Timmerik Dubbelklik

The works on paper by Erik Mattijssen and sculptures by Tim Breukers in this exhibition demonstrate how intimate stories can be told in a grand manner. From a personal perspective, their works express universal emotions.

Life and art come together in the sculptures of Tim Breukers (NL, 1985). Scale, humor, narrative, and sculptural techniques versus clumsy solutions play important roles. Things like his daughter, collaborating in ceramic studios, and the neighborhood where he lives influence the process and subject matter of his work.

Dioramas formed the starting point for the series of works that Breukers is exhibiting in the gallery. They took on the form of vases, based on the two-thirds wine barrels with an olive tree in them that he saw on Beukenplein in Amsterdam. The artist made the giant vases together with Norman Trapman, a ceramics expert with an idyllic studio outside Amsterdam:

“When he starts spinning the vases on his wheel, I'm softer than the clay. Wow, this is so beautiful, I exclaim. Norman asks, should it be turned out a little more? ‘I don't know, I think it's so beautiful.’” Tim Breukers

The first story that ended up in one of the vases presented itself while Norman was spinning. Breukers saw him sitting with his elbows in his sides, looking over the vase with his head, and thought he resembled a praying mantis. So he modeled a praying mantis in one of the vases, which wants to know what it is like to be human by performing human crafts. The title of the vase came about when Breukers saw the word mantis, with which he could create a nice portmanteau word: Norman + Mantis = Normantis.

He made a total of eight vases, four of which are on display in the gallery. They are filled with a marble run, his sleeping daughter, or an inner wall of rope. They are presented on ceramic pedestals that merge with their load.

For Erik Mattijssen (NL, 1957), too, the personal is the starting point for artworks with universal meaning and appeal. This exhibition features his most monumental work to date, Winterstalling, which depicts a merry-go-round at rest.

The artist loves merry-go-rounds, both the objects themselves and how people relate to them. As a child, he visited the Efteling theme park, where the exuberant, festive steam carousel stole his heart. He still visits the Efteling with his nephew, and the steam carousel remains a favorite. After a ride on the pig, they watch from a distance as people are drawn to the carousel and change when they sit on it.

Mattijssen began searching for carousels. In Düsseldorf, he saw one that was closed for the night, covered with striped canvas. This gave rise to the idea of a carousel in winter storage, where the animals rest before they have to make their rounds again. In his work, objects tell the stories of absent people. A closed carousel evokes feelings of nostalgia, childhood memories, or times when happiness was as simple as a ride on a carousel. It is not difficult to see the merry-go-round as a metaphor for the cycle of life.

Mattijssen's personal life coincides with his work, as it does with Breukers, both in terms of interest and working methods. For this exhibition, Mattijssen continued to work on a number of merry-go-round animals. As a prelude to new work, he likes to do what he enjoys most: painting drums, this time. What once began with the Blechtrommel from Berlin, based on the famous book by Günter Grass and the film, has led to a large collection: from marching bands from Ireland to small toy drums for children. Some of the drums are presented next to Winterstalling. Just as Norman Trapman’s vases make Breukers as soft as clay, Mattijssen remains attracted to the oval shape of the drums. We eagerly await what he will create next.