Exhibition | Copy-Cat

Posted in exhibitions, today in light of the 18th century by Editor on June 7, 2022

Villa Welgelegen, Haarlem, following the 2009 restoration, view from Haarlemmerhout park (Wikimedia Commons, August 2009). Designed by Abraham van der Hart, the house was commissioned by Henry Hope of the banking family and constructed between 1785 and 1789.

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Now on view in Haarlem:

Copy-Cat
Paviljoen Welgelegen, Haarlem, 8 April — 24 June 2022

Curated by Hélène Bremer

De tentoonstelling Copy-Cat stelt de vraag centraal wat de grenzen van reproductie zijn en wanneer een kopie een zelfstandig kunstwerk met een eigen betekenis wordt. Geïnspireerd door dit thema selecteerde curator Hélène Bremer werk uit diverse kunstdisciplines. Er zijn foto’s, keramiek, beeldhouwkunst en design te zien allemaal geïnspireerd door de beeldhouwwerken van Paviljoen Welgelegen, zorgvuldig gemaakte 21e -eeuwse replica’s. Kopieën dus. Bezoekers kunnen werken bekijken van Laurence Aëgerter, Ellen Boersma, Nicolas Dings, Carla van de Puttelaar en een Belgisch/Franse gelegenheidscollectief bestaande uit de ontwerpers Victor Ledure, Studio Joachim-Morineau, Marina Mankarios en Adèle Vivet.

And from Bremer’s website:

“There is no such thing as a copy. Everything is a translation of something else.”*

The 18th-century building, Paviljoen Welgelegen, the seat of the King’s commissioner of the province of Noord-Holland in Haarlem, stages every three months a contemporary art exhibition under the name Dreef exposities, produced by a guest-curator. Copy-Cat presents art inspired by the classical sculpture that is part of the fabric of the house. The original 18th-century sculptures commissioned in Rome by Henry Hope from Francesco Righetti are now part of the collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. There they are prominently displayed in the central hall. In Haarlem they are not missed, though; the sculptures are replaced by bronze copies made in 2009. This theme of copying classical art has been the red threat in selecting artists for this project. However, the cycle of copying literally is broken by the participating artists. Each in their own way appropriate the classical idiom. On view are a selection of photographs, ceramics, and sculpture.

Participating artists: Laurence Aëgerter, Ellen Boersma, Nicolas Dings, Carla van de Puttelaar, and a Belgian/French design collective consisting of Victor Ledure, Studio Joachim-Morineau, Marina Mankarios, and Adèle Vivet.

* David Hockney in Spring Cannot Be Cancelled, with Martin Gayford (London: Thames & Hudson, 2020).