Fine Art Amsterdam Trip

Vincent Van Gogh 

Van Gogh has always been one of my favorite artists and I was delighted to finally see his work in real life.I personally couldn’t wait to see the famous ‘Sunflower’ painting, as it was one of the first paintings that I was introduced to. We looked around and found how his art changed as his mental state changed and deteriorated, from his self portraits to the letters he sent to his family. I saw his young adult life when he just began drawing and painting for a living and how his artist friends influenced his art, which I could relate to somewhat from being in art school. This also reassured me that it wasn’t a bad thing to share inspiration and ideas, since it could create something as magnificent as Van Gogh’s work. I also really enjoyed his paintings while he was at the asylum, such as the gardens around it. They were seemingly his escape from his mental illness and the reality of it, which could definitely be something that I might look into.

Anne Frank House

This is the single picture I took in the Anne Frank Museum. I was blown away by her story and being where it all happened, and it was all very emotional and heartbreaking. I though that, even though she was a writer and had a very unfortunate end to her life, her life was a lot like the message I try to convey in my art. Her life is like a warning to what could very easily happen again, especially now with the rise of racism and discrimination since the US election and Brexit. I took the image above because a few faces of Anne’s family are blurred; an almost eerie reminder of how brief their presence or time together alive was, merely captured by an old camera. This photo, one of many, show how quickly things can change, which is something I’d like to do with my art work, but of course, as an obvious warning and not a heartbreaking past.

The Sex Museum 

This museum is certainly the one that has inspired me the most, as it had a mixture of the history of sexuality as well as modern symbols. Looking at the vintage photographs caught my imagination, as it shocked me how sexual and vulgar they were over a hundred years ago when I thought that pornographic material like this was a modern thing, when, actually, this material has been around for many years. I want to combine these images with the pinhole camera field project we did by using my Inside/Outside idea of women being criticised for taking images of themselves. This will be done by taking ‘vintage’ looking pictures of myself and other women, in a heavily sexualised but empowering way to convey the message that women’s bodies aren’t obscene or unnatural and women are allowed to do what they please with them, whether the want to hide or show it.

Rijksmuseum

This was the last museum I visited and by far the most beautiful visually. The museum has on display 8,000 objects of art and history, from their total collection of 1 million objects from the years 1200–2000, among which are some masterpieces by Rembrandt, Frans Hals, and Johannes Vermeer. The museum also has a small Asian collection, which is on display in the Asian pavilion. However, the area that intrigued me the most was the contemporary floor, full of strange and interesting art. My favourite piece was the sculpture of the vagina/womb, seen above because it was amusing but so very surreal. It was made by Ferdi in 1968 and is titled the ‘Wombtomb’. Ferdi wanted to create a playful and liberating ‘environment’. The sexual symbolism of her furniture sculptures literally becomes palpable when one touches the soft synthetic fur. The Wombtomb lent itself to ‘happenings’, ‘performances’ and interaction. The vulva-like opening forms the entrance to the sheltered interior. It is simultaneously a cosy tomb and a womb.This idea is as impressive as the piece itself, almost making the people who interact with it ‘re-born’. I have been thinking of creating vagina art but was always unsure of how to do it, but seeing this piece has definitely lit up my idea bulb.