ARTICLE – MAY 2013
Five Galleries Five Artists
by Nina Folkersma
published in: Arts Holland Magazine, Issue 2, 2013
HOME IS WHERE THE ART IS
Annet Gelink Gallery, Amsterdam – Ed van der Elsken
Galerie Gabriel Rolt, Amsterdam – Marijn Akkermans
Flatland Gallery, Utrecht – Rob Hornstra
West, The Hague – Lotte Geeven
Wilfried Lentz, Rotterdam – Wendelien van Oldenborgh
EXCERPT:
For a small country with less of a longstanding tradition of collecting contemporary art, the Dutch galleries don’t do so badly. The gallery world in the urban conglomeration of western Holland is highly dynamic and self-aware – and strikingly international.
Arts Holland Magazine visited five galleries in the cities of Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam and Utrecht and asked the gallerists about their personal motivations. What criteria do they use in selecting their artists? How do they relate to ideals about content and to commercial imperatives? How do the galleries function in the international arena and which interests and contacts are involved? What are their plans for the future?
These five inspiring talks show that a gallery is like a spider at the centre of the web of the art world. They function as an intermediary between artists and collectors, curators, art institutions and the public. In the process, a gallerist assumes various roles: as the artist’s confidant, as a mediator for the public, as an international entrepreneur, or as a fundraiser and producer of new work.
The degree of importance that the five gallery owners place on these separate activities is reflected in their policies and gives each gallery a distinct identity. One may function as a springboard for young international talent, while another provides an international platform for established Dutch talent. Another focuses on an informed public of art connoisseurs, and yet another aims at a large, mixed public. But no matter how disparate, all of the gallerists interviewed have an irrepressible enthusiasm for their profession in common.
Read the full article here
