19 February till 26 March 2005
Jan van der Vaart and pupils
Jan van der Vaart (1931-2000)
Jan van der Vaart´s influence on Dutch ceramics is hard to over-estimate.
He was not only a trend-setting artist and industrial designer,
he also taught an entire generation of Dutch ceramicists while teaching at the
Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam (1968-1990).
Since 1992 he closely cooperated with Carla Koch. During the startup phase of
Gallery Carla Koch he played an important role by his encouragement,
and the gallery has represented several of his pupils for many years.
Therefore the celebration of 10 years Gallery Carla Koch would not be complete
without paying attention to Jan van der Vaart and his pupils.
Apart from objects by Van der Vaart from private collections,
the exhibition will present new work of Wietske van Leeuwen, Anita Manshanden,
Wouter Dam, Irene Vonck, Barbara Nanning, Mieke Blits, Alberdien Rullmann en
Esther Stasse.
Alberdien Rullmann
Alberdien Rullmann (1950), whose work has never been shown in the gallery before,
originally created miniature interiors.
After a while she replaced the figurative aspects of
her work by a more abstract design.
Recently she partially returned to figurative art in her series of
silhouettes of moving human beings.
Despite this figurative layer, however, her objects remain abstract
and refer exclusively to themselves.
Tulip towers by Esther Stasse
During his entire career Jan van der Vaart has created many tulip towers,
inspired by Dutch 17th century examples.
Recently his pupil Esther Stasse has
continued his work, so that this exhibition is the first in many years to present
tulip towers.
LikeVan der Vaart´s designs, Stasse´s tulip towers consist of several elements
which can be used individually or stacked on top of each other.
Of Van der Vaart´s pupils, Stasse is the one who has been most influenced by his
mathematical approach of ceramics.
Although Stasse has developed her own approach and forms,
Van der Vaart´s influence on her work is unmistakable.
Admirers of tulip towers can therefore look forward to a new series,
in which Stasse continues the work of her teacher in her own way.