Evergreen
Art/ Nature/ City
To finalize the project dedicated to the Haagse Beek, Stroom
presented a documentary presentation around the theme of
art/nature/city. In the exhibition space at the Spui the works of Krijn
Giezen and the Scottish artist Ian Hamilton Finlay were shown on video.
Krijn Giezen marked the beginning and Ian Hamilton Finlay marked the
end of the Haagse Beek. An artist like Krijn Giezen was one of the
pioneers in The Netherlands with his radical concepts regarding nature
and ecology. These days many more artists are actively developing
unconventional strategies for the public domain, incorporating nature.
Stroom invited around two dozen artists to present their documentation
folders in the exhibition space at the Spui. The exhibition also
incorporated a reading table with the most recent literature concerning
this subject. There also were video registrations of the workshop
which took place in Stroom on May 16, featuring the lectures of a.o.
Helen Mayer Harrison and Newton Harrison; landscape architect Michiel
den Ruyter and theoretical urban development expert Jan de Graaf.
Erik Odijk makes an installation drawing
June 6 through August 12 2000
In the exhibition space at the Spui the artist Erik Odijk (Nijmegen, 1959) made wall-sized drawings, inspired by nature. The drawings featured parks and forests with century-old trees and were applied directly onto to the wall with charcoal and pastels. The works covered the entire surface area of the walls, measuring some 60 meters in length and 3 meters in height. Like the primeaval forest they towered over the human figure and dominated the perspective of the viewer. The huge drawings of Erik Odijk confronted the visitor with the intimidating magnitude of nature and with the fascinating relationship between life and death, order and chaos. Drawing on location requires a different approach than working in the studio. To Erik Odijk the physical effort during a number of weeks was an essential and integral part of the work of art. The audience was invited to watch the artist at work.
- 16 May '00 - 12 Aug '00
- Spui 193-195, The Hague
