Keetje Mans shows at Bonnefanten Museum Maastricht

Keetje Mans is in search of a modern kind of mystique that intervenes between a classical

transcendence and a shimmer-area between cultures. She is a recipient of the 2012 Royal Award for Modern Painting 

The Bonnefanten museum in Maastricht is currently home to her 'Through the Vineland' solo exhibition. Until 28/04/2013

On the top of a Mountain - Allure of the North and its Art

 Ásgrimur Jónsson, Mount Tindafjöll, 1903-1904

 Jens Ferdinand Willumsen, Jotunheim, 1892-1893

 Thórarinn B Thorláksson, Stórisjór and Vatnajökull glacier, 1912

 Nikolai Astrup, St Hans Midsummer Night Fire, undated

Some images from the Landscape and Identity section of the exhibition Nordic Art. 
In the North the distinctive light and rugged topography have always been why the land as such is a concept in art; it's immensely importance for Nordic Culture. These works were all created at the turn of the last century, when life up north was surely more rough and isolated, more dramatic and charasmatic then it is present day. 

"This exhibition is a tribute to the peoples and cultures of the Nordic countries, and provides an overview of 19th and 20th-century North European painting. The splendid landscapes, portraits and scenes from everyday rural life display both the similarities and the differences between the Nordic countries. The exhibition focuses on the time when movements such as Realism, Naturalism and more divergent styles such as Symbolism and upcoming Modernism existed side by side.
With their lucid and striking works, they manage to capture the poetic beauty, the core and spirit of the mystical North. Although Nordic art has its roots in European culture, the artists could emphasize their own identity by depicting North European life."

Nordic Art at the Groninger Museum until 5/5

James Turrell Celestial Vault at Kijkduin

In 1996 Stroom: the contemporary arts centre in Den Haag commissioned this permanent sculpture in public space; the crater shaped space being the centre of the work. The centre holds a simple and classic viewing platform, lying back on this bench you experience the sky like a dome. A place to gaze at the sky like it were a vault.

Celestial Vault is not a tourist attraction as such, most often it is completely deserted. You therefore get your own private sculpture which certainly adds to this meditative experience.

Machiel Vrijenhoeklaan 175, Den Haag

Robin Duister - Realistic With a Raw Edge.

Realistic With a Raw Edge. 

At first the images might appear sweet, but if you are willing to look further you’ll find Robin Duister's work is not as carefree as it might appear on first sight. It combines contemporary imagary with a large amount of glam and trash, a.o. inspired by pop and youth culture.

www.robinduister.com

Amie Dicke - Afterimage - GEM

Amie DickeNabeeld  |  AfterimageGEM, Museum of contemporary art, The Hague22/09/2012 - 06/01/2013
Well worth a visit. Amie has shown some interesting and unique views towards Image, the way we perceive this and how this settles in our minds. What is forgotten, what is vanished, what is kept? The gold dots around may bring some unexpected happy moments but are actually bits of emergency blankets tucked into the holes left after the previous exhibition in GEM. Freunde von Freunde visited her home and studio a while ago.  See it here.

Susanna Majuri at Galleria Heino Helsinki

Susanna Majuri
1.9.2012 - 23.9.2012 

Galleria HeinoUudenmaankatu 16-20
FI 00120 Helsinki
Finland
+358(0)9672678

Fine art photographer Susanna Majuri (b. 1978) is known for magical images, where water is often a key element. Another recurrent theme in her works is the north both as a landscape and as a state of mind. Among other qualifications, Majuri graduated in 2007 with a Master of Arts from the University of Art and Design Helsinki, majoring in photography. She is a member of the internationally active Helsinki School artist group. Majuri´s works have been exhibited in numerous international joint and group exhibitions since 2005. She has had private exhibitions in, among other locations, the Finnish Museum of Photography (2010), the Museum of Photography in Charleroi, Belgium (2011) and the Sogn and Fjordane Museum of Fine Arts in Norway (2011). Her works are on display in several major public and private collections, both in Finland and abroad.



Last week I was lucky to be invited to the opening night of Susanna Majuri's exhibition at Galleria Heino in Helsinki. I was truly mesmerized by her work. And I could devote a whole lot of words to the depictions, but to be honest these photographs speak for themselves. I think Susanna's work is quintessential nordic and considering her being a major player in the Helsinki School the work also reminds me of Eija Liisa Ahtila, a fellow Fin on whom I have had a crush for over a decade. So should you be anywhere near Helsinki the coming month go and see this show! 

all images copyright Susanna Majuri