+ Exhibitions & Publications

+ The Smile Factory - 3 dimensional interactive art installation

+ The Washington Post

+ Hannah Raaff

Opening speech at the exhibition of works by Victoria Sybrandi in Galerie Overstroom: Good art needs no language Art and politics. Generally quite a tricky combination. And I don’t mean only the visual arts. A few examples to illustrate where the frictions lie.

Sometimes the artist has to be subservient to the current political system. Like Mylnikov with his cheerful paintings of the Russian Kolchozes. Art then has the task of preserving the myth, making it understandable to the workers. Art must be realistic and cheerful. Artists should not engage in ‘idle artisticity’ under penalty of banishment or worse. Their works belong to Degenerate Art (Entartete Kunst) and nowadays, in better times, they are worth a lot of money. And who knows now who Mylnikov is?

Sometimes, as in our democratic society, the artist is supported by politics in the form of subsidies or benefits. This results in discussions about what is true art and what not. Now there is the risk of the opposite happening, if art is understandable to the worker it is called kitsch or commercial. Isn’t it the left-wing hobby, something for the elite? Why is Rothko acceptable but not graffiti? O sorry, it’s back in again. Politics can declare street art socially acceptable and socially acceptable art kitsch.

And art is sometimes socially critical. The similarity between socially engaged art and socially critical art is that they are moralising, even pedantic. They want to convince us of their own version of the truth. And the fact that they want to convince us of a social vision can grate with what we, as spectators, expect of art and artists. We want to be surprised, moved, perhaps angered. At any rate, not lectured to, even if we basically agree with the artist’s view.

It happens to me regularly. I stand in front of a large, wildly painted work with a lot of black in it. The artist is so kind as to explain to me what his intention was with this painting. It is an image of the slave trade which was negated for centuries and which still influences present-day discrimination of non-whites. It is a good story. But that doesn’t make it a good painting. A bit further hangs an artwork with a lot of text on the trafficking of women. I completely agreed with it but I had already read it in the newspaper. It can be done differently. When you stand in front of Picasso’s Guernica, you don’t even have to read the label. Käthe Kollwitz’s work grabs you by the throat without her explaining why poverty and war are so terrible. They are good artists.

And then I saw the work of Victoria Sybrandi, or Vixi, and I burst out laughing. And most importantly, Vixi laughed at me. What is the power of Vixi’s work?

It is Naturalist art for which Mylnikov was praised. You could say conservative art, Trump and Putin would be pleased to be painted so realistically. But the context in which she sets her figures is extremely critical of society. Look around! An unpredictable idiot who is president of the United States. A dictator like Erdogan who has turned one of our favourite holiday destinations into a scary, nationalist, freedom-restricting Islamic state. Putin, corruption, poison gas. They stand in the sea, they wear a dunce’s cap, they are in a children’s game.

They are not intended to make you laugh. Nor are they caricatures and Vixi does not draw cartoons. Just look at Kim Jong Un sitting on his bench and enjoying the setting, not of the sun, but of the world. It could just as easily make you cry. But Vixi leaves you free to laugh and that is important in art as it is in politics.

It reminded me - not by chance - of the essay by Amos Oz ‘ how to cure a fanatic’. His answer: with a sense of humour. Someone with a sense of humour does not rent a van in order to kill dozens of people as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, however, there is no pill to make someone humorous.

I find Vixi’s work somehow reassuring. Except for that nice yellow scrap of cloth there, that innocent motief, which could be a nice little cushion for the sofa, that I find extremely alarming. Just like those soldiers there in the mist...they aren’t disappearing, sie sind wieder da.

Vixi can let the image speak without words. She does not lecture us, she lets you come up with the explanation yourself. How does she manage this? She comes from five generations of teachers. She knows how annoying it can be to be lectured to. She has a cosmopolitan background, she is autonomous and liberal and therefore able to think out of the box. She teaches art at Maimonides High School, her method is the one in which she herself wishes she had been taught. Improve your technique, but dare to be free, to go your own way.

When you teach art to teens, you stand with both feet firmly in the world, while your students constantly try to put you if not on the wrong foot, at least another foot. Student and teacher challenge each other.

Apart from this series of socially critical paintings, Vixi also paints superb portraits. And she has many more plans and ideas. More ideas than she can keep pace with, she admits. She paints five days a week, so keep an eye on her, in the future as well. Today enjoy her beautiful paintings in this exhibition and add your own words to them. That’s what Vixi has made them for. Good art needs no language. And with this conclusion I open the exhibition.

Hannah Raaff
28-04-2018

+ Not Normal: Art in the Age of Trump by Karen Gutfreund

SYRACUSE, New York – Sept. 8, 2020 – Artists around the United States and the world are raising their visual voices in protest against Donald Trump. The book Not Normal: Art in the Age of Trump by Karen M. Gutfreund, released July 2020, documents this artistic movement in a curated collection of art featuring the work of 147 artists. It is a lasting, eye-catching and impactful testament of the opposition movement against President Trump and the destructive, divisive, and hate-filled climate he has created as our country’s 45th President. "The times are tough these days with the leader of the free world spewing hate and misogyny,” says Justin Hoover, Director of Collective Action Studio and independent curator. “Racism is on the rise and what we need from artists is a way to visualize and vocalize a counter narrative, one about love and compassion, inclusion and diversity. In “Not Normal,” the artists’ righteous energy calls out these criminals in power and demand the public hold them accountable." Artful protest, dissention and outrage is evidenced in full Technicolor display on subjects ranging from xenophobia, racism, the COVID pandemic, immigration, promotion of hatred and violence, mistrust of science and facts, government corruption and greed, the climate crisis, misogyny and women’s and LBGTQ rights. While the subject matter is serious, the art is alive with color, detail and multi-layered messages, and many are delivered with an irreverent sense of humor. “Hidden beneath the white noise of the 24-hour news cycle, a movement has started among the nation’s finest activist artists,” says Gutfreund, curator and author of Not Normal. “This artistic form of peaceful protest, featured in my book, showcases the quality and volume of anti-Trump activist art. As a curator, I want to exhibit these works to document this perspective and showcase this powerful form of expression.” This book features 350 works from artists across the United States and world. Artists use media including painting, sculpture, drawing, mixed media, digital art, photography, video, performance art and installation. While there is a great amount of diversity in the artistic styles, the artists are united in a groundswell of opposition to these “not normal” times for our democracy. “We employ artwork to fight for human rights and social justice. I created this collection because the subject matters are timely, necessary and urgently needed to be seen in this ‘fake news’ and ‘alternative facts’ world.” says Gutfreund. Additional information including quotes/reviews of the book, a guide with chapter descriptions, curatorial essay, artist images and statements are available upon request and at KarenGutfreund.com Karen M. Gutfreund is an independent curator and artist. Actively promoting the work of activist and feminist artists with national touring exhibitions, she has produced over thirty-five to date, managing all aspects from curation, artist and project management, as well as the installation. Gutfreund has worked in the Painting & Sculpture Department at MoMA, the Andre Emmerick Gallery, The Knoll Group, the John Berggruen Gallery, and is an art consultant to both corporations and individuals. Gutfreund served as the National Exhibitions Director for the Women’s Caucus for Art. In addition, Gutfreund is a member of ArtTable, the Northern California Representative for The Feminist Art Project (TFAP), and curator for UniteWomen.org. She is currently writing a book on DIY Exhibitions. Not Normal: Art in the Age of Trump is available on Amazon.