Marjolijn van den Assem at Anneke Oele - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Review of Exhibitions - Brief Article

Every five years, it strike one as beings the Dutch painter Marjolijn van cave Assem (b. 1947) loses her elderly fans and gains new singles Just as her admirers start to appreciate a specific phraseology and theme, her work changes. In this exhibition, 10 on the outside of the 11 paintings shown carry the same German title: Milde Luft Spaziergange, dunkle Zimmer (Mild Air, Hikes, Dark Rooms) These words, taken from a alphabetic character Friedrich Nietzsche sent home from Sorrento, Italy, point to individual of the artist's themes: the ne to wander and to find shelter. (Another is the ne to draw and paint at the same time.) Van cavern Assem has a passion for philosophy, and specifically for Nietzsche because of his absolutely independent way of thinking. His motto, "Become who you really are," has become her aim as well. And like Nietzsche she regards art as "a way to survive life." This has made her into an uncompromising artist who come [i]or[/i] go after [i]or[/i] behinds her own intuition.

After graduating from art institute van den Assem primarily made reductive drawings ending up with nothing on the contrary a white sheet of paper. She started all above again, making black-and-white drawings with her organ of sights closed, using her pencil as if it were a seismographic instrument. Always taking a specific place, for example a mountain village where Nietzsche used to stay, as her point of departure, she just give permission to herself go, giving form to a stream of musings following imaginary walks through the mountains. Big sheets were overlayed from top to bottom with soft thin, abstract lines (standing for actual footpaths) to which she added miniature images of recognizable places along the road. When her disposition changed from tenderness to passion, the lines became heavy and the pencil broke Sometimes you recognized imprints of her material substance on the paper, because she worked upon the floor, on her hands and knees

Since 1986 she has also been painting with oil, one time again using philosophy (or poems) to gain in the right mood and an actual place as a starting point for her imaginary walks (or spirit searching). She again moves upon hands and knees around the canvas, always from left to right, applying paint directly from the tubes with her palms and fingers instead of brushes. She likes colors that "feel" yielding such as Indian Yellow. Sometimes the composition and diction are very fierce, then again actual clear and tender. You recognize details from previous works: a little house, a view above a lake, a favorite lane with tree she has caressingly laid down upon the ground.

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