Early Drawings (1984) out of the Dustbin | 18 March 2019

Early drawings by Martijn Sandberg from 1984, fished out of the dustbin. A mixture of visual puns and rhymes, twisted titles and names.
The series is about art, artworks and trends in the art world of the time that have now become art history. The four early drawings may also be seen as a portrait of the artist at the age of seventeen.

‘Nada Nadja’

The ‘Nada Nadja’ drawing includes playful variations on the names of Dutch ‘art supremos’. For example Frans Haks as ‘clockface’, registering the Zeitgeist. Among other things, a guitar with no strings is visible in the figuration. A hand is portrayed with five letters apportioned over the finger tips. The image refers to the iconic title ‘Nadja’ from Surrealism. The title ‘Nadja’ is echoed in the written word ‘Nada’, which means ‘nothing’.

‘König Köln’

In the drawing the Muse is portrayed as an idol and object of desire. With two words as a ‘hint’, the drawing includes references to seeing the exhibition ‘Westkunst’ in 1981, which was assembled by ‘Art Pope’ Kasper König and took place in the Rheinhallen in the city of Cologne: ‘König Köln’ (‘King Cologne’).

‘Dokoupil ohne Stil’

The drawing shows a backlit face en profile as a self-portrait, with figuration containing the text ‘Von Hier Aus’ (‘From Here’).
The side figuration portrays a palette and a brush, a skull and an African shield. A rhyme appears on the border: ‘Dokoupil ohne Stil’ (‘Dokoupil without Style’).

‘Von Hier Aus’

The drawing ‘Von Hier Aus’ (‘From Here’) combines the image of a locomotive as a reference to the painting ‘Time Transfixed’ (1938) by René Magritte, with the title of an exhibition. The ‘Von Hier Aus’ exhibition took place in Germany in 1984.

Martijn Sandberg, 18 March 2019

Click here to see text in Dutch, as PDF.