A new Avant-garde art movement

 

Opening remarks by Job Ubbens, art expert and CEO of auction house Christie's at the Remastered Art exihibition in Laren.

 

"Just as most capitals are inextricably linked to water, a river, the ocean, I cannot name an artist who has not been inspired by predecessors or who does not lean on the broad shoulders of art history.


It is NEWTON's third law : action is reaction. In art history, this means that one stylistic movement is a reaction to the next ; for example, in the 19th century, Romanticism is a response to the Enlightenment, Impressionism a consequence of Realism . They succeed each other and cannot actually exist without each other.

De facto there is no Present without Past.

Confucius said as much :

"He who cherishes old knowledge and constantly gathers new may be a teacher of others".

 

And author Hettie Judah claims in her recent book "How not to exclude artists mothers ( and other parents) " Every Generation rewrites the past in its own image !

 

Exactly that's happening here. Old art and antiques, a bit neglected and deprived perhaps, are given a new chance, a new life , a new breath, a new future by Swopart. They call this with a solid term Remastered Art , truly an exciting and adventurous concept.

How does it work? How does it work?

 

Arianne van der Meulen and Frederique Winterink have once again joined forces and have come up with this particular viable format. They have created a platform where past and present come together. They offer a diverse collection of older paintings, ceramics and textilia, which they then really get from everywhere, and have them reworked by leading artists such as Kika Notten, Marjolein Knottenbelt and Cees van Rutten et al.

 

For example, the painter Olav van Lede transformed a corny, traditional still life with fruit, leaving the apple as a symbol of NY and even highlighting it, into a painting with a juicy hot dog , the American delicacy par excellence .

The effect is alienating and spectacular at the same time.

 

The works exhibited here are an amalgamation of old and new masters creating a totally new and stunning contemporary work of art; creative, humorous, playful, serious and cleverly crafted and decorative.

 

And the wonderful thing about all this is that the life of the old works of art is extended in a sustainable and innovative way.

Circular economy at its best and a bit like the Mark and Clark Band sings in their 1977 super hit "Worn Down Piano: " And the piano cries out ; let me play once for you.... "

 

Remastered Art ensures that the ancient arts are reborn again. A new Renaissance awaits us. And YOU are witnessing it now.

The artistic, innovative and mostly striking works of art can be bought today at relatively affordable prices, in the price range of € 500-2000 .

 

What could be better than realizing a new perspective? You always have a choice. There is always hope.

And even for discarded art, a second life is possible.

 

The poet Joseph Brodsky already emphatically stated it: "retrieve the past and hold the present."

Swopart also gives it a thriving future.

 

Job Ubbens