Project 2.0/Gallery
'Artist of the year' Casper Faassen creates work with dancers NDT
DATE
06 August 2020
TEXT
Annerieke Simeone
IMAGE
Helena Migic
'The Night Watch' inspired him to start drawing at the age of eight. Now Casper Faassen's oeuvre spans painting, photography, film, graphics and sculpture. The Leiden native will soon be seen in The Hague's Project 2.0/Gallery, which features dancers from the Nederlands Dans Theater, among others.
Tunderday 10.00 am, Marktsteeg 10, Leiden. Visual artist Casper Faassen (1975) steps off his motorbike apologetically. "Sorry I'm late, scheduling was a bit off for a while," he says. "Hello neighbour," he greets the carpenter from Museum De Lakenhal who is at work opposite his premises. "Come, let's go inside." In the large, industrial space, Faassen walks to the back. "Coffee, cappuccino?"
Project 2.0/Gallery
Against the walls are some of his latest works which he is exhibiting from 17 September in Project 2.0/Gallery at Noordeinde in The Hague. The title of the exhibition, 'Les Marées' ('the tides'), refers to a major theme within his work: the tension between the disappearing and the appearing, the visible and the invisible.
Top dancers Marne van Opstal and Chloé Albaret (known from Nederlands Dans Theater) search for beauty in isolation, fear, hope and freedom in the film 'Hover through the fog and filthy air'.
Dancers from Nederlands Dans Theater and Het Nationale Ballet were photographed behind semi-transparent material, creating a dreamy image, as if you were looking in against a fogged-up window. Get closer and you see craquelé, in this case golden cracks.
Kintsugi
It is a reference to Japanese kintsugi: the art of gluing shards with gold. "To show the scars instead of hiding them," he says. Asked if more artists make such work, Faassen modestly says: "I haven't seen it before."
'When the lockdown was lifted, I thought: no, I'm not ready. I was effortlessly in my own bubble: creative and focused'
Meanwhile, he sits at the black work table, where two light objects by Hague designer Rik ten Velden hang. He explains that before the Covid-19 outbreak, the ground floor of Marktsteeg 10 served as a "cultural event space". "Every so often we had concerts, exhibitions and private dinners here. But now there is nothing for a while and actually I like that." Next: "When the lockdown was lifted, I thought: no, I'm not ready yet. I was effortlessly in my own bubble: creative and focused."
Casper Faassen at work in the Pieterskerk church in Leiden.
The artist, who can live off his work from his first exhibition, has arranged the upper floors as painting and photography space. With a cappuccino in hand, we walk up the stairs to the first floor. Colourful kimonos hang from clothes racks. Next to them in the corner are small collections of shells, coral, pots, vases and dried flowers. "Things that impress, I want to incorporate into my imagery," Faassen clarifies.
Rembrandt van Rijn
And so it was with 'The Night Watch' by his fellow townsman Rembrandt van Rijn. As an eight-year-old boy, Casper Faassen visited the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam with his parents. There, he became so impressed by the militia painting that, once he returned home, he copied his full-width version on the wallpaper of his boyhood bedroom. "Whenever my parents, both teachers, saw that I liked something, they encouraged me in it. My father built me a drawing table in the attic. With the condition that I showed dedication. I did have a bit of concentration problems as a child."
'I was driving around in a suit and driving a leased car in a job I couldn't do at all. For the clients I could keep up appearances nicely'
They liked their son's new hobby, but being good at drawing did not necessarily mean a future in art. No, then you became an architect or a graphic designer. Faassen eventually became a consultant at Creative Marketing Group (CMG). "I thought: that creative thing, I'll keep doing that alongside it. Meanwhile, I was walking around in a suit and driving a leased car in a job I couldn't do at all. For the clients, I was able to keep up appearances nicely."
In the evenings, he painted or wrote a business plan. In 2001, he dared to take the plunge. "I had no family yet, no mortgage, so had little to lose," he says. Faassen met someone who had just started a gallery in Leiden.
'I hung out between Corneille and Herman Brood'
"That gallery had it right business-wise with an approachable loan. I hung between Corneille and Herman Brood. A young Leiden artist among established names. It also suited my work, at the time I was still working with spray cans." He makes a swaying motion with his arm. "Of those thick outlines on paper. It was nice that even then, in a still investigative phase, I could make a living from my work."
Breakthrough
Today, his oeuvre is more versatile, covering not only painting, but also photography, film, graphics and sculptures. This year, he was due to shine at fairs in Hong Kong, Milan, Paris and Basel. "There were beautiful international projects planned, but corona unfortunately cut through that. I must admit that recognition for work was always a thing for me. In my younger years, I allowed myself to be photographed in James Dean-like poses, playing the artist while the work did not yet substantiate that. Again, that bravado did help me to be seen. When I look back at those photos, I do think: oh man, shut the fuck up. First work, then show. Content comes with age, shall we say."
The combination of global isolation and 75 years of freedom gave rise to the film 'Hover through the fog and filthy air', which he will show at Project 2.0 in mid-September. In it, we see top dancers Marne van Opstal and Chloé Albaret (known from Nederlands Dans Theater) searching for beauty in isolation, fear, hope and freedom.
Dancers
"The dancers go through different stages. First there is resignation, actually quite nice this silence around us, then panic sets in: help, we can't get out. And then comes the 'reset', wanting to touch again, help each other up, rediscover. In other words, how do we go on?"
Casper Faassen
The film was shot in the Pieterskerk church in Leiden, where the triptych 'The Last Judgement' by visual artist Lucas van Leyden hung for three hundred years before finding a place in Museum De Lakenhal. Casper Faassen also gives the viewer a warning in the film: the earth is nearing its limit, it is 'judgement day'.
Casper Faassen, 'Les Marées', Project 2.0/Gallery, Noordeinde 57. On view from Thursday 17 September.
More information: www.project20.nl and www.casperfaassen.com
text Annerieke Simeone / image Helena Migic
'The Night Watch' inspired him to start drawing at the age of eight. Now Casper Faassen's oeuvre spans painting, photography, film, graphics and sculpture. The Leiden native will soon be seen in The Hague's Project 2.0/Gallery, which features dancers from the Nederlands Dans Theater, among others.
Tunderday 10.00 am, Marktsteeg 10, Leiden. Visual artist Casper Faassen (1975) steps off his motorbike apologetically. "Sorry I'm late, scheduling was a bit off for a while," he says. "Hello neighbour," he greets the carpenter from Museum De Lakenhal who is at work opposite his premises. "Come, let's go inside." In the large, industrial space, Faassen walks to the back. "Coffee, cappuccino?"
Project 2.0/Gallery
Against the walls are some of his latest works which he is exhibiting from 17 September in Project 2.0/Gallery at Noordeinde in The Hague. The title of the exhibition, 'Les Marées' ('the tides'), refers to a major theme within his work: the tension between the disappearing and the appearing, the visible and the invisible.
Top dancers Marne van Opstal and Chloé Albaret (known from Nederlands Dans Theater) search for beauty in isolation, fear, hope and freedom in the film 'Hover through the fog and filthy air'.
Dancers from Nederlands Dans Theater and Het Nationale Ballet were photographed behind semi-transparent material, creating a dreamy image, as if you were looking in against a fogged-up window. Get closer and you see craquelé, in this case golden cracks.
Kintsugi
It is a reference to Japanese kintsugi: the art of gluing shards with gold. "To show the scars instead of hiding them," he says. Asked if more artists make such work, Faassen modestly says: "I haven't seen it before."
'When the lockdown was lifted, I thought: no, I'm not ready. I was effortlessly in my own bubble: creative and focused'
Meanwhile, he sits at the black work table, where two light objects by Hague designer Rik ten Velden hang. He explains that before the Covid-19 outbreak, the ground floor of Marktsteeg 10 served as a "cultural event space". "Every so often we had concerts, exhibitions and private dinners here. But now there is nothing for a while and actually I like that." Next: "When the lockdown was lifted, I thought: no, I'm not ready yet. I was effortlessly in my own bubble: creative and focused."
Casper Faassen at work in the Pieterskerk church in Leiden.
The artist, who can live off his work from his first exhibition, has arranged the upper floors as painting and photography space. With a cappuccino in hand, we walk up the stairs to the first floor. Colourful kimonos hang from clothes racks. Next to them in the corner are small collections of shells, coral, pots, vases and dried flowers. "Things that impress, I want to incorporate into my imagery," Faassen clarifies.
Rembrandt van Rijn
And so it was with 'The Night Watch' by his fellow townsman Rembrandt van Rijn. As an eight-year-old boy, Casper Faassen visited the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam with his parents. There, he became so impressed by the militia painting that, once he returned home, he copied his full-width version on the wallpaper of his boyhood bedroom. "Whenever my parents, both teachers, saw that I liked something, they encouraged me in it. My father built me a drawing table in the attic. With the condition that I showed dedication. I did have a bit of concentration problems as a child."
'I was driving around in a suit and driving a leased car in a job I couldn't do at all. For the clients I could keep up appearances nicely'
They liked their son's new hobby, but being good at drawing did not necessarily mean a future in art. No, then you became an architect or a graphic designer. Faassen eventually became a consultant at Creative Marketing Group (CMG). "I thought: that creative thing, I'll keep doing that alongside it. Meanwhile, I was walking around in a suit and driving a leased car in a job I couldn't do at all. For the clients, I was able to keep up appearances nicely."
In the evenings, he painted or wrote a business plan. In 2001, he dared to take the plunge. "I had no family yet, no mortgage, so had little to lose," he says. Faassen met someone who had just started a gallery in Leiden.
'I hung out between Corneille and Herman Brood'
"That gallery had it right business-wise with an approachable loan. I hung between Corneille and Herman Brood. A young Leiden artist among established names. It also suited my work, at the time I was still working with spray cans." He makes a swaying motion with his arm. "Of those thick outlines on paper. It was nice that even then, in a still investigative phase, I could make a living from my work."
Breakthrough
Today, his oeuvre is more versatile, covering not only painting, but also photography, film, graphics and sculptures. This year, he was due to shine at fairs in Hong Kong, Milan, Paris and Basel. "There were beautiful international projects planned, but corona unfortunately cut through that. I must admit that recognition for work was always a thing for me. In my younger years, I allowed myself to be photographed in James Dean-like poses, playing the artist while the work did not yet substantiate that. Again, that bravado did help me to be seen. When I look back at those photos, I do think: oh man, shut the fuck up. First work, then show. Content comes with age, shall we say."
The combination of global isolation and 75 years of freedom gave rise to the film 'Hover through the fog and filthy air', which he will show at Project 2.0 in mid-September. In it, we see top dancers Marne van Opstal and Chloé Albaret (known from Nederlands Dans Theater) searching for beauty in isolation, fear, hope and freedom.
Dancers
"The dancers go through different stages. First there is resignation, actually quite nice this silence around us, then panic sets in: help, we can't get out. And then comes the 'reset', wanting to touch again, help each other up, rediscover. In other words, how do we go on?"
Casper Faassen
The film was shot in the Pieterskerk church in Leiden, where the triptych 'The Last Judgement' by visual artist Lucas van Leyden hung for three hundred years before finding a place in Museum De Lakenhal. Casper Faassen also gives the viewer a warning in the film: the earth is nearing its limit, it is 'judgement day'.
Casper Faassen, 'Les Marées', Project 2.0/Gallery, Noordeinde 57. On view from Thursday 17 September.
More information: www.project20.nl and www.casperfaassen.com
