Tomb of the Ordinary Man

Nare Eloyan, Jakup Ferri, Christie van der Haak
Marjolijn van der Meij, Zeger Reyers, Elmar Trenkwalder

drawings, work on paper, three dimensional work, sculpture, textile

17-02 through 17-03-2019

Tomb of the Ordinary Man, curated by Nare Eloyan (1988) focuses on art that has close ties to everyday life; as a kind of ethnography of urban society where the boundaries between high and low culture have faded. Nare Eloyan collects ceramic vases on markets and in second hand shops which she considers as material handed to her by the urban environment. By painting upon them she connects her art with society and gives the vases added value. The tapestries of Jakup Ferri (1981) also contain an element of recycling. He has used pieces of old clothing to make a textile mosaic that depicts a summery pool with swimming, sunbathing and playing guests. The exhibition is set up as a total installation, the large textile mozaic of Jakup Ferri is on the central back wall of the gallery, two kimonos  by Christie van der Haak (1950) hang free in the space of the backroom suspended from the ceiling.

Marjolijn van der Meij (1970) shows deformed photoprints of kitschy porcelain figures that are displayed in a vitrine. Zeger Reyers (1966) shows toy monkeys that have been dipped in porcelain and fired in the kiln.
In the frontroom is a long table on which Nare Eloyan’s vases are displayed, on the wall are two drawings in baroque ceramic frames by Elmar Trenkwalder (1959). To get into the back room you have to pass two two banners of Christie van der Haak’s fabrics that function as a gate.
What binds these works is their craftsmanship and their straightforward and playful approach to everyday subjects. Together they form the treasures in this burial chamber, which does not offer a view on the life of a pharaoh or king, but on the contemporary world of the ordinary man.