Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterdam (NL) English

PERMANENT REPETITION
a TAOP show curated by Raymond Cuijpers and Cole Verhoeven
September 29 – October 29 2017, Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterdam

The Act of Painting (TAOP) is a dynamic and international collective of artists organizing shows all over
the world. With each show, TAOP seeks a city-specific connection. Local artists are invited to
participate and thinkers, scientists and curators are asked to reflect on the work shown. Though the
composition of TAOP is constantly changing, the connecting factors remain the intuitive process and
intuitive way of working. That process closely correlates with a personal consciousness, the soul of the
artist. Another important spearhead of TAOP is the search for the meaning of abstraction. In each
exhibit, the current relevance of abstraction is investigated and examined each time from a different
perspective.
Permanent Repetition in Arti et Amicitiae stems from the philosophy of TAOP and focuses on a collision
between the work of two artists: generational colleagues and counterparts Jonathan Lasker (1948,
Jersey City, New Jersey, USA) and Rudy Klomp (1941, Enschede, NL). Additionally, work will be
shown by artists from the TAOP collective and guest artists. A somewhat controversial clash between
work that is rationally produced versus work that is intuitively created might stimulate further
investigation but the focus will remain on the multitude of forms abstract art can assume.
Postmodernist Jonathan Lasker creates his paintings by literally expanding intuitive ‘mark’ sketches
onto canvas. In his work, the contrast between graphic rhythm and thick brush stroke intuition
dominates. By copying and enlarging his sketches, Lasker amplifies the subconscious. In several steps
he distances himself from the personal. Lasker has worked dilligently since the 1970’s, and has
remained successful throughout all the art currents since. His work has been shown in all the major
international museums.
Rudy Klomp, on the other hand with his controversial opinions, has always had to fight his way into the
rigidity of the art world. In describing his work he coined the term Pararealism. Pararealism indicates a
universe in which he can give form to the adage Life = Art. His tool is intuition and his paintings arise
from a varied approach he describes as a rebus. He proximates outsider artists, but adds his own
clairvoyant awareness: Art Brut from the Cosmos … Klomp lives in the ‘memenveld’ where interchange
is not constricted by the boundaries of time and space.
For decades Rudy Klomp was considered an idiot, but recently science has arrived at the existence of
the very phenomena from which Klomp draws his inspiration. Klomp himself refers to among others,
theoretical physicist Erik Verlinde who recently discovered that the space is not empty, but that “… the
cosmos is in a kind of dreamlike state in which particles transmit information.”
“Forerunners” Lasker and Klomp contribute a great deal to the discussion about abstract art that drives
TAOP. Why make abstract work in a time when social media and the Internet determine our lives and
provide us with access to all the horror and beauty in the world? What can one say about this world
through abstraction? Is one even required to communicate anything at all?
Raymond Cuijpers
(translation Cole Verhoeven)