Our second Marc Ruygrok solo exhibition begins on Sunday 5 July.
On September 14 there is limited access to the exhibition due to maintenance.
Once again, the exhibits have been made in collaboration with Piet Hein Eek. In the large, dark room words made of wood are looming up ahead. Is it an enclosure or is it art? Marc likes to wrong-foot the viewer and to seek the border between utensil and art.
His words literally support their part of the construction and they often hint at the shape or purpose of the work. The letters in the OM EN OM EN OM (ON AND ON AND ON in English) piece form a square so the phrase itself is never-ending. The consecutive two letter words visually create an ornament. This work uses language as both enclosure and divider. When combined the words also display ‘the forewarning’: OMEN.
Three decadent and over-the-top whisky trays are on display in the light section of the gallery and they invite you to take part in the ritual of drinking. The sacred art of alcohol consumption can be celebrated with the help of the OH OH OH HO HO HO tray. Language is also an ornament here.
The full drinking experience is shown – the pleasure, the buzz, and the appropriate quantity.
By hanging the WAZ DA TIS WA piece from the roof of the old station platform that’s on our premises, we are already hinting at our plans to create an exhibition area from this unusual construction.
Marc and Piet Hein’s expertise have been combined in this exhibition: Marc is the conceiver and Piet Hein is the maker. The exhibits provide an initial stimulus inspiring visitors to utilize the artist’s word art elsewhere.
The exhibition also includes a large selection of diverse works on paper.
With special thanks to: Julius Baller B.V.
For the most recent selection of art works in the Van Abbevitrine, please click the following link.
Marc Ruygrok, Voorburg 1953
Since the early 1980s, letters, words and short sentences have been the ‘materials’ with which visual artist Marc Ruygrok has created his works of art. A defining characteristic of his visual language is a preference for elementary geometric shapes: circles, squares, spheres and cubes. For more than twenty years, Ruygrok has been drawing, constructing and photographing these sculptures, which, through the years, have acquired a unique vocabulary, both literally and figuratively.
For the past fifteen years, his focus has been directed towards monumental site-specific three-dimensional works, which often are made up of letters that form phrases or words. Apart from the visual qualities of these massive sculptures, the words evoke immediate associations. These three-dimensional language sculptures are also specifically tied to their location, as they reveal or facilitate a deeper meaning in all their mystery.
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