Marc Bijl

Last updated

Marc Bijl
Born7 July 1970
NationalityDutch
Education Royal Academy of Arts and Design ('s-Hertogenbosch) 1992 - 1997, Glasgow School of Art 1996
Known for Sculpture, painting, and installation art

Marc Bijl (Leerdam, 7 July 1970) is a Dutch artist who lives and works in Berlin. His works are based upon social issues and their use of symbols and rules. This can result in interventions in the public space, sculptures or installations that undermine or underline this perception of the world.

Contents

Biography

From 1992 until 1997 Marc Bijl studied at the Royal Academy of Art & Design in 's-Hertogenbosch. In 1996 he studied for a year at Glasgow School of Art. [1] In his early work Marc Bijl reacted to global themes and to popular fascination with symbols of political power, globalization of the economy, religion and nationalism. This resulted in interventions in public space, videos, sculptures and installations that underscored or undermined world views. Bijl endeavours to expose superficialities and myths via his work. Bijl switches in his work between political activity and street culture as he does between the media of image, text and music. He exposes the superficialities, icons and myths of popular culture in his work to stimulate the spectator to contemplate about moral and ethical issues. The symbol, the logo and the label are his potential targets and his artistic tools. He likes to upset, relocate and re-connote their superficial image and their mythmaking – always aiming at a critical analysis of the social conditions of the society. [2] Bijl employs visual elements borrowed from punk and Gothic subcultures and from anarchism. His early works are representational, cartoon-like and often textual. His recent work is more abstract and minimalistic, exemplifying a shift in approach, by which he pares down different perspectives and methodologies to a new essence. The crux is no longer the 'symbolism' but what that symbolism represents and signifies. In these most recent works Bijl makes clear references to modernist art-historical icons such as Mark Rothko, Mondriaan, De Stijl (Rietveld chair) and more subtle references to Jannis Kounellis and Joseph Beuys. Bijl adapts these classical works to his own corporate style. He seeks a more abstract formal language that is in many respects more ambiguous than his earlier vocabulary.

Bijl undermines systems but at the same time he is depended on these systems. Bijl's work is often rebellious and tends to the illegality. His work is clearly rooted in street culture and possesses elements of graffiti, performance and installation art. [3]

Works

As said earlier the symbols and logos are often the Leitmotiv in Bijls work. In 2000 when the European Football Championship was hosted by the Netherlands and Belgium, Bijl set up a gallery/shop in Rotterdam selling orange color coated bricks endued with the Nike slogan Just do it for the "potentially violent hooligan" to bring the championship into discredit with the help of the official sponsor.

The work La revoluzione siamo noi (2002) shows Bijls fascination with popular culture. The work is a lifelike sculpture of the famous icon Lara Croft. She is covered in tar, holding two pistols and smoking a cigarette. With this black dripping compound she had to give up her vivid youthfulness and sex appeal and turned into a scary mutant-like appearance. On the wall behind her is sprayed La revoluzione siamo noi (We are the revolution), the famous slogan which Joseph Beuys often used in his artworks. Like the Nike Logo, the heroine of the computer game Tomb Raider is a prominent icon in Bijl's work.

Bijl's textual installations take an important place in his oeuvre. In these installations he sprays with graffiti short messages on places in the public space. In 2002 he sprayed RESIST on the entrance to the exhibition space Portikus in Frankfurt am Main. During Documenta 11 in September 2002 het sprayed te words TERROR on each of the six columns of the entrance to the Museum Fridericianum in Kassel. The very next morning all the letters were gone and the audience – still shocked from September 11, 2001 – could visit the exhibition without worrying. [2] In January 2009 he sprayed the words MODERN CRISIS on the same entrance to the Fridericianum. Bijl also posted his name on the hoardings of prominent building sites, mimicking the corporate identity of the hoardings concerned, he was following the strategy of the corporate players who appropriate the realm. He surfed on their strategies and demanded his place within the economic and urban-planning establishment. [4]

In 2002 Bijl made a fake edition of the art magazine Flash Art . With this he reacted on the art system using that systems own rules.[ clarification needed ] In bookshops his artist's book was hardly distinguishable from an actual edition of Flash Art.[ citation needed ]

In recent works Bijl refers to Rietveld's famous zigzag chair, but unlike Rietveld's colored chair Bijl makes the chair unattractive, covering it with a thick layer of tar. He also relates to the geometrical language of shapes of Piet Mondrian. When abstraction was supposed to lead Mondrian to the "nature of all things", Bijl rather sees the actual social wish for structure and orderliness in it. [2]

Collections

Awards

Solo exhibitions (selection)

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2012

2010

2009

Rein Wolfs

2008

2006

2005

2004

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bas Jan Ader</span> Dutch conceptual and performance artist

Bastiaan Johan Christiaan "Bas Jan" Ader was a Dutch conceptual and performance artist, and photographer. His work was in many instances presented as photographs and film of his performances. He made performative installations, including Please Don't Leave Me (1969).

James Lee Byars was an American conceptual artist and performance artist specializing in installations and sculptures, as well as a self-considered mystic. He was best known for his use of personal esoteric motifs, and his creative persona that has been described as 'half dandified trickster and half minimalist seer'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Currin</span> American painter

John Currin is an American painter based in New York City. He is most recognised for his technically proficient satirical figurative paintings that explore controversial sexual and societal topics. His work shows a wide range of influences, including sources as diverse as the Renaissance, popular culture magazines, and contemporary fashion models. He often distorts or exaggerates the erotic forms of the female body, and has stressed that his characters are reflections of himself rather than inspired by real people.

A kunsthalle is a facility that mounts temporary art exhibitions, similar to an art gallery. It is distinct from an art museum by not having a permanent collection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean-Marc Bustamante</span> French artist, painter, sculptor and photographer

Jean-Marc Bustamante is a French artist, painter, sculptor and photographer. He is a noted conceptual and installation artist and has incorporated ornamental design and architectural space in his works.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pierre Bismuth</span> French artist and filmmaker

Pierre Bismuth is a French artist and filmmaker based in Brussels. His practice can be placed in the tradition of conceptual art and appropriation art. His work uses a variety of media and materials, including painting, sculpture, collage, video, architecture, performance, music, and film. He is best known for being among the authors of the story for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay alongside Michel Gondry and Charlie Kaufman. Bismuth made his directorial debut with the 2016 feature film Where is Rocky II?.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucebert</span> Dutch painter

Lucebert was a Dutch artist who first became known as the poet of the COBRA movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A. R. Penck</span> German painter

Ralf Winkler, alias A. R. Penck, who also used the pseudonyms Mike Hammer, T. M., Mickey Spilane, Theodor Marx, "a. Y." or just "Y" was a German painter, printmaker, sculptor, and jazz drummer. A neo-expressionist, he became known for his visual style, reminiscent of the influence of primitive art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carlos Amorales</span> Mexican artist

Carlos Amorales is a multidisciplinary artist who studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy and the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam. The most extensive researches in his work encompass Los Amorales (1996-2001), Liquid Archive (1999–2010), Nuevos Ricos (2004–2009), and a typographic exploration in junction with cinema (2013–present).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guillaume Bijl</span> Belgian conceptual and installation artist

Guillaume Bijl is a Belgian conceptual and an installation artist. He lives and works in Antwerp.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terry Fox (artist)</span> American performance artist (1943–2008)

Terry Alan Fox was an American conceptual artist known for his work in performance art, video, and sound. He was of the first generation conceptual artists and was a central participant in West Coast performance art, video and conceptual art movements of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Fox was active in San Francisco and in Europe, living in Europe in the latter portion of his life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antonio Jose Guzman</span>

Antonio Jose Guzman is a Dutch Panamanian visual artist, communication designer and lecturer. He lives and works in Amsterdam, Panama City and Dakar.

Tim White-Sobieski is a video and installation artist based in New York and Berlin. He was educated as an architect and dedicated himself to visual art and filmmaking, exploring the fields of painting, sculpture, photography, video, video installations and light installations throughout his career. He began showing in New York in the early 1990s with his "Blue Paintings." Emphasis on the role of the subconscious in his paintings had affinities with visual abstractionism and literary existentialism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gabriel Lester</span> Dutch inventor, visual artist and film director

Gabriel Lester is an inventor, visual artist and film director living and working in Amsterdam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fridericianum</span> Museum in Kassel, Germany

The Fridericianum is a museum in Kassel, Germany. Built in 1779, it is one of the oldest public museums in Europe. Since 1955 the quinquennial art festival documenta has been centred on the site, with some artworks displayed on Friedrichsplatz, in front of the building.

Athanasios Argianas is a Greek and British artist living and working in London, England. Argianas' practice is interdisciplinary; incorporating sculpture, painting, text, performance and often music or sound, and concerns itself with metaphorical or translated representations of aural experiences. He received his MA from Goldsmiths College, London and previously studied under Jannis Kounellis at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf.

Libia Castro and Ólafur Ólafsson are collaborative artists based in Rotterdam and Berlin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constant Dullaart</span> Dutch artist and curator

Constant Dullaart is a Dutch conceptual artist, media artist, internet artist, and curator. His work is deeply connected to the Internet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tabor Robak</span> American contemporary artist (born 1986)

Tabor Robak is an American contemporary artist working in New Media, living in Paris, France. Robak is primarily known for his trailblazing digital art practice, multi-channel video installations and generative artworks. Robak's work has been exhibited and collected internationally at renowned institutions such as Museum of Modern Art, Serpentine, National Gallery of Victoria, Albright Knox, and Migros Museum. In 2014, Robak was named in Forbes 30 Under 30 in Art. Robak has guest lectured MFA students at Yale and co-taught an MFA course on real time 3D at New York University.

Guillaume Leblon is a French sculptor and visual artist. He lives and works in New York City.

References

  1. Marc Bijl artnews.org [ dead link ]
  2. 1 2 3 "Kunsthalle Fridericianum: Marc Bijl". Archived from the original on 25 May 2012. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  3. Paco Barragàn, Marc Bijl. In case you didn't feel like showing up, 2009 NAi Publishers, Rotterdam, blurb
  4. Paco Barragàn, Marc Bijl. In case you didn't feel like showing up, 2009 NAi Publishers, Rotterdam, 6-7

Further reading