Heleen van Haaften’s Galerie Artline has been open for several months showing mixed work by various gallery artists and from the gallery’s store room. All of the work has been abstract and all of it very painterly. I have been very impressed by what I have seen so far, liking nearly all of the work.
For her first named group exhibition Heleen has gone off on a very different piste. The work of the four featured artists in Constructivisme Concreet is all minimalist and all the work is three dimensional with not a lot of colour in evidence. There is an easy marriage, a certain synchronicity between the work on show.
Cees van Rutten’s all-white, three dimensional paintings are like monochrome mazes drawing the viewer and inviting them to find their way to the interior. I shall resist the temptation of describing them as being like giant white waffles.
I liked Anneke Klein Kranenbarg little box objects. Until you look closely they look as though they are made from lengths of wire but closer inspection shows them to be made up of small sheets of angled glass.They provide a moving kaleidoscope of light and reflections until the critical point of observation is reached where all the bits join up and they are revealed as small geometric shapes.
The shapes of Anneke Klein Kranenbarg’s constructions could easily be mistaken for maquettes for André van Leer beautiful small glass sculptures. Mr van Leer’s name may not be familiar but if you live in The Hague you will certainly have seen his giant urban sculptures which punctuate the city. The two wall sculptures in this show are typical of his large free standing works but his main contribution to Constructivisme Concreet is something completely different. The dozen or so small coloured glass sculptures are like precious gems prized from the earth or found in the tomb of some ancient pharaoh – or the menacing glowing intelligent being in a science fiction movie.
Made by Czech craftsmen steeped in the tradition of fine glassmaking, staring into the depths of these exquisite colourful pieces is like being transported to a new world of light and reflection.
Guss Zuiderwijk’s pieces are made up of multifaceted metal rectangles arranged in formation like a chart of semaphore signals or some intricate puzzle. The more you look, the more the shapes take on deeper significance. Michael Hasted 25th September 2022
Constructivisme Concreet continues at Galerie Artline in Delft until 30th October.
