Philippe Van Snick

De Hallen Haarlem kicks off the new year with a solo exhibition by Belgian artist Philippe Van Snick (Ghent, 1946). The exhibition spans almost five decades, and traces developments in this artist’s highly consistent body of work, best known for its postminimalist painting. Van Snick’s systematic approach to abstraction both offers fresh perspectives on recent developments in painting, and on a more fundamental level connects to the algorithmic interests of the post-digital generation.   

In the late ’70s his interest in systematic artistic methodologies lead Van Snick to formulate and consistently apply a colour and numeral system, which allows him to develop a closely knit body of work in the following decades. In his painting and sculpture, the dominant concerns of modernism are invoked (the autonomy of the artwork, geometric abstraction as a universal language), while at the same time everyday observations and an intuitive approach to materiality play a major role.

The exhibition departs from a key work from 1968, Synthesis of Traditional L-shaped Room, and ends with a new work, Mexican Dream Cabin. These two works, with nearly 50 years in between them, are monumental architectural structures in which Van Snick expresses his interest in systematic methodologies and a minimalist visual language. Between these monumental bookends, the relationship between painting, space, and viewer is explored in an extensive selection of closely interrelated works.

Philippe Van Snick’s solo exhibition is co-organized with Grazer Kunstverein (Austria), where a complementary show with his work is presented from March 12–May 22, 2016. For the occasion of his exhibitions, the artist has produced an edition of new work, available through the institutions: www.dehallenhaarlem.nl / www.grazerkunstverein.org.

Also on show: Inflected Objects # 2 Circulation – Mise en Séance
In recent exhibitions like Superficial Hygiene (2014), and Melanie Gilligan: The Common Sense, De Hallen Haarlem has investigated the relationship between art, technology and “the digital.” In the group exhibition Inflected Objects # 2 Circulation – Mise en Séance by guest curator Melanie Bühler, this subject is further scrutinized. The exhibition focuses on the circulation of art objects, and connects work from the collection of Frans Hals Museum | De Hallen Haarlem to that of four contemporary artists: Martijn Hendriks, Katja Novitskova, Vanessa Safavi and Dan Walwin. Inflected Objects #2 Circulation is financially supported by the Mondriaan Fund and the Goethe-Institut.

Also on show: Rhubarb Rhubarb. Douwe Jan Bakker – Maria Barnas
In the Collection Cabinet, Maria Barnas (1973, Netherlands) will present new work alongside a selection of works by Douwe Jan Bakker (1943–97, Netherlands). Both artists share an interest in the intersection of language and form, and try to find material alternatives for the fleeting nature of verbal utterances.

On show in the Frans Hals Museum
For I Spy With My Little Eye… An Exhibition About Looking the Frans Hals Museum is zooming in on the detail, the seemingly hidden. Amongst others art critic Wieteke van Zeil, novelist Niña Weijers and museum conservators challenge the way the visitor looks at works in the permanent collection display. Concurrently the exhibition Jan van Scorel – A Divine Discovery looks at the restoration of one of Van Scorel’s most important paintings from his Haarlem period: The Baptism of Christ. The presentation explores hitherto overlooked details and shares the discoveries the restorers made.