DWARS door de collectie

Name: DWARS door de collectie
Start: 2025-06-14T00:00:00+02:00
End: 2025-06-14T23:59:59+02:00
Location: DWARS door de collectie

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CROSSING through the collection

Museum van Bommel van Dam is home to the most important collection of modern and contemporary art in the North Limburg region. Some artworks regularly emerge from the depot, while others are rarely (or never) seen. DWARS door de collectie (CROSSING through the collection) is making a long-held wish come true: the museum now has a permanent place where its diverse collection will be accessible to a new generation of visitors in the years ahead. This series of collection presentations will pave the way for surprising dialogues and new perspectives. The works exhibited will consist of acquisitions and donations: ranging from public favourites to works that have been ignored for far too long. And from internationally-renowned artists to artists who are making an important mark on art in the region.

The first exhibition in the series (for part of which entry is free) includes work by artists like Bram Bogart, Corrie de Boer, Edgar Fernhout, Lotti van der Gaag, Jan Schoonhoven, Aline Thomassen, Esther Tielemans and Marthe Wéry.

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A new perspective on a diverse and unique collection

In 1969, Amsterdam couple Maarten and Reina van Bommel-van Dam donated more than 1,100 works of art to the municipality of Venlo. They became the basis for museum van Bommel van Dam, which opened its doors two years later and relocated to the city's fully-renovated former post office in 2021. The museum has spent more than 50 years expanding its initial collection to include acquisitions and donations from other collectors. Well-represented sub-areas like CoBrA, the Zero Movement and Abstract Expressionism have been joined by important regional artists and personal favourites.

The museum is now sharing its diverse and unique collection in a number of changing collection presentations, each of which will last about a year and a half. By adding new accents, unearthing hidden stories and bringing artworks together in a surprising dialogue, visitors will discover the contrasts and interconnections that are inherent to the collection. The first exhibition in the series will focus on the connection and tension between figurative and abstract art. Featuring more than 40 works, it spans a century of art history.

Mouvement Perpetuel

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New acquisitions

To give visitors a taste of its changing collection presentations, museum van Bommel van Dam will also start to exhibit a selection of new acquisitions in the building's public space from mid-June onwards. These works by both well-known artists and emerging talents will be free to view. Some were acquired as part of the Van Bommel Van Dam Prize (VBVD Prize), a biennial incentive prize for budding artists. Supporting young talent was a lifelong goal of collectors and museum founders Maarten and Reina van Bommel-van Dam and is still a priority for the museum to this very day. The new acquisitions include works by artists like VBVD Prize nominee Sander van Deurzen (Venlo, 1975) and Donja Nasseri (Düsseldorf, 1990), who won the prize in 2023.

Zelfportret

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De Bovenkamer

The collection presentations and other exhibitions will showcase finished paintings, sculptures and other creations. But what goes on inside an artist's head when creating a work of art? In De Bovenkamer (an artist’s studio that visitors can enter free of charge in the attic at museum van Bommel van Dam), children and teenagers are introduced to the creative process of artists. They discover how inspiration works and create their own inspiration booklets from hundreds of images of works in the museum’s collection: it’s the start of a creative journey of discovery. Artists Yasser Ballemans (Breda, 1981), Sigrid Calon (Den Bosch, 1969) and Pavèl van Houten (Bergen op Zoom, 1984) were inspired by the artists who came before them too and show visitors to the attic studio how this translated into three new artworks.