Manifestos

Social Engagement

The title “Manifestos” refers to two manifestos that typify the social engagement of the two groups of artists. The first was written a hundred years ago by Piet van Wijngaerdt, one of the founders of the Bergen School. He based his work on the ideas of Henri Le Fauconnier. About a century later, De Jong formulated a contemporary version incorporating his own ideas and those of his artistic friends. His pamphlet, “Horror Vacui,” deals with the fear of emptiness and emptiness. “It reflects how I experience society, including visions of fear,” he says. The public can also share their opinion about what is shown or get started on a new manifesto themselves, for example, using special cards with propositions.

Meeting Place

The connecting factor between the Bergen School and other expressionists is art collector Piet Boendermaker (1877-1947). He purchased 585 works by Leo Gestel; When the Depression broke out in 1929, his collection comprised over 2,300 objects. For this purpose, he had an art gallery built in the garden of his villa in Bergen. In Kranenburgh, this space is being reconstructed in an impressionistic style. The art gallery was also an important meeting place.

The group around De Jong lacked such a venue. They encountered each other on the international circuit and often met virtually. De Jong: “We live in a different era and keep in touch via email and Facebook. But apart from that, their work and personalities are always on my mind.”

Hotbed

This makes Manifesten a personal project for De Jong. As the hub of an international network, he is more than a curator who brings together works for a group exhibition. He engages in artistic collaborations with artists from other disciplines: theater, architecture, and fashion, thus building on a Bergen tradition. The artists’ village has never been solely home to painters, but also to writers, poets, sculptors, and architects. Manifestos puts Bergen in the spotlight as a hotbed of cultural experiments, then and now.