Now

Now," An exhibition of paintings, sculpture and photography by nine Chinese

artist. "Cees Hendrikse, one of the first collectors of Chinese avant-garde

art in the Netherlands will open." Also, check out the web-site for

information on a lecture to be given at the Cobra Museum at 15:00 the same

day. RSVP s.noordhuis@cobra-museum.nl <mailto:s.noordhuis@cobra-museum.nl>

; www.canvas-art.nl <http://www.canvas-art.nl/>

SUNDAY: 2nd December

14-17:00 Galerie Beeldend Gesprokemn (Borgerstraat 102). Baukje

Spaltro/Heimat.

16-18:00 Walls Gallery (Prinsengracht 737). "Great Winter Art Hunt," 20

young artists. www.walls.nl <http://www.walls.nl/>

16-18:00 ABC Treehouse. KADO: A special exhibition to benefit War Child. Buy

a holiday gift and 10% will be donated to WC. Paintings, photos, ceramics

and more..."All works are priced to sell."

Well, well, another busy week to wallow in the art scene. And there is a

little of everything: a lot from China, a little from the UK and USA as well

as several other countries. You don't need an airline ticket just your

trusty bike and you can see the world's cultural art scene in a few hours

time. Now ain't that GREAT!!!

Gotta go...lots to do and only a few days to do it in...3D, over and out...