Collect 2011 – Rob Koudijs: dell’arte e dei giovani

Jiro Kamata

Gli olandesi sono molto forti in gioiello contemporaneo: su un territorio relativamente piccolo sono dotati di quattro gallerie importanti, tutte presenti a Collect. E sono soprattutto maestri nella provocazione. Le loro scelte estetiche spesso pescano in un vocabolario che ha più a che vedere con termini come “rottura”, “shock”, “originalità” piuttosto che “ornamento”, “armonia”. E hanno, devo dire, un grande senso dell’umorismo. Qui di seguito l’intervista che ho fatto qualche giorno fa a Rob Koudijs, proprietario della omonima galleria di Amsterdam, che vuole essere un punto di riferimento di giovani artisti internazionali ai quali dà l’opportunità di esporre a fianco degli nomi più celebri e affermati.

Mia Maljojoki

What’s new at your gallery for this edition of Collect? Are you going to present any new artists? Or is there any new work about which you are particularly excited?

WE WILL ONLY BE SHOWING NEW WORK AT COLLECT, SO WE ARE OF COURSE VERY EXCITED ABOUT THAT! ALL THE PIECES FROM FELIEKE VAN DER LEEST, KATJA PRINS AND OCTAVIA COOK HAVE ONLY BEEN DISPLAYED ONCE AT OUR GALLERY DURING THE PAST FEW MONTHS. TED NOTEN, ALEXANDER BLANK, TOBIAS ALM, EVERT NIJLAND AND JANTJE FLEISCHHUT MADE BEAUTIFUL NEW WORK. FROM GREAT NAMES LIKE RUUDT PETERS AND KAREN POTOPPIDAN WE’LL EVEN SHOW PIECES SPRINGING FROM COMPLETELY NEW APPROACHES!

Katja Prins

NEW ARTISTS: MI-AH RÖDIGER (GERMAN, LIVING IN HOLLAND) IS A YOUNG ARTIST WHO GRADUATED FROM THE RIETVELD-ACADEMIE IN AMSTERDAM LAST YEAR, FOR HER FIRST INTERNATIONAL SHOW SHE MADE SPECTACULAR NEW PIECES IN CHROMIUM PLATED RESIN; STEFAN HEUSER (GERMAN LIVING IN MUNICH) GOT HIS ‘DIPLOM’ IN MUNICH LAST JANUARY AT THE FAMOUS JEWELLERY CLASS FROM OTTO KÜNZLI, HIS VERY CONCEPTUAL JEWELLERY WILL DRAW A LOT OF ATTENTION; PEOPLE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO MISS THE COLOURFUL, UNCOMPROMISING DESIGN OF MIA MALJOJOKI (FINNISH, LIVING IN MUNICH), SHE GRADUATED A YEAR AGO IN MUNICH

Felieke van der Leest

Do you think fairs like Collect are still the proper venue to find new clients (collectors and museums) and to be seen by the press?

OF COURSE, OTHERWISE WE WOULD NOT TAKE THE TROUBLE TO MAKE THE JOURNEY.

Tobias Alm

Do you think that in the future there will be other means of communication and meeting in the art world?

ESPECIALLY JEWELLERY NEEDS CLOSE-UP ATTENTION TO APPRICIATE THE CRAFTMANSHIP, MATERIALS AND FINISH OF THE WORK, FUTHERMORE THERE IS THE ARTISTIC/CONCEPTUAL SIDE OF THE PIECES THAT NEED EXPLAINING AND THERE IS THE FACT THAT YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO WEAR THE JEWELLERY. ALL THIS MAKES INTERNET A MEAGRE MEDIUM; PERSONAL CONTACT AND SEEING THE ACTUAL PIECES WILL ALWAYS BE NEEDED.

Karen Pontoppidan

What is the current economic climate in the contemporary jewellery market?  And what are your thoughts about the market in 2011?

FORTUNATELY WE HAVE NOT SEEN THAT MUSEUMS, DEDICATED COLLECTORS AND INTERESTED ‘WEARERS’ WERE DISCOURAGED BY THE PRESENT ECONOMIC CLIMATE. SINCE WE ARE SHOWING VERY INTERESTING, STATE-OF-THE-ART PIECES FROM A LOT OF PROMISING YOUNG MAKERS AS WELL AS CELEBRATED ARTISTS, WE HAVE HIGH HOPES FOR THE FUTURE.

Francis Willemstijn

Speaking about Dutch contemporary jewellery what is the quality that you appreciate most in an artist and why?

ORIGINALITY AND THE DRIVE OF ARTISTS TO EXPRESS THEMSELFS AND THEIR IDEAS: ONE SHOULD ALWAYS BE SWEPT OFF ONE’S FEET.

Ruudt Peters

In Amsterdam alone there are three international contemporary jewellery galleries and yours is one of them. How is your gallery different from the others and how would you like to be considered by the international artistic community?

WE PUT THE EMPHASIS ON DISCOVERING YOUNG, NEW TALENTS AND OFFERING THEM A PLATFORM TO SHOW THEIR WORK TOGETHER WITH ESTABLISHED BIG NAMES. WE ARE INTERTESTED IN SCULPTURAL JEWELLERY CHALLENGING THE BORDERS OF THE APPLIED AND THE FINE ARTS; THE ARTISTIC MESSAGE IS USUALLY AS IMPORTANT AS PRACTICAL WEARABILITY. WE ARE VERY PLEASED THAT OUR ENDAVOURS ARE WIDELY RECOGNISED AND APPRECIATED (ALSO INTERNATIONALLY).

Alexander Blank