Long-term investigation

Reconstruction and History

The program of Marres indirectly questions the current role of the artist through its use of historic and nearly forgotten forms of the author from the 19th and 20th century – the dandy, the dilettant – as a red thread through its exhibition program. Over the course of the last year this led to a series of projects organized around the idea of an avant-garde. The interest for Marres lies first and foremost in that so-called breach – an Umwertung aller Werte – with an existing value system within the arts. Nevertheless, the investigation into historic positions such as the avant-garde invariably brings the idea of history and subsequently the construction of history into focus within the Marres program. Specific of Marres is the way in which history and the construction of history are addressed. Illustrative are the exhibition models of The Russian Schizorevolution, an exhibition that might have been, We Were Exuberant and Still Had Hope: Ettore Sottsass, works from Stockholm 1969 and Beyond the Amateur – A collector’s perspective on the history of photography, in which each time a form of reconstruction is used as a way of constructing history. These reconstructions are explicitly more than an attempt to evoke a direct experience of an era; they are problematized at the same time.

Marta Volkova and Slava Shevelenko employed the play with authorship of an avant-garde from St. Petersburg in The Russion Schizorevolution, a reconstruction of a group exhibition that turned out to be purely speculative. We Were Exuberant and Still Had Hope, on the other hand, was an attempt to reproduce a historic exhibition from Stockholm in all its details, including the scent of incense in the exhibition rooms. However, the exhibition can also be read as a suggestive interpretation through the introduction of several interventions that mirror the ambitions of Ettore Sottsass with actuality. The current project Beyond the Amateur aspires primarily to question the canon of Dutch photography by introducing some sensational discoveries by collector and chemist Arjan de Nooy. Nonetheless, the exhibition is more than an illustration of his research; it employs the entire instrumentarium of the exhibition maker – such as the narrative sequence, the design of the display cases and even the materiality of the exhibition texts – to visualize the idea of history as a construction. Next to the position of the collector and the contemporary role of the amateur, this last exhibition addresses the desire for canon formation and the role of the institute itself in a time where the consumer is transformed to producer and Wikipedia represents a new truth.

Image: We Were Exuberant and Still Had Hope: Ettore Sottsass, works from Stockholm, 1969. 
Photo Marres/Johannes Schwartz

exhibition

Beyond the Amateur: essays, expert meeting and guided tour

The exhibition Beyond the Amateur – A collector’s perspective on the history of photography presents a radical reinterpretation of the canon of Dutch photography, based on the research and the collection of Arjan de Nooy. With, amongst others, the first salt prints by Adriaan Paauw, classified by De Nooy as the inventor of photography.

The exhibition is accompanied by essays by Hans Rooseboom, conservator of the Rijksprentenkabinet of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, and Lex ter Braak, director of the Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture. Both essays can be downloaded here.

On May 25th, Marres organized an expert meeting in the context of Beyond the Amateur, where several subjects connected to the exhibition were discussed behind closed doors. Participants are, amongst others, Lex ter Braak/Fonds BKVB, Koen Brams/Jan van Eyck Academy, Sophie Berribi/University of Amsterdam and Flip Bool/Nederlands Fotomuseum.

On the last day of the exhibition, Sunday May 30th at 14:00pm, Marres offers a free guided tour (only entrance ticket required). Making reservations is not necessary.

Image: Beyond the Amateur- A collector's perspective on the history of photograpy.
Photo Marres/Johannes Schwartz

exhibition

New exhibition starting June 27th: The Cell That Doesn't Believe In The Mind That It's Part Of

The upcoming exhibition in the context of the research into the Avant-garde presents works by Chris Evans. For Marres, a ‘one-man’ exhibition with the works of a single artist is as complex as it is unique. In years past, the focus rather lay on a specific period, such as the late sixties of the last century in We Were Exuberant and Still Had Hope, works by Ettore Sottsass, or was a reflection on a 20th century condition, such as the group exhibition Depression . Within the investigation into the avant-garde of the 20th century, however, the individual position of the artist is essential, since it is exactly this phenomenon that time and again leads to a radical breach with existing artistic conventions and addresses, whether in the context of a group or not, new questions within the arts in fundamental ways. The solo exhibition pre-eminently gives expression to this individual position, with a relative autonomy towards the existing value systems and a social mission that is characteristic of the modern artist. Can a contemporary solo exhibition still represent a meaningful position in an era in which the artist and his signature are fully assimilated into the economy of the art market? The title of the exhibition, which brings together existing works as well as new productions, alludes to the ambiguous position of the artist, as well as to the exhibited works. Essays by Tirdad Zolghadr and Marina Vishmidt will accompany the exhibition. 

Cop talk
The first project in the context of The Cell That Doesn’t Believe In The Mind That It’s Part Of  is titled Cop Talk. Chris Evans already organized Cop Talk in several cities, including Amsterdam, Brussels, Stockholm and New York. For Cop Talk, the recruitment department of the local police corps is invited to hold a recruiting session for students of the local art academy. Chris Evans will also deliver a lecture himself. In Maastricht, Cop Talk is organized by Marres in cooperation with the Autonomy department of the Academy for Visual Arts Maastricht.

Image: Poster by Chris Evans for Cop Talk

marres books

Marres Books as reference library

The past years Marres Books opted for a collection in which the accent lay on artist books. Recently, the desire to function more as a reference library initiated a new approach. This means that a new collection will be built up around themes connected to the exhibition- and research program of Marres, such as the position of the Flaneur, the Dandy, the Collector and the Avant-garde. Alongside classic publications, including authors like Walter Benjamin, Roland Barthes and Susan Sontag, a selection of books from the discount section will be sold at Marres Books, titles that are each connected to ongoing exhibitions. Click here to go to the website of Marres Books.

Image: Marres Books
Photo Marres/Tineke Kambier

click here to forward this newsletter to a friend or on unsubscribe if you don't want to receive further issues.