Gallery Sous Terre celebrates Jheronimus Bosch In the year 1516 Jheronimus Bosch died, and so, 500 years later the master of imagination is celebrated extensively. Gallery Sous Terre organizes (in close cooperation with Katinka Waelbers Glass & Art) both a Jheronimus Bosch pavilion and a Garden of Earthly Delights in honour of this great artist. The opening of the two exhibitions is during the yearly art event of Galerie Sous Terre, 24-26 June 2016. This event is also part of many other art activities in the area during the Jheronimus Bosch Year. The exhibition will remain open for the public until December 31, 2016. The Jheronimus Bosch pavilion: a metamorphic cabinet of curiosities Imagine the wonderful objects Jheronimus Bosch could have made if only he was born 500 years later! So many new technologies, materials and subject matter can lead to an amazing cabinet of curiosities, full of metamorphoses, secret codes, and tantalizing taboos. At the pavilion you will find both the most beautiful and bizarre objects varying from elephants to jewels, from lamps to electric guitars, from glass windows to robots. Six renowned (inter)national artists will proudly present their work. Merab Gagiladze (Tbilisi 1972) studied at the Tbilisi Art College and continued at the Tblisi State Academy of Fine Arts. He reinterprets the tales and legends of his country so richly imbued with European and Eastern cultures. His work takes the viewer on an imaginary journey populated with characters who bear a message at the crossroads between reality and dreams. Katinka Waelbers is a quite diverse artist creating glass art, paintings, drawings, jewels and sculptures. Most of her work is surrealist in nature. Bright colours, humour and a little social criticism are the three important aspects in her work. Here you can see a detail from her Reef of Seven Sins: gluttony.
Felieke van der Leest is a Dutch jewellery artist, living and working in Norway. She makes wearable sculptures combining textile techniques, precious metals and plastic toy animals. Splendidly crafted, mostly quite wearable but never without a story. With striking clothing and accessories, Van der Leest s animal jewels acquire a new identity and comment on human nature and behaviour. Sometimes sharply critical but usually with a generous smile. Hans van der Valk is a painter highly specialized in painting stained glass windows. Inspired by the works of Jheronimus Bosch, he made this window, which already won the public award at the Glass Museum in Ravenstein. He studied at the Art Academy in Tilburg, and has been working at the Glass Studio Oud Rijswijk in Zoetermeer since 1975. Mariano Bottoli (Italy 1954) attended the School of Art Beato Angelico in Milan. From the end of the 70s, he has been performing in street art, and won many awards in these art festivals. His art is diverse: he paints on musical instruments, objects (such as skidlids, clothes, wine bottles, plectrums, wooden puzzles) and furniture. He composes both small and huge allegories, inspired by the Renaissance style and Jheronimus Bosch.
Alex from Ireland grew up in Ireland, hence the name. He's a beachcomber on post Industrial shores and gains inspiration from the objects he finds. He wants to provide as little as possible information: people may judge his work by what they see. Having previously lived in London, the now Swedish based Peruvian artist, Fernando Caceres has exhibited his work nationally and internationally. Fernando uses his knowledge as a conservator to re-create and re-use historical painting techniques to create contemporary pieces of art. His colourful creations combine his mastery of historical painting techniques with modern psychological renderings of both ancient and contemporary mythologies. The brightly coloured and intriguingly made Kosmotroniks are model machines built by Dutch musician and artist Harry Arling. They are constructed mostly from plastic scrap material painted afterwards, and have their 3V lights fed with a single 9V battery. Giorgi Kukhalashvili (Georgia 1982) finished the Iakob Nikoladze Art College. He opened his studio in old Tbilisi historical district and started intensive activities. He was awarded the prestigious Lev Tolstoj prize in Moscow in 2013. This year he has finished his masterpiece, The Dream of Jheronimus Bosch, a tribute to the Dutch Master, especially for presentations in the Netherland in 2016.
The Garden of Earthly Delights One of the most famous works of Jheronimus Bosch is the triptych "the Garden of Earthly Delights". Concordantly, the Jheronimus Bosch Pavilion is surrounded by a beautiful Garden of Earthly Delights in which you will find the most imaginative and colourful statues, reminding of the works of Jheronimus Bosch. The following international artists present there metamorphic artwork. Modeller Hermien Buytendijk creates very detailed fairytale-like statues which have a romantic feel about them. This fish with tail in the shape of a bird caries a young couple in love. Katinka Waelbers (see also above) also makes garden statues of epoxy and glass. For this exhibition she made a fountain inspired by the fountain of the Garden of Earthly Delights. Bright colours, humour and a little social criticism are the three important aspects in her work, as can be seen in the Chicken with the Golden Egg. Ugo Corsi is an Italian terracotta modeller. It was essential for him to frequent the last remaining craftsmen's workshops in Tuscany. This knowledge - which originates from old Renaissance studios - permits him to realize sculptures with a mixture of ancient and modern styles, in the conviction that art cannot be separated from technical ability and must evolve and transform itself looking for beauty and harmony.
Adje Martens creates large garden statues of different kinds of metals like stainless steel, bronze and brass. Dreams and figments are inspiring his work. The bright and playful statues of artist Antoon van Wijk are made of glass, bronze and many other colourful materials. He went to the Rietveld Academy and combines Eastern mysticism with Western culture.