Artlog

This exhibition examines approximately 120 works by artists of different nationalities relating to travel and the city of Amsterdam, which was the nexus of intense art activities in the 1960s and 1970s, when artists converged there from elsewhere in Europe and from the United States. Hanne Darboven, Gilbert & George, Charlotte Posenenske, Allen Ruppersberg, and Lawrence Weiner, among others, spent considerable amounts of time in Amsterdam and often produced works in direct relation to the city. Reciprocally, some of the most influential Dutch artists traveled extensively abroad before establishing themselves in Amsterdam: Jan Dibbets studied in London, while Ger van Elk trained in Los Angeles, where he paradoxically met his fellow countryman Bas Jan Ader. Finally, the Suriname-born Stanley Brouwn, arguably one of the most important figures of European conceptual art, came to Amsterdam as a young adult, where he developed work that plays with the idea of dimensions and distances and prefigures a number of conceptual-based art practices. Because cross-influences between Dutch and American art scenes where so abundant, it is impossible to understand the historical significance of these artists without acknowledging their new mobility. Because of this, prints, bulletins, posters, mail art, artists’ books, and ephemera took on an unprecedented role. The exhibition will also include drawings, installations, wall drawings, films, and video pieces.