" The exhibition Attached is part of a series of exhibitions in which Museum The Ship gives artists from Amsterdam West the chance to exhibit in the museum. The artists are asked to stand by themes of the Amsterdam School to be inspired."
I was asked to exhibit in the museum over 6 months ago, and was very thrilled. Living in a neighbourhood that shows the top of the Amsterdam School architectural movement is bound to influence you at one point or another. And now I was given a perfect reason to inject these influences into my work.
I started out taking pictures of the houses, which are characterised by their fanciful and expressionist style. But when I started to get more familiar with the Amsterdamse School I actually felt most attracted to the less complex side of the movement. In the archives I found loads of incredibly handsome manufactured pieces of furniture, sculptures, tapestries. Still, the more modest objects kept drawing my attention. I selected my favourites and reconstructed them in a 3D modeling program after which I was able to draw them from every angle.
I struggled a few months with various techniques, created some debatable paintings. Went back to the computer. Continued struggling on various layouts, couldn't get them quite right. Ended up struggling with a 165" (420 cm) Photoshop file, which was really.. challenging. But I had no choice, it had to be this big. I had not seen the exhibition-space until a few weeks before the actual opening, because of the museum's renovation. And when I did, I decided to start all over; the room needed one véry large image.
This sudden change happened to be the solution to my problem with the layouts. The elongated size of the paper forced me to connect the objects in a less obvious setting. Showing the objects in its pure shape, without being distracted by their function, gave me the freedom to play and create an image that celebrates the playful character of the Amsterdam School.
The exhibition 'Attached' by the artist Leonie Bos takes place between 4 September and 29 October in the new lunchroom of Museum Het Schip.
Title: Attached
Artist: Leonie Bos
Size: 168 X 60 inch (428 X 152 cm)
Edition: 1/1, hand signed and numbered
Technic: Giclée on quality archival fine art paper (315 gsm)
Price: On request (info@leoniebos.nl)
Invitation
Yellow Cube: An additional print, using some of the Amsterdamse School objects from the large print. On the table: an hommage to the artwork 'Untitled' (1986) by Michael Schierbeek, a giant sculpture at the entrance of the Westerpark in Amsterdam West. On the wall: a free interpretation of an Art Deco tapestry from Jaap Gidding.
The print is signed and hand numbered and sold in a limited edition of only 20 in my webshop.
