INHALE is a cultural platform where artists are presented, where great projects are given credit and readers find inspiration. Think about Inhale as if it were a map: we can help you discover which are the must-see events all over the world, what is happening now in the artistic and cultural world as well as guide you through the latest designers’ products. Inhale interconnects domains that you are interested in, so that you will know all the events, places, galleries, studios that are a must-see. We have a 360 degree overview on art and culture and a passion to share.
Hans van Bentem’s ‘chandeliers’ are now famous. These unique objects illuminate the homes of royal families, celebrities like Madonna, and various museums, such as the Escher Museum in The Hague, for which he created fifteen chandeliers in 2003.
This former Philips factory is now also serving as a‘chandelier showroom’, where chandeliers from Hans van Bentem are on permanent display. This exhibition is the official start of our collaboration. The sizes of the chandeliers vary in height from 75 cm to 10 metres and are produced using traditional methods.
Van Bentem primarily collaborates with Czech glassblowers and Chinese artisans. As a student, he created enormous wall paintings in coffee houses and, as a sculptor, was known for his oversized ceramic sculptures at schools, shopping centres and squares. Personally, he has a strong preference for art in public spaces, particularly outdoors. Van Bentem aspires to engage people directly. “It doesn’t matter what they think about my creations, but that they have an opinion about them,” he explains. The artist is an omnivore and an almost obsessive cross-breeder of styles. He draws on art history, comic strips and contemporary visual culture.
At first glance Van Bentem’s visual language refers mainly to today’s trendy visual culture, clearly at odds with the traditional craftsmanship used by the artist to create his objects. This, combined with a magnification of the selected themes and material usage, gives his work an alienating effect and requires a double take. It is difficult to define Van Bentem’s work, since no one term does justice to his oeuvre. ‘Art for boys’ perhaps covers the fascination with mechanics that these objects proclaim, but fails to take the poetic aspect into account. ‘Hard pop’, on the other hand, clearly describes the style, but does not give the objects their due. Van Bentem prefers to use the word ‘artoonism’, a term derived from the Rotterdam group of artist the Artoonists, of which he was a member and that created on homage to Marten Toonder (2002) on behalf of the Municipality of Rotterdam. The four artoonists draw their inspiration from cartoons and mass media products like advertisements and packaging. Van Bentem characterises their style as follows: “Heavy-handed downplaying humour, an approach similar to putting together a do-it-yourself kit (…), not over-the-top, but definitely with style.”
photo news.com.au
photo ifitshipitshere.blogspot.com
photo designartnews.com
photo designartnews.com
via pietheineek.nl
Leave a Reply
22:29
21:29
15:29
04:29
03:29
22:29
21:29
21:29
20:29
The application period for Spring 2015 Artist in Residence program is now open. 33OC seeks proposals from international professional artists interested in working within the Toffia environment for a one month period. 33OC Artist Residency program was developed to become a space & community where international artists can share places, experiences and sensibilities. The aim […]
Private studio retreats in a collaborative atmosphere for Spring 2015. Grin City Collective welcomes applications from artists of all disciplines at all stages of their career for residencies in rural Iowa, USA. Residents receive individual housing and studio space and may elect to participare in one of the following outreach programs: Social Practice Project: 1st Block […]
maumau writer-in-residence program the program aims to create an atmosphere for writers in which they can work isolated from everyday life while experiencing the inspiring nature of istanbul. please check the information document before you submit your application form to info@maumauworks.com with a topic “writer-in-residence program”. please specify the the residency you apply on the topic which residency […]
Applications are now being accepted for month long residencies at the Bellagio Center. Deadline: December 1, 2014 The Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center’s mission is to promote innovation, creativity, and impact-oriented solutions to critical global problems. Residencies and conferences at the Center, located in northern Italy, support work in the Foundation’s key issue areas: Advance Health, […]
Public Recordings: 8 DAYS IV – A Gathering of Choreographers An intensive encounter open to Canadian contemporary choreographers. 8 DAYS is an intensive encounter open to Canadian contemporary choreographers. The gathering values curiosity, questioning and reflection on how we work in order to deepen choreographic practices. The ongoing 8 DAYS project addresses a need for […]
Body Becoming ANIMA CASA RURAL ARTIST RESIDENCY Thematic Residency “Body Becoming.” BODY BECOMING : The body figures as the most important place upon which many of our stories play out. From the Greeks who admired and celebrated the nude, to the Confucian Koreans who covered it eroticizing only small amounts of visible skin, the body […]
Countryside Residency for International Artists in Rome, Italy Best of both worlds in this residency in the countryside just 40-minutes by train from vibrant Rome! Get inspired by this artist residency in the countryside of Rome! The non-profit organization ‘c.r.e.t.a. rome’ offers an international self-funded residency program in the countryside of Rome, Italy. The Italian […]
