Can we still just relax and let go of time these days? In a world full of performance pressure, social obligations, Facebook, and Snapchat, many people seem to have lost their “off” button.
The Blissful Doing Nothing
With the exhibition “Het Zalig Nietsdoensdoen” (The Blissful Doing Nothing), Museum Kranenburgh aims to offer its visitors a delightful exercise in true leisure this summer. Guest curator and exhibition maker Eelco van der Lingen has selected contemporary art that you not only view but also experience firsthand. Works by 25 artists challenge you to discover true idleness. Kranenburgh is entirely dedicated to slowing down and surrendering to blissful idleness.
Art to Experience
Exciting installations invite visitors to move more slowly, look longer, linger, or pause. Each work evokes associations with idleness: pointlessness, relaxation, stillness, or lack of stimulation. In the installation by artist Navid Nuur (NL/IR, 1976), for example, you can aimlessly shoot arrows made of paper torn from serious art magazines. David Rickard (NZ/UK, 1975) invites visitors to lie down and experience the rotation of the Earth. True “nothingness” awaits in a space without corners or depth, designed by Matthijs Munnik (1989). In addition to installations, there are paintings, photographs, videos, and objects that draw attention to a multitude of aimless activities. Such as a nail salon by Tanja Ritterbex (1985) or a continuous handstand video by Marijke van Warmerdam (1959).
Relaxation Today in Bergen
In Bergen, where artists found peace and inspiration a hundred years ago, Kranenburgh invites visitors to immerse themselves in the bliss of slowing down. A series of paintings by Diederik Gerlach (1956) transports you to German holiday resorts or Urlaubsorte. The vintage scenes evoke the atmosphere of the early twentieth century, making it easy to connect with the work of Bergen School painters. Here too, the landscape with its people seeking peace and quiet and the beach with languid sun worshippers often take centre stage, as in the work of Kasper Niehaus (1889-1974).
Artists
David Rickard (NZ/UK, 1975) | Navid Nuur (IR/NL, 1976) | Tanja Ritterbex (NL, 1985) | Marijke van Warmerdam (NL, 1959) | Matthijs Munnik (NL, 1989) | Feiko Beckers (NL, 1983) | Tom Friedman (US, 1965) | Ryan Gander (UK, 1976) | Claire Harvey (UK, 1976) | Harrie Kuyten (NL, 1883-1952) | Inge Meijer (NL, 1986) | Henry Moore (UK, 1898 - 1986) | Bruce Nauman (US, 1941) | Kasper Niehaus (NL, 1889-1974) | Roman Signer (CH, 1938) | Erwin Wurm (AT, 1954) | Heinrich Zille (DE, 1858 – 1929) | Diederik Gerlach (NL, 1956) | Ed van der Elsken (NL, 1925 – 1990) | Rineke Dijkstra (NL, 1959) | Jeroen Eisinga (NL, 1966) | Jonas Lund (SE, 1984) | Alain Sechas (FR, 1955) | Natalia Toret (NL, 1976) | Pauline Eecen (NL, 1925)
Curator
Eelco van der Lingen
Exhibition curator Eelco van der Lingen (born 1971) was director of Nest in The Hague, guest curator at venues including the Centraal Museum in Utrecht (Lekker Licht, 2016), and was appointed curator of modern and contemporary art at the Fries Museum in Leeuwarden earlier this year. Van der Lingen belongs to a generation of exhibition curators who are adept at bridging the gap between a broad audience and experimental artists who are yet to establish themselves.
