Napkin, 2009 © Hendrik Kerstens / Courtesy Witzenhausen Gallery Amsterdam/New YorkFrom June 10 through September 13, the
Museum of the City of New York and
Foam_Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam present
Dutch Seen: New York Rediscovered. Guest curated by Kathy Ryan, Photo Editor of
The New York Times Magazine, the exhibition is part of the
Henry Hudson 400 celebrations and features the work of contemporary Dutch photographers.
A picture being worth a thousand words, the exhibition tells a multifaceted story of NYC in well-crafted sentences. According to the press release the participating Dutch photographers paint a portrait of what New York City is today through ‘their considered gaze’: ‘The rich diversity, energy, tolerance, and commerce the Dutch brought with them to the first settlements, along with the stunning landscape that originally attracted the Dutch to the region 400 years ago still define New York City today and will be clearly visible in the photographs on display. The concept of the exhibition is created around the theme "portrait of the city’" The exhibition will consist of portraiture, landscapes, still lives, conceptual photographs, and documentary photography. It will be modern work, firmly rooted within the Dutch tradition.’
A fine example of such a modern considered gaze filtered through tradition is the work of Hendrik Kerstens, whose daughter Paola has been his muse and sole sitter throughout his career. His large formal portraits combine a highly recognisable Dutchness (the use of costume and painterly lighting has ‘Old Master’ written all over it) with clever contemporary wit. More portraiture is to be found in the work of the renowned
Rineke Dijkstra, who exhibits 3 large portraits from her series depicting bathers at Coney Island and Long Island in New York. Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin made portraits of well-known New Yorkers and celebrities, many of which have appeared in
The New York Times Magazine such as the Vreeland Brothers and Lou Reed.
Papaya Dog, 42nd Street & 9th Avenue, 2009 © Wijnanda Deroo / Courtesy the Robert Mann Gallery, New YorkBut it’s not all about striking a pose. There’s also ample room for the (pseudo-) incidental. Wijnanda Deroo reflects on New York’s diversity with photos of interiors of restaurants, coffee shops, snack bars, and eateries in East Harlem, Chinatown, and other city neighborhoods, while Jaap Scheeren sits on the fence of the staged and the incidental with his playful photographs of situations and encounters that, according to the press release, ‘the 17th century explorers may have found, staged within modern-day New York City.’ Which is a fitting description of his pole-dancing beaver on East 3rd Street.
East 3rd Street, 2009 © Jaap Scheeren
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