Hello and welcome to last week! My trip to Big Art 2024
Your eyes are not deceiving you, The Tasteful Friend is alive and well with a new blogpost about Big Art!
First things first. I took a bit of a break from blogging and social media this year. Other things were more important. My mother died. I abandoned my plan to move to Spain and bought an apartment right here in my hometown of Rotterdam instead. I still have the job of a lifetime leading a team of antiques experts at Catawiki. And I'm still working freelance because hey, why not? Oh, and I also spend a couple of hours a day walking Penny, the labrador that is the love of my life. Busy, busy, busy...but not so busy that I could just let my blog, which I've been writing on and off for more than a decade now, sink without trace. So, here I am. Ready to make a comeback of sorts.
Even after an online absence of almost one year, I'm still on the press list for many events. And so, I decided last week to go to the opening of Big Art, one of The Netherlands' most exciting art exhibitions of the year. And let me tell you, the 2024 did not disappoint. Here's a selection of the photos I took - let's see if I still have it!
I promise you next time that I'll publish a blogpost about an event when it is actually still happening. For now, let me say...welcome to last week!
The Slotervaart is a big ass Brutalist building on the outskirts of Amsterdam - the perfect location for an art exhibition that prides itself on its unusual locations. Winter is coming! This display of artist Julia Winter's dolls set the tone for one of the best editions of Big Art I've seen. And let me tell you, I've been to many, if not all of them! Jealous, I tell you. Jealous is what this gigantic crayon drawing by Pepijn Bake.Phlox van Oppen asked Dutch Design Week if they had old wristbands lying around. As you can see, the answer was a resounding 'yes'. The resulting artwork was the giant ribbon you see here. Being the interior stylist that I am, I'd love to see something similar as a bedspread. Jeske Haak makes bronze sculptures that are inspired by the parts of nature you don't see every day, such as insects living deep in the ground (eeeek) or deep sea creatures. You really should watch this here video on Instagram to appreciate the sheer beauty that is the installation made by Victoria Kovalenchikova.One of the best parts of Big Art is that many of the artists are there to tell you about their work. I spent a good ten minutes with Lucius Pax chatting about this work, which was inspired by his German childhood. What Lucius didn't mention, however, is that he is a bit of a breast man - something I didn't find out until I got home and checked out his Instagram. If you're deeply into bazongas, jugs, milk bags or titties, then this is your man. Loved his work, by the way. Whenever I read that an artist is an autodidact, I think to myself, now why don't I simply start painting? Melissa Moria is a self-taught artist who draws her inspiration from nature. And yes, that is a bit of an obvious theme, but as you can see she really does something quite different and amazing with it. So there! This cool collection of screens by Paul Bulika was aaaaall the way in the back of the exhibition.Another photo of some of the screens by Paul BulikaI would buy this tapestry by Greet Weitenberg in a New York minute, but that giant pink tongue would be a little bit too tempting for my black lab Penny.Definitely my favourite part of Big Art 2024! I spent some time talking with Niek Schoenmakers, who represents Greet Weitenberg at his gallery The Millen House.Let's say - purely hypothetically speaking, of course - that I would not be as heavily into colors as I am, then I would really be tempted to buy this giant drawing by Emma van Drongelen for my new living room. I'm a sucker for maximalist art, although I also sometimes think we've sort of reached peak maximalism. In any case, this painting by Dadara is pretty damn impressive. Now this I would see in my new home. It's big, it's colorful but then again also not too 'in your face'. Hats of to Johanna Arco! It's colorful! It's tactile! It's big! What is not to love about this work by Femke van Gemert?
