Art Rotterdam 2023 – 10 Art Works You Really Want to See

Time flies when you’re having fun – but let me tell you from personal experience, it passes just as quickly when life is not treating you so well. Such is the life of a fifty-something year old, I guess. Anyway, I’ve always been a glas half full kind of guy and so let me say that I cannot WAIT for Art Rotterdam 2023 to start on 9 February. And what better way to get in the mood on an overcast Saturday afternoon and go through the Art Rotterdam online catalogue? I made a little selection of 10 works you rrreally want to see, because let’s face it…you need a little guidance if you’re going.

You can visit Art Rotterdam 2023 from Thursday 9 February until Sunday 12 February.

Art Rotterdam 2023 – 10 Works You RRREALY Want to See

1 – Club Sandwich by Casper Braat

The first thing I had to think of when I saw Casper Braat’s Club Sandwich was this great article I read in New York Magazine the other day. Did you know that shops in NYC apparently have to lock even the most mundane items in those God-awful plexiglass anti-theft boxes? Well neither did I, but there you have it. Anyway, if you look carefully, you’ll see that the bread in this club sandwich is made our of marble -and it’s yours for less than 500 euros!

Fun fact: Casper Braat once made an installation out of 1,000 McDonald’s hamburgers.

2 – Strategic Material (Trinity) by V&B

It feels like AGES since I interviewed Ellemieke Schoenmaker and Alex Jacobs, who work together under the name V &B. The work that will be on display at Art Rotterdam is another beautiful example of the objects they make from mixing leftover materials and coloured plaster and then sanding them down to these beautiful rocks.

3 – Facial by Roosje van Donselaar

I recently bought the House of Hackney Hollyhocks Spring wallpaper for my bedroom and for the life of me I can’t decide what to combine it with. It’s a really busy print and I’m not sure if a paining would look good against it. One of these beautiful Facial Roosje van Donselaarmasks by might do the trick, though.

4 – The Thrones – The Garden of Clouds by Sam Samiee

HELLO! These two fantastically colourful chairs by Sam Samiee were recently on display at Melly, which is a small modern art museum in Rotterdam well worth checking out. Wish I’d taken the time to see them, but they should be at Art Rotterdam 2023. Fingers crossed!

Photo by Gert Jan van Rooij

5 – harvester by Johannes Ulrich Kubiak

Call me shallow but I live for paintings like this one by Johannes Ulrich Kubiak. It’s bold, it’s beautiful and it would look great here at home.

6 – #2841 by Dirk Salz

With its soft pink to deep red gradient, this work by German artist Dirk Salz is totally mesmerizing. Can’t wait to see it IRL!

7 –Untitled #7 from the series LUT-O-A (The Disobediences) by Elsa Leydier

Okay, I thought this photo by Elsa Leydier was taken on a tropical beach or something. So sue me. I didn’t find out until just now that it's an ecofeminist piece about deforestation in Brazil – not necessarily a feel good theme but a beautiful photo anyway.

8 – Spatial-drift-N 8 by Daniel Mullen

You wouldn’t guess it from looking at this photo, but Spacial-drift-N 8 by Daniel Mullen is YUGE! Definitely going to check it out, along with the other pieces on display from The Flat, which is one of my favourite European modern art galleries.

9 – Stopcontact by Koos Buster

Who you’re gonna call? Koos Buster! I’m dying to find out if this beautiful ceramic socket is ‘just’ a piece of art or an actual socket. I’ll keep you posted.

10 – Anthurium Andraeanum (Botanical series) by Tom Putman

Colours so bright they hurt your eyes – just the way I like it. Anthuriums are possibly the ugliest flowers on the planet – that’s what I think anyway – but presented in a fluorescent yellow and green box they actually look quite good. Way to go, Tom Putman!

BTW, don’t forget to check out the selection I made before the start of Art Rotterdam 2022!