Exhibition ‘Not In So Many Words’
at the Kröller-Müller Museum
from the 1st of February to the 10th of May 2020
‘Not In So Many Words’ brings together a wide variety of works from the collection of the Kröller-Müller Museum, in which words, letters, sentences and text fragments play a prominent role. The exhibition shows the versatile application of language and text by artists in a light-hearted manner.
Selection of forty works of art
The exhibition features about forty works by artists such as Robert Barry, Marcel Broodthaers, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Jenny Holzer, Joseph Kosuth, Bruce Nauman, Marc Ruygrok and herman de vries. The work presented is highly diverse, from word puzzles and poems to philosophical contemplations and political commentary. From text subtly incorporated into collages to incisive social statements. A wide range of art forms is included in the exhibition: films, installations, sculptures, neon art, works on paper and paintings, but also performances.
New work by contemporary artists
At the invitation of the Kröller-Müller Museum, Guido de Boer, Niels Post and Fillip Studios (Roos Meerman & Tom Kortbeek) each create a new work in which letters, text and language play the leading role.
For ‘Not In So Many Words’, Guido de Boer has created the calligraphic mural ‘Reading Looking’. In this painted work he asks himself and the observer the question: “Do we read or look at a textual work of art?” De Boer regards the use of text in art as a direct form of communication. He also believes not only in reading and looking, but also in experiencing a text.
I'd like to thank Jannet de Goede (Head of Presentation) and Renske Cohen Tervaert (Curator) for the selection, trust and great collaboration.
- Guido de Boer
The ArtEZ Studium Generale program (Structures of Language) devoted a podcast about the exhibition 'Not in So Many Words'. In it, Fillip Studios (Tom Kortbeek & Roos Meerman) and Guido de Boer spoke about their work specially made for the exhibition. The podcast, and additional images and information, can be found here.
