1. Jasper de Beijer: Critical Mass at Museum Rijswijk (solo)

    Installation and Retrospective

    30 January – 18 April 2022

     

    (Dutch Below)

     

    “I’ve dug through countless layers of information over the past twenty years and constructed different worlds from it. Each with its own working method, palette and logic. Now that these worlds have resurfaced, I realize they fit together better than I imagined. From the center of the hole, we are geographically in the Western world and looking at the rest of the planet from this perspective. The tableaux are lifeless, an echo of their enthusiasm, intelligence and folly. They have been brought back to life from their shadows to form a new reality together. Above the edge of the hole is the real world, which we just can’t see. Down in the pit we can only make a reconstruction of what is happening above the hole. But maybe what’s going on up there is just as relative as what’s happening below in the dark.”

    Jasper de Beijer

     

    Critical Mass, detail of the installation, 2021, paper on wood and cardboard, fabric and blacklight, 8x3x5 m

     

    Winner Agnes van den Brandeler Museum Prize In 2019, the Agnes van den Brandeler Foundation invited a number of museums in the Netherlands to submit a proposal in which, in the form of an exhibition and a publication, attention is paid to a particularly talented Dutch artist who has been underappreciated in recent years.

    The Foundation honored Museum Rijswijk’s proposal to organize a retrospective exhibition of Jasper de Beijer’s work, thereby producing a comprehensive publication.

     

    Jasper de Beijer

     

    The worlds that De Beijer presents us in his photographic works are fascinating, recognizable and alienating at the same time. His work is about the process of looking, seeing and interpreting. At first you think it is a photo of the real world, but then it becomes clear that it is a photo of a paper model. You wander through the performance, which is now more than a photograph. You have to do something with it, but what? And that is exactly the question the artist asks us: ‘Do you know what you see?’ The subjects he chooses are the painful histories that continue to haunt us. Our colonial past, the Industrial Revolution, the First and Second World Wars, these are subjects that have already been discussed from many viewpoints about which many truths exist or have been projected on. But what is truth, is there one truth? The working method chosen by De Beijer results in the viewer being given the space to reflect through the medium of photography on the sensitive subjects that he broaches.

    Installation Critical Mass

     

    The installation Critical Mass, a site-specific work specially made for Museum Rijswijk, represents an enormous hole in the ground in which the visitor stands on the ground and can walk around. It is a dark environment and the use of blacklight means that only the information about De Beijer that De Beijer wants to show the visitor remains. Only the white of the paper lights up, the darkness simply consists of the lack of information. He has reproduced part of the tableaus of the past two decades here. Sometimes he found the original design of a scene, but more often he recreated the objects based on the photos he had taken of them at the time. By re-excavating these scenes, he puts himself next to his work and can view the chosen subjects and methods from a distance.

     

     

    Photo series 2004 – 2020

     

    The exhibition includes 27 photographic works from the series Buitenpost (3), Devil Drives (2), Cahutchu (3), Le Sacre du Printemps (2 photos), The Riveted Kingdom (3), Undongo (3), Marabuntu (3), Wir sind das Gedächtnis (2), Brazilian Suitcase (2) and The Admiral’s Headache (4 and 1 small sculpture) on display. The series were made between 2004 and 2020 and thus provide a generous overview of the artist’s oeuvre to date. Extensive Publication The exhibition will be accompanied by a publication, published by Jap Sam Books, which takes the installation as its point of departure and at the same time offers an overview of the work the artist has created to date. Price €29.50, with Museum card €25.00.

    For more information and press photos, please contact Diana Wind, curator of contemporary art, mobile 0630388366 or dianawind@museumrijswijk.nl

    Herenstraat 67 | NL-2282 BR Rijswijk

    info@museumrijswijk.nl | museumrijswijk.nl

    +31 (0)70 390 36 17

    Jasper de Beijer. Critical Mass

    Installatie en overzichtstentoonstelling

    30 januari – 18 april 2022

     

    Ik heb de afgelopen twintig jaar door talloze lagen informatie gegraven en hier verschillende werelden van geconstrueerd. Elk met zijn eigen werkwijze, palet en logica. Nu deze werelden weer zijn opgedoken, realiseer ik me dat ze beter op elkaar passen dan ik had gedacht. Vanuit het midden van het gat staan we geografisch in de Westerse wereld en kijken we vanuit dit perspectief naar de rest van de planeet. De tableaus zijn levenloos, een echo van hun geestdrift, intelligentie en dwaasheid. Ze zijn vanuit hun schaduw opnieuw tot leven gebracht om met elkaar een nieuwe werkelijkheid te vormen.

    Boven de rand van het gat bevindt zich de echte werkelijkheid, die we net niet kunnen zien. Beneden kunnen we enkel een reconstructie maken van wat zich boven het gat afspeelt. Maar misschien is wat zich boven afspeelt net zo relatief als wat er beneden in het donker gebeurt.”

     

    Winnaar Agnes van den Brandeler Museumprijs

     

    In 2019 nodigde de Agnes van den Brandeler Stichting een aantal middelgrote musea in Nederland uit om een projectvoorstel in te dienen waarbij in de vorm van een tentoonstelling en een publicatie aandacht wordt geschonken aan een bijzonder talentvolle Nederlandse kunstenaar die in de afgelopen jaren weinig te zien is geweest in Nederlandse musea. De Stichting honoreerde het voorstel van Museum Rijswijk om een overzichtstentoonstelling van het werk van Jasper de Beijer te organiseren en daarbij een omvangrijke publicatie te maken.

     

    Jasper de Beijer

     

    De werelden die De Beijer ons in zijn fotowerken voorschotelt zijn fascinerend, herkenbaar en vervreemdend tegelijk. Zijn werk gaat over het proces van kijken, zien en interpreteren. Eerst denk je dat het een foto van de werkelijkheid is, maar dan wordt duidelijk dat het een foto van een papieren maquette is. Je dwaalt door de voorstelling die nu meer is dan een foto. Je moet er iets mee, maar wat? En dat is precies de vraag die de kunstenaar aan ons stelt: ‘Weet je wel wat je ziet?’

    De onderwerpen die hij kiest zijn de pijnlijke geschiedenissen die ons blijven achtervolgen. Ons koloniale verleden, de Industriële Revolutie, de Eerste en Tweede Wereldoorlog het zijn onderwerpen die al van vele kanten zijn belicht, waar vele waarheden over bestaan of op zijn geprojecteerd. Maar wat is waarheid, bestaat er wel één waarheid? De werkwijze waarvoor De Beijer heeft gekozen, heeft tot resultaat dat de toeschouwer de ruimte krijgt te reflecteren via het medium fotografie op de gevoelige onderwerpen die hij aansnijdt.

     

    Installatie Critical Mass

     

    De installatie Critical Mass, een site-specific werk speciaal gemaakt voor Museum Rijswijk, stelt een enorm gat in de grond voor waarin je als bezoeker op de bodem staat en kunt rondlopen. Het is een donkere omgeving en door het gebruik van blacklight blijft alleen díe informatie over díe De Beijer de bezoeker wil laten zien. Alleen het wit van het papier licht op, de duisternis bestaat simpelweg uit het ontbreken van informatie. Hij heeft hier een deel van de tableaus van de afgelopen twee decennia nagemaakt. Soms vond hij het originele ontwerp van een scène terug, maar vaker heeft hij de objecten nagebouwd op basis van de foto’s die hij er ooit van had gemaakt. Door deze scènes opnieuw op te graven, zet hij zichzelf naast zijn werk en kan hij de gekozen onderwerpen en werkwijzen van een afstand bekijken.

     

    Fotoseries 2004 – 2020

     

    In de tentoonstelling zijn 27 fotowerken uit de series Buitenpost (3), Devil Drives (2), Cahutchu (3), Le Sacre du Printemps (2 foto’s en 10 papieren sculpturen), The Riveted Kingdom (3), Undongo (3), Marabuntu (3), Wir sind das Gedächtnis (2), Brazilian Suitcase (2) en The Admiral’s Headache (4 en 1 kleine sculptuur) te zien. De series zijn gemaakt tussen 2004 en 2020 en geven daarmee een royaal overzicht van het oeuvre van de kunstenaar tot nu toe.

     

    Omvangrijke Publicatie

     

    Bij de tentoonstelling verschijnt een publicatie, uitgegeven door Jap Sam Books die de installatie als uitgangspunt heeft en tegelijkertijd een overzicht biedt van het werk dat de kunstenaar tot nu toe heeft gemaakt. Prijs €29,50, met Museumkaart €25,00.

    Jasper de Beijer

  2. Last week: JASPER DE BEIJER at AGG (Solo show)

    Reminder:
    The Admiral’s Headache
    at Asya Geisberg GalleryLast week (until the 15th of May)

    Go to the online viewing room HERE

    Review on Hyperallergic

     

    John Yau, Independent art journalist at Hyperallergic wrote a stunning review HERE:

    Quote from John Yau from the article (about Brigadier):

    “In “Brigadier” (C-Print, 39.37 by 52.76 inches, 2019), de Beijer has photographed a headless figure lying on a bed that appears to be outside. The shutters on the window behind him are geometrically divided into four triangles, echoing the emblem on the containers in “Refinery.” The brigadier’s uniform and skin have been brought into clarity by the highly detailed, printed surface that de Beijer has applied to his carefully built-up volumetric form.
    The fact that we see his calves, a hand, and a forearm, but that he is headless, is strange and unsettling, especially as the artist has placed a hat above the empty collar, supported by what looks like a crooked stick rising up from the back of the empty uniform. In fact, there are no faces in the photographs, only empty uniforms. “Brigadier” is downright weird, oddly funny, somewhat creepy, and unnerving.
    Why can’t we see the Brigadier’s face? Is he a surrogate for one part of Dutch history, at once visible and gone? What is the present’s relationship to the past? Aren’t different nations at a crucial juncture as they try to shape and reshape their bonds with the past? These are issues that de Beijer makes visible without becoming didactic. That he moves so nimbly from one subject to another — from a refinery to a brigadier lying in bed to a night sky lit up by glowing paths culminating in explosions that reveal the land plantations and slave huts below — is what convinced me that he is a major artist whose challenging work should be better known in America.” 

     

    Article detail Hyperallergic.jpg

     
    Virtual Studio Visit (from May 1st)
     

    Jasper de Beijer and Asya Geisberg discuss the artist’s latest photography series “The Admiral’s Headache”, on view at the gallery through May 15, 2021. Directly from his studio in Amsterdam, De Beijer shows examples of his paper models and background material, and explains his ideas, research, and process behind the series.
    The photographs in “The Admiral’s Headache” reference 18th-century hand-colored engravings. From a distance, these photographs look like seamless colonial paintings, but up close the tell-tale clues of the cut paper reveal themselves. The new series expands on the artist’s familiar themes of Dutch colonialism and the way that the media romanticizes, simplifies and conflates history and cultural attitudes.
    Watch the studio visit HERE

     

    IMG_3054.JPG
    Sketch for ‘Brigadier’ from ‘The Admiral’s Headache’

    ASYA GEISBERG GALLERY 

    To reserve a viewing time, click HERE or email INFO@ASYAGEISBERGGALLERY.COM.

    537B West 23rd Street
    New York, NY 10011

    VIEW MAP

    Tel: 212 – 675 – 7525
    Email: info@asyageisberggallery.com

    Hours: Tues-Sat, 11-6pm

    Asya Geisberg Gallery accepts payment plans offered by ART MONEY.

  3. Jasper de Beijer at Asya Geisberg Gallery (Solo)

     

     

    Asya Geisberg Gallery presents

    The Admiral’s Headache

    by Jasper de Beijer

     

    April 10 – May 15, 2021

    Go to the online viewing room HERE

     

    Asya Geisberg Gallery is proud to present “The Admiral’s Headache”, the fourth solo exhibition of photographic works by Jasper de Beijer. The new series expands on the artist’s familiar themes of Dutch colonialism and the way that the media romanticizes, simplifies and conflates history and cultural attitudes. De Beijer chooses subjects for their strong visual mythology, and past series have included mythical encounters between natives and explorers in the jungles of Brazil, the Dutch East Indies, and contemporary Africa. In each series, the artist becomes steeped in research and image collection both on the ground and at home. De Beijer then combines digital sketching, drawing, 3D modeling, and sculpture to create stand-alone photographs. Every object in this series is first designed in a game-modeling software, then printed as a flat 2D blueprint, cut out and folded, and finally reconfigured as 3D paper miniatures on a scale-model landscape. The photographs in this series reference 18th-century hand-colored engravings, and from a distance could be colonial illustrations. But upon closer viewing, the meticulous hand-drawn lines are imbued with an eerie sci-fi quality. The tell-tale clues of the cut paper reveal themselves: creases and folds in costumes, or some remains of glue visible in the clouds.

     

    Go to the viewing room
    Jasper de Beijer
    The Admiral’s Headache: “Refinery”, 2020
    C-Print
    41.73h x 66.93w in
    106h x 170w cm
    Edition of 7 + 1AP
    JDB030

     

     

    The title “The Admiral’s Headache” refers to the story of Albert Kikkert, the former admiral and Governor of Curaçao in the early 1800’s. Kikkert complained that the white facades of the buildings shining in the sun exacerbated his migraines, and ordered that they all be painted the bright shades typical of Curaçao’s waterfront today. During de Beijer’s residency in this former Dutch colony, the artist collected research, focusing primarily on the methodical approach to slavery and capital extraction. De Beijer depicts a desolate, surreal and industrial realm – an island riddled with fantastic machines waiting to be involuntarily powered by extracted human labor. Intrigued by the unique modular, hermetic character of its buildings, ships, tools, and weapons, de Beijer recreated a world where the colonists are hidden players, present but unseen behind imposing mansions. The artist describes the Dutch as being kept comfortable and safe inside the walls, “like an impenetrable cultural cocoon”. The hard shell of the fortress protected the famed Dutch gezelligheid – a coziness, warmth, and conviviality – and kept out anything unseemly or dangerous, much like the reality of slavery’s exploitation could be ignored while living within the Dutch simulacra.

     

    Go to the viewing room
    Jasper de Beijer
    The Admiral’s Headache: “Carriage”, 2019
    C-Print
    43.31h x 43.31w in
    110h x 110w cm
    Edition 3 of 7 + 1AP
    JDB029-2

     

    The stripped-out colonialist lurks around Curaçao with a ghost-like omnipresence, appearing in traces of puffs, gunpowder shots, or magical smoke emanating from fired cannons. But the enslaved people who powered every aspect of this island are left entirely unseen, haunting our collective imagination. De Beijer’s intention is not so much to give a moral judgment on colonialism, but to transform its particularly Dutch aspects into oneiric tableaux.

     

    Go to the viewing room
    Jasper de Beijer
    The Admiral’s Headache: “Cabin”, 2021
    C-Print
    31.50h x 55.12w in
    80h x 140w cm
    Edition of 7 + 1AP
    JDB032

    —————————————————————————————————————————————————

    ASYA GEISBERG GALLERY 

    The gallery is now open Tuesday through Saturday, 11am – 6pm. Walk-ins are welcome dependent on capacity; masks are required.

    To reserve a viewing time, click HERE or email INFO@ASYAGEISBERGGALLERY.COM.
    For updates, please continue to check the AGG website, and Instagram at @asyageisberggallery

    537B West 23rd Street
    New York, NY 10011

    VIEW MAP

    Tel: 212 – 675 – 7525
    Email: info@asyageisberggallery.com

    Hours: Tues-Sat, 11-6pm

    Asya Geisberg Gallery accepts payment plans offered by ART MONEY.

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