Sunscapes

Klaas Kloosterboer belongs to a leading generation of Dutch artists, whose creation developed in the wake of the Fluxus and Zero movements, widely known for his interdisciplinary practice and site-specific projects that combines conceptual and action painting, sculpture, video and performance art.

Sunscapes outlines the artist’s programmatic and versatile work, often staged as an unpredictable constellation of productive visual frictions that connect multiple narratives.

Featuring an immersive installation consisting of abstract paintings and objects from different creative periods, as well as previously unseen videos, this exhibition draws around a subject that is equally familiar and mysterious: the sun.

Without resorting to direct representation, the artist approaches the subject starting from the conclusion that everything that exists in cosmos operates in motions and patterns of circles.
Circles represent cycles, transformation and also revelation, but for Kloosterboer, it also represents that at the root of all things there is also emptiness. Yet emptiness means in this case just another form of enlightenment, through releasing attachment to perceptions and preconceived ideas and experiencing reality with an open mind.

By drawing attention to a continuously evolving imagery as symbols representing the sun, Kloosterboer proposes in this exhibition a different approach, through a range of abstract paintings and videos, where circles, circular movements and the colors associated to it serve as reference to personal experiences.

Contrasting the strong colors of the paintings, in which circles and the polka dots become almost an obsessive pattern, the artist places in the center of the installation a series of videos, which contain filmed performances, along with bold studies of light and color.

While his abstract paintings never attempt to create an image, and instead present endless variations of paint as subject matter in and of itself, the videos are novel and sensitive explorations of color in movement in a dialogue with their surroundings.

In the centre of the installation, fabrics in vibrant red, blue and emerald green are suspended from the ceiling behind the screens where videos are played, creating a multi-sensory scenography that poetically highlight the idea of a reality in constant motion.

Deeply philosophical, but at the same time light hearted in terms of aesthetical appearance, this conceptual choreography aims to emphasize the artist’s commitment to create a space of visual experience, by stepping in and out, not only of the realm of painting, sculpture, video or any other medium but also in and out of preconceived patterns and perspectives about our world.

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Klaas Kloosterboer (Groot-Schermer, 1959) lives and works in Schermerhorn, The Netherlands. He studied at the Rijksakademie Amsterdam. His most important exhibitions include: Steps and Moves (together with Willem Hussem and Robin Heyker), Billytown, Den Haag (2024); Rephrase, Revise, Replace, The National Museum of Contemporary Art Bucharest; The Rules and the Game, Kröller Müller Museum, Otterlo (2022), Follow Suit, Hidde van Seggelen Galerie, Hamburg (2021), Hoogspel, Kristof de Clercq Gallery, Ghent (2021), Act Between Sliding Doors, Hedge House, Buitenplaats Kasteel Wijlre, Wijlre (2020), 2 steps – 3 steps, Ellen de Bruijne Projects, Amsterdam (2020), Boijmans drive-thru museum, Ahoy, Rotterdam (2020);  Everything can be Anything, Galerie Kristof De Clercq, Ghent (2019); De Meest Eigentijdse Schilderijen, Museum Dordrecht (2018); Despise The Solid Burgher, But Drink Deep From His Flagon, NAP2, Amsterdam (2018); Kunst van formaat, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam (2018); The Painted Bird, Marres, Maastricht (2017); Annie Gentils Gallery, Antwerp (duo show with Frank Koolen, 2017); Voorraad, Galerie van Gelder, Amsterdam (2016); Guts (No Guts), Kristof de Clercq Gallery, Ghent (duo show with Peter Morrens, 2015); Blue Suit, Bob van Orsouw Gallery, Zurich (2014); Painting XXXL: Klaas Kloosterboer, Chris Martin and Jim Shaw, Submarine Wharf of Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam (2013); Collectie van Valen Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2011); Villa Romana, Florence ( 2010); Sudsudvestur, Reykjavik (2009) and The Projection Project, Budapest Episode, Kunsthalle, Budapest (2007).

Maria Rus Bojan is an international art critic and independent curator living and working in Amsterdam. During her 30 year career, Maria Rus Bojan organized international projects including seminal figures of the Romanian art scene, such as Ana Lupaș, Cornel Brudașcu, Ioan Sbârciu, Ion Grigorescu, Paul Neagu, as well as contributing to the debut of today’s most succesful artists from the new generation including Victor Man, Adrian Ghenie, Ciprian Muresan and Alin Bozbiciu. Her long-term collaboration with German artist Ulay (1943-2020) led to the publication of the authoritative monograph “Whispers”, which was awarded the AICA Netherlands Prize in 2015. She curated Ulay’s first international retrospective at Centro Parraga Murcia, 2005 and contributed as an expert to the recent retrospectives at Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, 2016, and the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2020. Maria Rus Bojan has been a co-curator of Performing History, the Romanian Pavilion at the Venice Biennial in 2011. Between 2017-2020 she has curated three retrospective exhibitions and was editor of several publications dedicated to the renowned Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz. Maria Rus Bojan is chairman of the European ArtEast Foundation, and since 2008 she runs MB Art Agency, a platform for curatorial projects and artistic consultancy dedicated to Eastern European art.

The project is realized with the financial support of the National Culture Fund and of Mondriaan Foundation.

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