Design Art. 15 Years VIVID, Kunsthal Rotterdam
September 13 - December 7, 2014
download Design Art catalogue
photos exhibition
Video report by Moois about Aldo Bakker & Kunsthal
The Rotterdam-based ‘Galerie VIVID’, which was established in 1999 by Saskia Copper and Aad Krol, is one of the first art galleries to examine the boundaries between design and art. Over the years, and under the heading ‘Design Art’, they have presented minor and major exhibitions of work by artists and designers including Studio Job, Atelier van Lieshout, Richard Woods & Sebastian Wrong, Minale-Maeda, Jan van Toorn and Jaime Hayon. On Saturday 13 September 2014, the Kunsthal Rotterdam is to open 'Design Art. Fifteen Years of VIVID', an exhibition focusing on the work of fifteen leading designers and artists.
The exhibition offers visitors a glimpse of an important group of Rotterdam-based and international artists and designers represented by Copper and Krol. The functional purpose of many of the objects so characteristic of Design Art seems to be less important than their extraordinary shape or application, which results in an entirely different approach.
Glithero’s fragile vase, for example, is not intended as a receptacle for flowers. The monumental round sofa by the international design duo Minale- Maeda (based in Rotterdam) demands to be placed in an environment other than a living room. The sofa can be made to revolve and reveals itself gradually to the viewer. This piece of furniture appears to have a filmic character, perhaps more like a painting, where the viewer understands what he sees in gradual steps. The wooden tables and chairs by the English designer duo Richard Woods & Sebastian Wrong are made in Italy. Their bent shapes are created using a special steaming process that has been handed down from generation to generation. Once back in Woods and Wrong’s studio, the pieces are painted, numbered and signed, creating unique objects. The paintwork plays with depth and dimensions, giving the impression that the furniture
has been drawn into the surroundings.
A platform for discussion
With VIVID, Saskia Copper and Aad Krol transcend the stereotypical concept of a gallery.
VIVID is also a national and international meeting place and platform for lively discussions on the dividing line between design and art. They gladly share their interests and show what is happening both in the Netherlands and elsewhere in the world when it comes to design and fine art. The rich content of the gallery’s website offers much more than simply an overview; it shows where Copper and Krol have been focussing their attention over the
years. Their initiative Designartnews.com is also followed with great interest by national and international collectors, museums, artists, designers and students.
Participating artists/designers:
Atelier Van Lieshout
Dienand Christe
Glithero
Jan Broekstra
Jaime Hayon
Janne Kyttanen
Jan van Toorn
Kho Liang Ie
Minale-Maeda
Richard Hutten
Richard Woods & Sebastian Wrong
Studio Job
Studio Makkink & Bey
Studio Wieki Somers
Vincent de Rijk
ArtDaily.com, Monday, October 6, 2014
Ode aan designpioniers, Museumtijdschrift
de Volkskrant, 29 Augustus, 2014
Vijftien jaar Galerie Vivid - toonaangevend en Rotterdams - wordt gevierd met een fraai overzicht.
Jeroen Junte
Hadden Aad Krol en Saskia Copper in 1999 kunnen bevroeden dat hun galerie Vivid zou uitgroeien tot hét Nederlandse adres voor spraak- en smaakmakend design? Dat ze zich zouden mogen presenteren op de prestigieuze kunstbeurs Art Basel? En dat de Kunsthal in hun thuishaven Rotterdam een bloemlezing uit vijftien jaar Vivid zou presenteren?
De eerste expositie van de twee, vijftien jaar geleden, heette Lukraak en toonde objecten met Rotterdams-anarchistische humor, zoals de Kutlamp en een Lulvaas. In de ontwerperswereld bestond toen al wel de door het duo gekoesterde ambitie te laten zien dat design meer is dan een aantal hippe lampen of te dure eetstoelen.
Maar van het avontuurlijke Dutch design, waarmee Vivid groot zou worden, had toen nog niemand gehoord. Er was weliswaar Droog, het ontwerpplatform dat ook design met een knipoog toonde, maar dat was van het meer calvinistische en intellectuele soort en daardoor uitsluitend geliefd bij een incrowd van designpuristen.
Een lamp als provocatie, omdat die niets meer is dan de gestapelde letters K, U en T met daarop een peertje van 100 watt, daar was de culturele wereld destijds nog niet klaar voor.
En toch is Vivid de afgelopen vijftien jaar uitgegroeid tot hét platform voor dit kunstzinnig design met een verfijnd materiaalgebruik en conceptuele diepgang. De overzichtsexpositie dit najaar in de Kunsthal heet niet voor niets Design Art. Kortom, het is design met de status van kunst - en met het daarbij horende prijskaartje.
Het succes dankt Vivid aan de neus voor talent van het duo Copper-Krol, die jonge ontwerpers een internationaal podium boden. Van Maarten Baas toonden ze al in 2003 werk. In 2005 nodigden ze Studio Job en Wieki Somers uit; de laatste staat nota bene tegelijk met Vivid in de Kunsthal en met een solo-expositie aan de overkant bij Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen.
Vivid plaatst zijn gevierde Dutch design bovendien in een traditie; ook de Zigzagstoel van Rietveld en een kubistisch zitelement uit de jaren vijftig van het ontwerpduo Slothouber & Graatsma komen aan bod. Inmiddels timmert de Rotterdamse galerie ook internationaal aan de weg; zo waren er exposities van de Spaanse ontwerpers Jaime Hayon en het Britse duo Sebastian Wrong & Richard Woods.
Dit najaar staat dit allemaal in de Kunsthal. Vijftien objecten, voor elk jaar één. Al is de selectie niet zuiver chronologisch. De Hollandse vintage van Rietveld staat naast de cartooneske vazen van Jaime Hayon.
En voor wie ze heeft gemist in 1999: de Kutlamp en de Lulvaas staan er ook. Op een sokkel zelfs.
de Volkskrant, August 29, 2014 (translation)
Fifteen years Galerie Vivid - leading and coming from Rotterdam - will be celebrated with a beautiful overview .
Jeroen Junte
Could Aad Krol and Saskia Copper have imagined in 1999 that their gallery Vivid would grow into The address for top design in the Netherlands? That they would be able to present at the prestigious fair in Basel? And that the Kunsthal, in their home town Rotterdam, would offer them an exhibition, an anthology of fifteen years Vivid?
The first exhibition of VIVID ,fifteen years ago , was called 'Lukraak' (hit-or-miss) and showed objects with anarchic humor, such as the 'Kutlamp' and 'Lulvaas'. In the design world it was already normal to show that design is more than some funky lamps or expensive chairs. But the adventurous Dutch design that made Vivid famous was still unknown at that time. Although there was Droog, the design platform that showed also design with a wink, but what they showed was more Calvinist and intellectual, and therefore only loved by an incrowd of design purists.
And yet Vivid has become in the past fifteen years the platform for the artistic design with refined materials and conceptual depth. The special exhibition this fall at the Kunsthal is called Design Art. Basically, it's design you can call Art - with the associated price tag.
The success owes Vivid because of their scouting of talents from the duo Copper-Krol: they offered young designers an international platform . Maarten Baas they already showed in 2003. In 2005 they invited Studio Job and Wieki Somers. Somers has simultaneously with Vivid in the Kunsthal a solo exhibition across the street at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen.
Vivid puts his celebrated Dutch design moreover in a tradition, you will also find a Zig Zag Chair by Rietveld and a cubist seating element from the fifties of the design duo Slothouber & Graatsma. Meanwhile, the gallery from Rotterdam is operating increasing international; so there were exhibitions of Spanish designer Jaime Hayon and the British duo Sebastian Wrong and Richard Woods. This autumn you can see all in the Kunsthal in Rotterdam.
Kunsthal.nl
