Put a famous name on a poster and the public will flock to it. It seems that simple. Last year, Vermeer managed to attract more than 650,000 visitors to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. In recent months, enthusiastic press releases have appeared about stalled exhibitions by Ai Weiwei at the Kunsthal in Rotterdam (272,000 visitors) and Marina Abramović at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam (200,000 visitors). Apparently the rule applies: solo exhibitions draw crowds.
Surprisingly, we also recommended Solos earlier this year. We were looking forward to seeing the exhibitions by Max Beckmann, Marina Abramović, Laure Prouvost and Frans Hals.
But this autumn we want to draw attention to promising group exhibitions, which also deserve full halls.
Kunsthal Kade in Amersfoort has a flair for sensitive topics, which often lead to accessible group exhibitions. It’s here from this weekend. Sleep! to see. The vicissitudes of nighttime sleep have inspired many artists: the softness of a mattress, the security of a sleeping bag, the bed too full or too empty.
Among the fifty or so artists and designers taking part in this exhibition is Geoffrey Holder (1930-2014). His work had not previously been seen in the Netherlands, but this summer he was in London in a much-discussed duo exhibition with his brother Boscoe.
The Holder brothers from Trinidad were multi-talented and active as artists, dancers, musicians and choreographers. Geoffrey also appeared as an actor in Hollywood films. In Kade you can see his beautiful drawing of a woman lying under a white sheet. He has drawn it with so many swirls that it seems as if sleep is enveloping her like a swirling sea. (AvL)
Kunsthal Kade, Amersfoort, from the 24th to the 8th.
