Martin Fenne, Stan Klamer

textile reliefs, drawings

6 January – 3 February 2013

Martin Fenne’s (1964) work is reminiscent of 17th-century paintings in which the objects and costumes are so convincingly reproduced that it appears as if the fabrics are tangible if you were to touch them. However, Martin Fenne does not paint, but works with thin strips of the shiny material that is normally used for edging the lining in clothes. He uses these strips to produce figures, following the shapes of the bodies and objects in an undulating motion, just like the lines in a copper engraving. The bands of shiny material partially overlap and are slightly lifted from the surface. This produces a beautiful luster in skimming light. The figures are portrayed within their contours and are directly placed on the wall, making it seem as if the wall itself is part of the image. The figures are always people sleeping on a mattress or just waking up: an ode to the American poet Walt Whitman’s poem Sleepers.

Stan Klamer’s (1951) drawings and water colors are, metaphorically speaking, a kind of maps that he uses to arrange and interpret the world and everyday life. For years, islands have played an important role in his work. Because of their geographic isolation, islands are places where extraordinary species are able to develop and where there is room for experiment. Closely connected to this, Stan Klamer is getting more and more focused on water and shipping. His immediate source of inspiration is the view he has from his Amsterdam studio on the IJ lake, where every day a great variety of boats and ships sail by. Besides that, he also draws boats and ships that are featured in the works of artists such as Breughel and Böcklin and places them next to each other on a stylized sea. In his recent large work. The Builders, Klamer combines cartography and sea views by integrating ships in a complex system of waterways and land.