Curated Sonja's c.v. Latest work by Sonja Arranged by Medium
The Expansionist Art Empire Gallery
viewed from the Kraaierbrug (Kraaier bridge)
over the canal, New Rhijn, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Main window: “Last summer I went swimming” 2011
by Aart Korsuize.
Around the entrance and on the street:
"Urban Knitting" 2011
by Simone van Olst and her collective at
the Expansionist Art Empire Gallery, Leiden.
For some the sea is pleasant and peaceful - a place for finding oneself. For others, the
sea is an elusive phenomenon with a mind of its own resulting in floods and shipwrecks. The eternal, mutable, mystical sea has been an endless source of inspiration throughout
the centuries.
Voor de een is de zee een sfeervolle rustige plek om tot zichzelf te komen. Voor een ander is de zee een ongrijpbaar fenomeen dat zijn eigen onstuimige weg gaat met overstromingen en schipbreuk tot gevolg. De altijd mystieke zee is door de eeuwen heen een eindeloze bron van inspiratie voor musici, schrijvers en schilders. Leidse kunstenaars en kunstenaars uit Zweden, Rusland, Japan, Indonesië en Nieuw Zeeland geven ieder vanuit de eigen persoonlijke ervaring hun visies en benaderingen van de zee met foto's (o.a. over de tsunami), video's, olieverfschilderijen, gouache's, collage's, sumi-e tekeningen, laminart, installaties, knoopwerk en kalligrafie.
Aart Korsuize, Leiden
Alexey Kouchnarenko, St. Petersburg, Russia
Astrid Vlasman, Leiden
Azuma-san, Hiroshima, Japan
Birgitta Silfverhielm, Sweden
Cie Iou, Hiroshima, Japan
Feng, Indonesia/Leiden
Fred Rohde, Leiden
Jo Tito, Aotearoa | New Zealand
Jumaadi, Indonesia / Australia
Molly Ackerman, USA/Leiden
Rita Hofland, Leiden
Rudi Struik, Canada/Leiden
Sen McGlinn, Aotearoa | New Zealand / Leiden
Shinichiro Kimura (Keishin) Kyushu, Japan
Simone van Olst, Leiden
Sonja van Kerkhoff, New Zealand / Leiden
Suzanne van Rossenberg, Leiden
“Last summer I went swimming” by Aart Korsuize is an airy work consisting of 94 miniature vignettes. Some swimmers seem to float above watery worlds, others appear to be wrestling with the sea. If you read this work allegorically, what does the sea represent and who are the swimmers?
Details of: “Last summer I went swimming” 2011, acrylic, transparency, textiles by Aart Korsuize.
Left to right, top to bottom:
"La Chante sur Loire," photographic collage by Rudi Struik,
"Several Seas" transparency print by Sen McGlinn + Sonja van Kerkhoff,
“do I wonder and do I wonder” painting by Jumaadi,
“Love Letter Under Water,” Text, salt water, glass
by
Suzanne van Rossenberg
“At Sea,” five photographs by
Fred Rohde,
“mauri wai mauri ora”
(water energy, energy of life),
acrylic paint on Taranaki stone by Jo Tito.
In contrast “Love Letter Under Water” by Suzanne van Rossenberg forces the viewer to dive in: to take stock. At first you have to bend over the fish bowl in order to read a text legible through what seems like crystal clear water.
Looks are not what they seem, it is saline, which you are instructed, you may touch (and taste).
The love letter begins, "Dear Lover" creating an immediacy for the reader. Is the letter for me you might ask?
