MAIDENTRIP 2023

De.GROEN

fine.art.collection

MAIDENTRIP 1&2

Ajna Lőrincz

caja boogers

19.augustus – 8.oktober.2023

MAIDENTRIP 3&4

Ro smit

sam tromp

14.oktober – 26.november.2023

Maidentrip; de eerste reis door een schip gemaakt.

MAIDENTRIP

MAIDENTRIP is de overkoepelende titel voor vier solopresentaties van net afgestudeerde studenten van ArtEZ in Arnhem en de HKU in Utrecht. Het gaat hier om studenten van de afdeling vrije kunst. MAIDENTRIP, alweer voor de derde keer. Vier compacte soloshows. Drie keer op rij MAIDENTRIP, van een traditie is nog geen sprake maar het begint er wel op te lijken.

Ook dit jaar was het weer een plezier om de graduates van ArtEZ en de HKU te bezoeken. Een tocht langs de graduates van deze twee academies is een uitputtingsslag in positieve zin, niet alleen is er heel veel te zien maar de jonge kunstenaars hebben over het algemeen ook veel te vertellen over hun werk. De nieuwsgierigheid wordt geprikkeld en zo hier en daar worden je ogen geopend voor iets nieuws. Dat nieuwe hoeft niet speciaal een werk te zijn maar kan ook

een gedachte of houding zijn van de jonge kunstenaar.

Degenen die dit jaar te zien zijn in MAIDENTRIP hebben ieder hun eigen punt gemaakt met hun presentatie. Opvallend is het verschil tussen de twee academies. Niet alleen verschillen in het werk maar ook in de presentatie. Wanneer je in Utrecht de eindshow bezoekt loop je door een gedegen en overzichtelijke presentatie. Je waant jezelf op een kunstbeurs waar bijna altijd bij ieders werk de maker aanwezig is om het werk toe te lichten. Ook zie je er - voor wie ze herkent - de verzamelaars, de galeriehouders en de curatoren rondlopen. Speurend naar nieuw talent voor in de galerie, de collectie of een tentoonstelling. Een strak ingerichte -vaak indrukwekkende- show. Met kunst die in ontwikkeling is maar ook werk dat volwassen en ‘af’ is. Daarentegen is een bezoek aan de eindshow in Arnhem van een andere orde. Hier heerst een onorthodoxe overzichtelijkheid. De ene kunstenaar heeft

Sam Tromp en Caja Boogers (HKU)

een grote zaal nodig terwijl een ander

voldoende heeft aan een klein kantoortje. Kelders, trappenhuis en gangen worden allemaal ingezet voor de show. Terwijl je in Utrecht zowel mentaal als fysiek afstand kunt nemen van het werk word je in Arnhem juist het werk ingetrokken. Ontsnappen aan de vaak zeer persoonlijke en intieme presentaties is niet mogelijk. Ook in Arnhem zie je werk dat volwassen en ‘af’ is maar het merendeel van het werk laat de potentie zien van wat het ooit zou kunnen worden.

Juist dit contrast tussen beide academies wakkert de nieuwsgierigheid aan. Hoe anders worden de studenten op beide academies begeleid in hun ontwikkeling. De eindpresentatie van studenten aan de HKU is het bewijs dat zij stevig worden voorbereid op de realiteit van de kunstwereld in Arnhem lijkt die toekomst anders. Sprekend in een metafoor kun je misschien zeggen dat de kunstenaars van de HKU afstuderen met een volledig stratenplan van de kunstwereld in hun hand en een GPS op het mobieltje terwijl de ArtEZ studenten met een goed werkend kompas op ontdekkingsreis gaan. Zo gaat ieder na de academie zijn eigen weg. De toekomst voorspellen is niet mogelijk. Dat geldt ook voor de kunstenaars hier bij Maidentrip. Twee aan twee een solo.

Allereerst laten Ajna Lőrincz afgestudeerd aan ArtEZ en Caja Boogers afgestudeerd aan de HKU hun werk zien. Daarna zijn Ro Smit (ArtEZ) en Sam Tromp (HKU) aan de beurt. Vier kunstenaars die totaal verschillend werken met ieder een eigen verhaal. Schilderijen, installaties, ruimtelijk werk. Zekerheden worden uitgesproken en twijfels gezaaid.

In deze publicatie geven de kunstenaars antwoord op een aantal vragen, over ideeën, werk, en verwachting.

MAIDENTRIP is the umbrella title for four solo presentations by recently graduated students from ArtEZ in Arnhem and the HKU in Utrecht. These are students from the liberal arts department. MAIDENTRIP is now being done for the third time. Four compact solo shows. Three times in a row MAIDENTRIP, it is not yet a tradition, but it is starting to look like one.

This year it was again a pleasure to visit the graduates of ArtEZ and HKU. A trip along the graduates of these two academies is a battle of exhaustion in a positive sense, not only is there a lot to see but the young artists generally have a lot to say about their work. Curiosity is stimulated and every now and then your eyes are opened to something new. That new something does not have to be a

Caja Boogers

Ajna Lőrincz

work in particular but can also be a thought or attitude of the young artist. Those featured in this year’s MAIDENTRIP have each made their own point with their presentation. What is striking is the great difference between the two academies. Not only differences in the work but also in the presentation.

When you visit the final show in Utrecht, you walk through a thorough and well-organized presentation. You imagine yourself at an art fair where in this case the maker is almost always present to explain the work.

You can also see there -for those who recognize them- the collectors, gallery owners and curators walking around. Searching for new talent for the gallery, the collection, or an exhibition. A tightly arranged -often impressive- show. With art that is developing but also work that is mature and “finished.”

In contrast, a visit to the final show in Arnhem is of a totally different order. Here there is an unorthodox overview. One artist needs a large hall while another suffices with a small office. Cellars, stairwells, and corridors are all used for the show. While in Utrecht you can both mentally and physically distance yourself from the work, in Arnhem you are actually drawn into the work. Escape from the often very personal and intimate presentations is not possible. Almost all the

artists tell their own story with their work. Most of the work shows the potential of what it could one day become.

It is precisely this contrast between the two academies that sparks curiosity. How differently students at both academies are guided in their development. The final presentation of students at the HKU is proof that they are firmly prepared for the reality of the art world, in Arnhem that future seems different. Speaking in a metaphor, you might say that the HKU artists graduate with a complete street map of the art world in their hand and a GPS on their cell phone, the ArtEZ students go on a voyage of discovery with a good working compass. Thus, each goes his own way after the academy. Predicting the future is not possible. The same goes for the artists here at MaidenTrip. Two by two a solo. First, Ajna Lőrincz graduated from ArtEZ and Caja Boogers graduated from HKU will show their work. Then it’s Ro Smit’s (ArtEZ) and Sam Tromp’s (HKU) turn. Four artists who work in totally different ways, each with their own story. Paintings, installations, spatial work. Certainties are expressed and doubts are sown.

In this publication, the artists answer several questions, about ideas, work, and expectation.

Sam Tromp

AJNA LŐRINCZ

Name: Ajna Lőrincz

Place of birth: Budapest (H)

Year of birth: 1998

Place of residence and work: Arnhem Instagram: @ajna_lorincz_studio

What do you like to look at?

I like to look at people and the dynamics they have. I like to sit at a cafe and see what people wear, how they walk and what things they look at. How do they feel? I imagine what might make them do what they do. It intrigues me how we show up so differently and express ourselves. Yet, we often feel the same.

Do you have a particular subject in your work and how did you arrive at it?

Yes, in my practice I focus on the body, on its self-perception and the way we carry and interact with it and each others’. What is the tactile relation to our body and how do we disconnect and connect to it? I look at the elusive contradictions which we can carry in one body and how this defies the binary system. We can hold both gore and beauty, both an inner and an outer (self and other), and we are both living and dying at the same time. How do we hold space for all these things and uphold a judgement? In my work nothing is predetermined, nothing is boxed, and it is an unplaceable scope of things for your perception to play around in. Do you have the need to decide what you see?

I did not exactly arrive yet, not sure if I even will, but this part of the journey in my practice I got to though realizing that all these boxes and judgement that I had internalized

from the world were not necessary, if anything they were hurtful and limiting. So, I needed to open it up. Now I am here to open this world for others.

Do you know in advance what you want to make? If not, what do you know in advance?

I work more intuitively, a topic that I do not understand or disagree with is often my centerpoint. From that I research different ways of perceiving the topic, this involves a material process and many experiments.

How do you start a work and how does the working process take place?

The way I work most of all involves touching and sensing. I find that this is my most honest and direct way to give the viewer the feeling or questions that I am questioning and feeling myself. I test out materials and mixtures that suit the best, but also let my materials run their own life.

Can you tell something about the material you work with?

In Interplay of contradictions I work with 100% natural biomaterial that comes close to bio plastics but have a variety of consistencies. These self-made natural materials

I put in contrast with synthetic meshes and plastics such as the pvc tubing carrying the unsolidified material base of the creatures/ skins/....The artificial material is a straightforward process, unlike the mixing, cooking, pouring and drying process of the bio material. These creatures start to live on their own as they change consistency, texture and color multiple times in the process and form their own shape like a drying out leaf. It is a process of trust in the material and letting go.

What is your ambition? Or where will you be in 5 years?

I see myself making art in a studio in nature. I want to create from a place of feeling, intention, and healing that to me is hard to find in this fast pace critical environment. Not that I am against looking critically, but I feel that the tensions and criticality at play need to be balanced out with care and an outlook on potentiality. My ambition? To make people stand still, feel, look, and look again.

CAJA BOOGERS

Name: Caja Boogers

Place of birth: Vlaardingen (NL)

Year of birth: 2001

Place of residence and work: Rotterdam

Website: cajaboogers.com

Instagram: @cajaboogers

What do you like to look at?

All sorts of imagery. It can range from the work of Rudolf Stingel to personal family archives, Bruce Lee films and the Japanese dance Butoh. I have been digitally collecting images based on different interests for a couple years now.

Do you have a particular subject in your work and how did you arrive at it?

This digital archive I’m constantly adding pictures to gives me a sense of freedom, regarding the subject matter. In one way or another, all this imagery is connected to the things I find intriguing. Then, a process starts where a certain subject I take imposes me with a lot of questions, primarily concerning the medium painting itself. Instead of depicting this subject, I strive to let the idea of the motif arise in this way. So, when you’re looking at elevator doors, for instance, it’s not the illusion of depicting the materiality as well as I can, that fascinates me. Rather it’s the painterly qualities this subject already carries in itself, that interests me, and how much is needed to evoke this association for the viewer.

Do you know in advance what you want to make? If not, what do you know in advance?

The first one never works. I sometimes have a feeling beforehand what I want to achieve in a work. Though, often this feeling becomes stronger when I try it a couple times, and it doesn’t work out. This process only provides me with more information.

How do you start a work and how does the working process take place?

There’s no set time frame. When I start, the work can either be done in a day, and one session, or it can take multiple sessions and I go over it again and again. When working, I’m usually not thinking much.

Can you tell something about the material you work with?

Apart from oil and linen, I use this modelling paste medium to apply texture to the work. It’s an element which influences the way something is depicted. More than an image, or an opening to another dimension, the painting itself becomes a surface again.

What is your ambition? Or where will you be in 5 years?

I’d hope to see myself having developed an artistic practice that’s ever-evolving and occupied with more questions that will make me want to go to the studio every single day.

RO SMIT

Name: Ro Smit

Place of birth: Utrecht (NL)

Year of birth: 1998

Place of residence and work: Arnhem

Website: rosmit.art

Instagram: @nonbinarypunkk

What do you like to look at?

When I walk through cities and countryside, I look around me for things left behind or lost, on the ground between the bricks that make up the streets; finding little treasure along the way to wherever I’m going. It’s not only the looking, but also the interaction and the tactility, I like to touch and feel the material.

I enjoy collecting and finding things that spark joy for me, like runned over rusty bottle caps, old buttons of vintage coats, or a half-broken necklace buried in the sand forgotten after a swim.

I also like looking at structures and the details that people add to them, which aren’t structural, but an addition to, or a personalization of space. Also abandoned buildings, or public spaces, I like to look at the way people make it their own by spray painting it or leave signs of their passage. I like to understand the people and how they experience a certain building through the things they choose to decorate it with, and I try to see it through their eyes.

Do you have a particular subject in your work and how did you arrive at it?

Care is the main red thread through my work; I like exploring different forms of care. I think it started with a work I made about

the river in my hometown and the memories of my time there and me giving back to that place through making ceramic houses with the clay from there and giving the place that gave me a home these new houses that I put in the river. The river that I left behind at home actually continues all the way to Arnhem, where I found my second home, right by the riverside. That kind of care and connection through objects or non-humans, that can be a way to understand different forms of care or to learn from them. I feel a deep connection to these non-humans, I can feel the reciprocity of care in my relationship to them. They care for me, and I care for them. To Be Loved By… was the first “conscious” exploration of care through my work after that.

Do you know in advance what you want to make? If not, what do you know in advance?

Most of the time I don’t, the way I work the best is through questions or emotions I have/am feeling at that moment or through the exploration of the material. I usually know in advance which kind of material I want to work with, or a question I have and want to explore.

How do you start a work and how does the working process take place?

Research and making go hand in hand for me. Through the material, I start exploring the questions I might have and through this research, the materials or even the question change.

As for my latest work, Maybe tomorrow will

not exist, but it might as well, it really started after I got involved in a video game that highly influenced me and the way I think and look at the world. Through the philosophical inputs of this videogame, I found myself wondering what it means to care at the end of the world. I believe that the idea of caring at the end of the world encapsulates the essence of care, so I decided to dive deep into it.

Can you tell something about the material you work with?

I work mostly with textiles, discarded and used materials, and ceramics. Materials are very important to me. I like these materials because they are tactile, and I like to think of my hands as tools for the materials to become their next embodiment.

What is your ambition? Or where will you be in 5 years?

I want to continue working on my art, both on my own and in collaboration with other artists. That will also probably include doing a masters program in the future, but I still have to find the perfect one for me. I’m also very interested in curating, so hopefully there will be chances to do that as well.

In the same breath, 2022

SAM TROMP

Name: Sam Tromp

Place of birth: Woerden (NL)

Year of birth: 2001

Place of residence and work: Utrecht and Rotterdam

Website: samtromp.nl

Instagram: @samtromp

What do you like to look at?

Spatial editions/constructions that are made, that are there to help move around, always trigger me to look at. Bridges, spaces, maps, and human traces.

Do you have a particular subject in your work and how did you arrive at it?

I am very interested in impermanence and possibilities, and how this can play a roll within the structure of the art world. Also structures and the idea of playing fields trigger my fascinations. These subjects started from a general interest and questions on premises.

Do you know in advance what you want to make? If not, what do you know in advance?

The work I make usually starts from the location it is made for, so it changes a lot.

How do you start a work and how does the working process take place?

Within my studio I like to first focus on creating the pawns- these being the canvassesthat will play a role in the installation. I will surround myself with different made objects and materials and shuffle them around. The installations I make are location focused.

Can you tell something about the material you work with?

I like to work with mixed materials, but most of the materials that I work with start as raw matter. The canvasses I make also become somewhat of a material for me that I use within the spatial composition of the installation.

What is your ambition? Or where will you be in 5 years?

I would like to continue developing my practice the upcoming years in a master/ postgraduate program. For this I am also looking into international programs. So, in 5 years I hope to have finished some kind of a master and hopefully be still working in the studio wondering/questioning about all surrounding me.

Painting in the wall (3), 2023

COLOFON

Deze publicatie verschijnt bij de

tentoonstelling MAIDENTRIP, georganiseerd door Collectie DE.GROEN van 19 augustus tot en met 26 november 2023.

Idee en samenstelling : Marjolein de Groen en Peter Jordaan

Tekst : Peter Jordaan / kunstenaars

Foto’s : Django van Ardenne; 4 (r), 7 (o+b), 8-9, 12-13, 15 (o), 16-17, 19 (o), 20-21, Julia Klijn; 5 (o), 19 (b), Jonathan de Waart; 11

Basis layout en typografie : Sinds 1416

Vormgeving : Oscar Lourens

Druk : Drukwerkdeal, Deventer

Collectie DE.GROEN bedankt het Mondriaan Fonds voor hun financiële ondersteuning.

Alle werken zijn in het bezit van de kunstenaars.

Werken Caja Boogers : Courtesy Gerhard Hofland, Amsterdam

Arnhem, augustus 2023

Collectie DE.GROEN

Weverstraat 40

6811 EM Arnhem

www.collectiedegroen.nl