Amsterdam

Amsterdam was our initial stop into Europe, but we spent just a day there...Luckily we returned to Amsterdam and got to enjoy our time there from the 27th to the 30th of June.


Our train ride and commute from Germany to the Netherlands was pretty exhausting so when many of us finally arrived at our hotel rooms we quickly settled down and had a bite to eat and a lot of rest as well. The next day was a free day for us to roam around the city and do as we pleased.


Upon arriving in Amsterdam many of us anticipated viewing some of the greatest artworks within the city. From Rembrandt to Van Gogh, what we saw was absolutely amazing. The first museum we made sure to visit was the Rijksmuseum located just down the street from our hotel. As we approached the building we couldn't help but notice how large the structure was. Sadly, 75% of the museum was closed but they still had their "best hits" out on display, such as Rembrandt's painting entitled Night Watch as well as several paintings by Vermeer.



Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Netherlands



Night Watch, Rembrandt Harmensz van. Rijn


The next museum visit was the Van Gogh Museum which houses the world's largest collection of Paintings, Drawings and even letters between Van Gogh and his brother Theo. The museum itself was first opened in 1973 and the building is known for its interesting architecture done by Dutch architect Gerrit Rietveld.



Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam, Netherlands



An inside view of the Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam, Netherlands



Sunflowers, Vincent Van Gogh


Earlier this year in the month of February a show entitled CHRONIC: Handmade Nightmares in Red, Yellow and Blue was curated at the Monique Meloche Gallery by Astrid Honold. The show included three artists from the Netherlands-- Dylan Graham, Fendry Ekel, and Folkert de Jong. I had the pleasure of meeting Art Consultant, Manager, and Publisher Astrid Honold that evening as well as the artists involved in the show. The show was a success and was one of the most energetic and lively openings I had been to in a long time. That evening Esteban Schimpf and I got to know Astrid, Folkert, and Fendry fairly well. A great conversation revolving around subjects of foam, painting, cold weather, Chicago, Amsterdam and surprisingly deep-frying was happily taking place that night between the five of us including a few group snap shots here and there! As the evening came to a close Astrid, Fendry and Folkert said "If you two are ever in the Netherlands, do not hesitate to let us know...we should keep in touch."



CHRONIC: Handmade Nightmares in Red, Yellow and Blue, Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago, Illinois


Fast forward four months later---I find myself venturing in the city of Amsterdam!


I kept in touch with Astrid through email and planned to meet her and the guys in Amsterdam after the class was through. Kindly enough, when I finally arrived in Amsterdam I asked Astrid if Folkert or Fendry would be willing to do a casual artist talk for our class, generously enough we got to hear from all three individuals, Astrid, Fendry and Folkert spoke to our group of 25 at the Astrid Honold OFFICE space located in the East side of Amsterdam.


The conversation was very inspirational. The artists not only shared who they were as individuals and their art practice as individuals but most importantly they spoke of what they have achieved as a group together. They spoke passionately about their modes of practice and organization, and kindly answered any question we had to ask. While saying our thank you's and goodbye's many of us felt a rush of stimulus and motivation in regards to the stories and thoughts shared by Astrid, Fendry and Folkert. We were all thrilled to have heard from them, especially after having seen so much art for the past two weeks, it was nice to have had the opportunity to hear from artists themselves.


A bit about Astrid Honold OFFICE...
"Since 2004 the activities of Astrid Honold OFFICE have expanded to include studio - and project management for a select group of talented young artists working in the Netherlands who are beginning to make an international breakthrough. OFFICE also takes care of producing and publishing monographs and exhibition catalogues...In 2000 Astrid Honold founded the Space For Artists Foundation together with artist colleagues Folkert de Jong and Fendry Ekel with whom her OFFICE continues to work intensively." --text taken from www.astridhonoldoffice.com



Fendry Ekel, Trent Smith and Folkert de Jong during artist talk inside the Astrid Honold OFFICE.



Justin Berry, Astrid Honold, Michelle Grabner, Clay Flynn, Jaime Groetsema, Young-Joon Kwak, Adrean Vargas, and Yogi Proctor taking part in the discussion. Hanging above is the painting entitled Smoke, 2006 by artist Fendry Ekel.



Will Megson stands beside the sculpture entitled We Deal You Lose 1 by artist Folkert de Jong


We had one day left as a class in Amsterdam and that last next morning we were delighted to hear yet another lecture from a Dutch artist by the name of Jan Van Der Ploeg. Jan runs an alternative space for art entitled PS. Taken directly from the website, "PS aims to provide a platform for the work of upcoming international artists in an environment that exists between the conventions of an artist-run space and a commercial gallery." It was interesting to hear from two alternative forms of art spaces being run in the Netherlands that were not the traditional "gallery" spaces that we are used to.



Lecture with artist Jan Van Der Ploeg at PS.



Paintings by artist Jan Van Der Ploeg


After hearing Jan speak, we headed over to De Appel, which is an institute for contemporary art which provides space to artists for projects, installations and research. One of the works displayed upon our visit was an installation by Jonathan Messe, every wall covered with paint, gunk, funk, and cellophane!!! What we saw was the aftermath of a wild opening night.



Installation by Jonathan Messe installed at De Appel, Amsterdam, Netherlands



Another installation view of Jonathan Messe at De Appel, Amsterdam, Netherlands.


Another artist featured at De Appel was Maartje Koorstanje, one piece that stood out to me was a cave made of brown butcher paper and cardboard.



Luo Liu, Clay Flynn, and Dennis Iren investigate the work of Maartje Koorstanje.


Our last visit was to the Stedlijk Museum of Contemporary Art currently in a temporary space in the "old post office" building. The walk to the museum was beautiful as we passed by a large canal and witnessed a building constructed by Renzo Piano entitled NEMO.



NEMO by Renzo Piano, Amsterdam, Netherlands



View outside the Stedlijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands

A view from within the temporary space of the Stedlijk Museum


The end was nearing and our trip was almost over, but there was still one last group dinner in which we enjoyed at Restaurant 11, a restaurant located on the 11th floor of the Stedlijk Museum building right behind Central Station, 11 contains a large bar, a restaurant and a club! It's a bit of a multifunctional cultural environment, with DJ's during the weekends, performances and video-art projections on large screens above the windows. We enjoyed a four course dinner and the several conversations we all shared. Yogi led the group in a discussion about Damien Hirst's "Skull" while Justin Berry was the emcee for the evening. The trip was great and it was a wonderful way to end.



A birds-eye view of 11



Instructor Shane Campbell along with students Kaylee Wyant, Nancy Kim, Thea Nichols , Eli Walker, Jerome Acks, Rachel Robertson, and Young Joon Kwak dine just fine at 11.



Justin Berry, Young Joon Kwak, Nancy Kim, Jerome Acks, Rachel Robertson, and Adrian Vargas enjoyed their meals.



A view overlooking the city, including NEMO.



A rather glorious ending.

Sculpture Project Muenster 2007

The next stop was the city of Muenster, Germany, the host city for the Sculpture Project Muenster 2007. Sculpture Project Muenster occurs every ten years since 1977 and the organization of the event has remained the same, it is an international art exhibition where artists are invited to develop their work in the city. 2007 has been a rather interesting year for these art fairs that we speak of because Art Basel, the Venice Bienalle, Documenta 12, and Sculpture Project Muenster have all lined up like the stars on Orion's belt itself!!!


Upon our arrival in Muenster, some friends and I stumbled across a Carnival that was going on within the city. It was an amazing alternative to art with crazy roller coasters flipping us upside-down and all around, colorful and sticky taffy, Gummies! Gummies! and more Gummies! It was an amaaaaazing gift to us travelers, for sure.



Night shot of Muenster's summer fair



The arrangement of Sculpture Project Muenster was very different in comparison to that of Documenta because instead of having the work sectioned off by buildings and halls, it was one's job as a viewer to investigate and look throughout the city itself for work that was "art". For example, while wandering through a forrest one can easily miss many of the benches by artist Jenny Holzer because they so easily blend into the environment.



In the city center stood a tall Gold structure that was built to house the "book store" it was a frequent meeting place during our trip to Muenster where we would look at publications and enjoy the cafe nearby.



One of the first pieces that we enjoyed while walking throughout the city was a miniature sculpture garden of modernist sculptures.


One on of the three days that we were scheduled to stay in Muenster, we wandered throughout the city as a class to look for and discuss five pieces in the show. One particular piece was a "Petting Zoo" by Mike Kelley. It was interestingly turned off because the animals were too stressed from the video, sound, and crowds that were involved with the piece.



Petting Zoo by Mike Kelley, Sculpture Project Muenster, Germany



A photo of myself cheerfully petting a goat and taking part in the(at the time "shut- down") petting zoo of artist Mike Kelley.


The next day we were free to wander the streets of Muenster and investigate the city around us. We did some walking around and entered beautiful churches as well as rented some bikes for the day.



A walk in the street after finding a great second hand shop-From left to right is Myself, AJ Reading, Trent Smith, and Dennis Iren.



Standing in front of an old church in Muenster-From left to right is Clay Flynn, Myself, and Dennis Iren.



While walking around we came across a piece by a Colombian artist which we stared at from above. It was a map of the city of Muenster itself.


We finally walked into a church named after Saint Paul, within the church we sat and listened to the heavenly voices of nuns and church goers, it really was one of the best parts of our stay in Muenster.



Outside view of Church in Muenster, Germany



Inside view of daily Mass at a church in Muenster, Germany


The last event that the entire group took part in was our first group dinner out of a total of two that we had. The dinner was rich and delicious, with entrees ranging from Beef Stew to Pork Knuckles, it was most definitely a traditional German cuisine.



Mind Your Manners-From left to right is Myself, Trent Smith, Clay Flynn, and Dennis Iren.



A photo capturing the reserved room in which our group of 24 enjoyed dinner is above.


Saying goodbye to the city of Muenster we all joined together late on the last evening over ice cream, drinks, and conversation.



Sitting here we see Eli Walker, Clay Flynn, and Jaime Groetsema.

Documenta 12

On June 16th, we were scheduled to meet as a class at the Sofitel Dorint in Amsterdam, I arrived early and got to enjoy the city even though it was a very short initial stay.



Here one can see the main square near Central Station in Amsterdam.



Passing through the Red Light District was a tour boat in one of the many canals throughout the city.



Curiously staring out into the distance is the back of the heads of Clay Flynn (red) and Trent Smith (blue).


We gathered outside the Sofitel at 10pm and briefly spoke about our trip and all the plans and projects that it would entail, we also got to meet our instructors Shane Campbell and Michelle Grabner. The very next morning bright and early we left to Kassel on the ICE trains, it was quite a confusing wait but we soon got moving.



Patiently waiting to leave the Amsterdam airport for Germany...waiting from left to right are students Forrest Nash, Liz Rosenberg, Ben Fain, and Rachel Robertson.


Our train ride was a lengthy 6 hours passing through beautiful cities of Germany, Kolon was one of them, you can see a beautiful church that we saw below.



Kolon, Germany


The second we got off the train we were immediately greeted by works that were part of Documenta 12; an upside down bedframe stood at the top of a building teetering on its corner while a large collage that read in German "All men are sisters" hung in front of the doors of the train station. We quickly got on a bus, 24 individuals carrying more than 24 suitcases and backpacks, and headed on to our hotel located in Baunatal, Germany, a very small town on the outskirts of Kassel. Baunatal served us well, with adventures including a team of 20 drunk soccer players, a strip mall to walk circles around each night, pizza, falafel, doner kabab galore, and a phone bill of $692!!! Of course in retrospect this all brought more fun than frustration, and we always had Documenta a quick tram ride away.


It was quite an intense amount of time that we spent researching and observing the work that Documenta 12 had to offer. But first off, a little background on the Documenta 12 exhibition and the history of Documenta itself:


Taken directly from the Documenta 12 website the following reads as follows, "The documenta is regarded as the most important exhibition of contemporary art, drawing attention from all over the world. It was initiated in 1955 by the artist and art educator, Arnold Bode, in Kassel. After the period of Nazi dictatorship, it was intended to reconcile German public life with international modernity and also confront it with its own failed Enlightenment. Under continually changing directorship, and in the equally leisurely and inexorable rhythm of five years, the documenta has advanced to become an authoritative worldwide seismograph of contemporary art."


The artistic director of Documenta 12 is Roger M. Bruegel the curator for the show was Ruth Noack. The themes of Documenta revolved around the following 3 topics Modernity, Life and Education. Documenta's leading question was "Is modernity the new antiquity?" In regards to this question we witnessed many curatorial decisions that referenced this question. Their curatorial emphasis stresses relationships across media and history. The exhibition included rugs, bridal veils, a lacquerwork panel, folk art, Persian miniatures, and children’s drawing. Another such example was evident at the off-site Schloss Museum where paintings such as Kerry James Marshall's "Lost Boys Series" were placed beside paintings done in the 17th century. Even on Kassel's most beloved Hercules Monument, we witnessed work for Documenta 12 on scaffolding structures scattered throughout the huge mountain-scape in which the monument stands.


Documenta 12 had four main locations on site, The Museum Fridericianum, The Aue Pavillion, The Neue Gallery, and The Documenta Halle.


Below are images of the main buildings of Documenta 12:



Museum Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany



Zheng Guogu, Waterfall in the Museum Fridericianum



Sanja Ivekovic, Triangle in the Museum Fridericianum



Tanaka Atsuko, Electric Dress in the Museum Fridericianum



The Aue Pavilion, Kassel, Germany


A majority of the Documenta Halle was filled with an installation by Cosima Von Bonin while in the back of the hall glowed we witnessed a glowing orage room, a piece by Chicago's own Inigo Maglano Ovalle.



Cosima Von Bonin, Relax It's Only a Ghost



Inigo Manglano Ovalle, Phantom Truck


We were given a number of assignments for the trip. The first was to conduct one hour presentations on any work of art in the show, we were paired with our roomates for the piece. We spent two full days researching and planning, but most importantly observing our individual pieces. The next two days would be dedicated to meeting as a class and conducting our presentations. The array of work in which we discussed was very interesting, from an infinitely reflective John McCracken sculpture in the entrance of the Museum Fridericianum to the mysterious film by James Coleman entitled Retake with Evidence, performed by Harvey Keitel in the Neue Gallery, the discussions were meaty, lengthy, and informative.



Yogi Proctor and AJ Reading conduct the first presentation outside of the Museum Fridericianum on the work of John McCracken.



Young Joon Kwak conducts a presentation with Adrean Vargas in the Neue Gallery. From left to right are teachers Michelle Grabner and Shane Campbell and students Young Joon Kwak and Adrean Vargas.



Nancy Kim and Kaylee Wyant did a presentation at the Neue Gallery of the work of James Coleman. Seated from left to right is Jamie Groetsema, AJ Reading, Dennis Iren, Anna Peterson, Ben Fain, Michelle Grabner, Nancy Kim, Shane Campbell, Jerome Acks, and Will Megson.


Aside from Documenta, I joined my friends Clay Flynn and Trent Smith on a long hike to the Hercules Monument. The view was breathtaking, with a full site of Kassel and a peculiar scaffold covering the currently headless Hercules. The monument is located above the Schloss Museum, here are the images of our voyage:



Schloss Museum, Kassel, Germany



Myself, Clay Flynn, and Trent Smith half-way through our hike to the Hercules Monument.



Bridge near path leading to the Hercules Monument



Hercules Monument, Kassel, Germany



View outside of a structure at the Hercules Monument


We had a great time in Kassel, a nice full week to see all that we could, but our next stop was Munster, Germany for the exhibition happening every decade: The Munster Sculpture Projekt...On the trains we went, once again, but our last day in Kassel greeted us with a double rainbow, a site not to be missed.



Double Rainbow...woo woo!



AJ Reading waiting patiently on the train to Munster.