MICHIEL KEUPER/: January 2011

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Flea market treasure find / Inspired by Matisse

Anonymous, 1980 / Henri Matisse, 'A Bottle of Schiedam', 1896

I cannot resist flea markets. And I cannot resist books. So you can just imagine what our apartment looks like. Exactly.

I gave up on the ideal of living in a Zen house long ago. I like the aesthetics and the illusion that it will make me stylish and peaceful, and yes, every now and then I am seduced by an occasional World of Interiors editorial, but I generally came to accept that I'm not ready to live in a Jil Sander shop environment and I am fine with it. It's not according to my nature. At least not now. I simply like (to find) things. And books. And I have a life.

Zen will be my next life. I promise.

Yesterday I found another great book. With paintings of Henri Matisse, cataloguing his work in Soviet Art collections. The book dates back from 1978, so it might not be up to date anymore. But then who knows. I was never in Russia. It is well documented, with a lot of cross references in the back. A treasure for the amateur art historian. When I took off my gloves to leaf through the pages to be really sure that it would be worthwhile carrying some extra kilos around town for the rest of the afternoon (with books I have very low standards, I admit), I made a cute discovery... somebody else had been inspired by Matisse some 30 years ago... Copying the masters, you can't start young enough.

The back of one of the drawings is dated 5-X-80. There is also a name, but it's hard to decipher. I think Gabriele comes closest. Should somebody recognize his or her early artistic attempts, let me know and I will return them to you. Great drawings. I hope you went on with it.

Henri Matisse, 'Woman in Green', 1909 / Anonymous, 1980

Anonymous, 1980 / Henri Matisse, 'Conversation', 1909

Anonymous, 1980 / Henri Matisse, 'Still life with Shell on black Marble', 1940

Henri Matisse, 'Young Woman in blue Blouse', 1939 / Anonymous, 1980

Book cover, Aurora-Kunstverlag, Leningrad, 1978

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Drawings / 'brotherhood'

no title, ink on paper © Michiel Keuper, 2010

Friday, January 14, 2011

Random / from the series 'Past Present (Past Presence)' 2010

'Past Present (Past Presence)', ink and acrylic on magazine. © Michiel Keuper, 2010

Saturday, January 08, 2011

The State of Things / november 2010

In November 2010 I was invited to participate in 'The State of Things', a 12-hour ongoing performance of Maria Francesca Scaroni and Vania Rovisco. As they were continuously on stage from 10am to 10pm, 18 guests, amongst them dancers, actors, musicians, writers, photographers, and artists, joined and interacted with the performance and the other performers.
There was an open score, meaning that every participant had a certain time slot when to be on stage and roughly knowing what to do, or what to work with. Otherwise, the piece was not set; anything could happen, anything would happen.
During my first entrance, early afternoon, I painted 14 banners using liquid acrylic paint and ink. The transparent sheets I was painting on (each 33cm wide, 2mtr long) were hanging from lines that were put up across the space so the audience was able to watch from every angle. The banners, as well as the rest of the setting, were designed by Metka Pretnar.
In the second slot, in the evening, I made a collage on the back wall, using the drawings as well as magazine cut outs.

For a video, look > here

>> More information, photo's and video's to be found at www.thestateofthingsprocess.wordpress.com.
>> Or visit the website of Aktuelle Architektur Der Kultur (AADK), the Berlin-based artistic network, specializing in performance, live installation, video work, soundscapes and literature, that counts Maria and Vania amongst its members: www.aadk.org.