KRISTJAN GUDMUNDSSON, Ef/If, 1974
21 x 21 cm
SC, 4 pp., hand bound; screen print on various kinds of paper, glued, linen spine
edition 200, here 1/200
signed, numbered
only 3-5 copies have been produced
published by Silver Press, Amsterdam / Reykjavík
condition: aged, with light bend in cover, minor foxing
extremely rare
€ 3.600,- plus Track & Trace registered mail
inv.KG 1048-pr
In the seventies Kristján Gudmundsson lived with his family in a large appartement in the Daniel Stalpaertstraat in Amsterdam. He produced more than a few books and “Ef/If” was one of his hand made artist’s books published by Silver Press, founded and owned by himself in Reykjavík, Iceland.
The complete book is in screen print, also the printed text on tracing paper that introduces the concept of the book:
Ef staer∂ þessarar si∂u táknar ibúafjölda jar∂arinnar, þá tákna hringarnir ibúi Kina, Tanzaníu of Íslands.
If the size of this page represents the number of people in the world, then the circles represent the people of China, Tanzania and Iceland.
The works of Kristjan Gudmundsson invite to contemplate on his method of working related to what his art encompasses. Usually texts on his works contain either personal memories or chronological summery. In fact, in many works he attempts time by time again to capture factual data into hand sized works, like here in this thin booklet that contains the amount of inhabitants of China, Tanzania and Iceland. In the middle of the last page a tiny bright white screen printed (sic) dot of 1 mm diameter may be detected, when exposed to strong daylight.
Right from the start the production of the book caused problems. In order to keep the costs low the text was prepared for the printer through adhesive letters, hence the dancing letters on the title page. The running direction of paper was not taken into account which caused waving binding. The very thin tracing paper of the first page stuck to the screen when printed. And the most problematic part of the book was the white circular dot of less than 1 millimeter on the last page; with a magnifying glass the print had to be checked every time, and more than quite often no dot at all could be detected; again a misprint. Not being well provided with capital Kristjan Gudmundsson soon stopped the production.
A very fragile and extremely difficult book to find; in Kristján Gudmundsson’s catalogues and monographs this book is always overlooked. Therefore, by now it may be considered almost as a unique work of art. KvG
JOHN M ARMLEDER, Cercle et Carré, 1987
ca 130 x 30 x 20 cm
handmade pedestal; wood, paint, lamp, perforated metal plate, electricity wire
signed, numbered on certificate with instructions
edition 18, here 12/18
published by Galerie Anselm Dreher, Berlin, Germany
condition: excellent, although painted pedestal with original patine has minor paint chips.
€ 4.600,- plus transport costs
inv.JMA 1046-47
Sometimes an edition is loaded with information about the artist’s mindset while its appearance suggests the opposite, for a part due to its self-evidence. Such a piece is ‘Cercle et Carré’ with its geometrical forms, the aesthetics of simplicity, the functionality of formal design, the ambition of the avant-garde and humour; it is all there.
John Armleder is renowned for re-introducing abstract art in a dominating one-way art market in the early eighties of the previous century, for referring to predecessors in art history (hence the title ‘Cercle et Carré’) and for ‘making art that is comparable to making a B-film’ as he describes it. In this sense this edition is as banal as that. ‘Cercle et Carré’ has the look of a modernist Italian design, yet all three parts have been composed and put together by the artist, as if it is an installation. He put together lamp, pedestal and a piece of metal, then switched on the light. KvG
inv.JMA 1045
Furniture Sculpture 193, Caprice, 1988
Ø 25,4 cm
engraving on bowling ball Caprice by Columbia, vinyl bag
edition 24
not signed, unnumbered
comes with vintage label used in booth Art Publishers at Art Basel Edition 1992
€ 3.500,- plus € 32,- Track & Trace registered mail
inv.JMA 994-label
Furniture Sculpture 267, 1991
ca 278 x 104 x 110 cm
flexible aluminum tubes in handmade wooden box
edition 30, 3 versions
signed, numbered, dated on certificate
GALERIE VAN GELDER EDITIONS
1 tube € 5.200,- edition 10
2 tubes € 6.600,- edition 10
3 tubes € 9.800,- edition 10
When John Armleder made this multiple in 1991 he was quite attracted by the transportability of this foldable multiple. He considers this sculptural edition as an ultimate example of a multiple that is a true three dimensional work, and yet can very easily be carried around to any place on the world.
Furniture Sculpture 191, 1988
ca 48 x 38 x 12 cm
synthetic fur cat-bed
edition of 30
signed, numbered, dated
GALERIE VAN GELDER EDITIONS
€ 4.200,- plus € 32,- Track & Trace registered mail
* For preparing his first solo exhibition in The Netherlands John Armleder
asked me to drive him around to all kinds of shops and places. In the Makro
– a supermarket for shopkeepers in the outskirts of Amsterdam – he was attracted
by a large bed for pets. Amongst other things one large grey blue dog bed was
picked out by him and taken to the gallery. He noticed a huge pile of smaller dog
beds as well and the next day a GALERIE VAN GELDER EDITIONS was made.
John M Armleder: ”Arrivé dans la galerie, je sus immédiatement que j’avais commis
l’erreur de ne pas m’en être procuré une grande provision afin de faire un multiple,
mais Kees van Gelder corrigea cette bévue et nous eûmes bientôt trente petits lits
(un stock de taille: où dormiront les petits chiens de la région ?) que je m’appliquai
à signer et numéroter.”
WJM KOK, Monochrome 360º (Revaleiland), 2020
SN 68172
10,4 x 14,8 cm
offset, verso residual glue and paper, cellophane envelope, sticker
edition 81, here number 28/81
signed, dated, numbered
published by the artist
€ 35,- plus € 5,- Track & Trace NL registered mail
inv.WJM 1034_1043
During the pandemic in 2020 Dutch advertising columns were temporarily out of use for advertising. They were all around set on hold and covered with a blue colour print on paper. Wjm Kok appropriated a considerable amount of these unused so-called ‘peperbussen’ in Amsterdam by merely localising them. He took a picture of each cylindrical column, adding a title and Serial Number.
Due to weather conditions the blue posters came down partly. A colleague teared some of these parts off. When this was offered to him, he decided to cut the torn off poster parts into cards. With this less ephemeral and more concrete gesture he brought this work closer to the approach of the American appropriation artists who materialised their ideas by putting the borrowed products merely on display, although without the need for manual work. KvG
Appropriated advertising column opposite Herengracht 213, Amsterdam
JCJ VANDERHEYDEN, Zilveren Spiegel, 1991 [mirror]
38,9 x 35,9 x 3,5 cm
mirror, wood, paint
signed, date, year
series of 2 unique works
€ 6.400,- plus € 32,- Track & Trace EU registered mail
inv.JCJ 1033
JCJ Vanderheyden has produced various mirrors, most of the time on behalf of a coming exhibition. This one comes with two yellow painted glass laths, i..e one on the lower side and one on the right side. The horizontal and vertical painted laths reappear in the reflection of the mirror.
VIKTOR & ROLF, 2019
10,5 x 14,5 x 4 cm
Christmas hanger; glass, tin tag ‘HEMA – VIKTOR&ROLF’
limited edition ‘Jingle bows’
published by HEMA, Amsterdam
mint condition
Collection Thora K. Johansen, Amsterdam
inv.V&R 1023
The image below was part of the PR announcements on the website of HEMA during the November/December 2019 campaign.
LONE HAUGAARD MADSEN, untitled, 2011
12,4 x 17,5 cm
painted postcard on invite Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne (2006)
signed, dated
series of unique painting on card
published by Haubrok Edition, Berlin, Germany
€ 380,- plus € 12,- Track & Trace registered mail
inv.LHMa 978
Ref. Haubrok Edition
Lone Haugaard Madsen is a Danish artist born in 1974, lives and works in Copenhagen and Vienna.
KIMBALL GUNNAR HOLTH, Tile painting: Blue, 2020
40 x 30 cm
oil paint on solid paper
signed, dated
series of 14 unique drawings
€ 300,- plus € 18,- Track & Trace registered mail
Kimball Gunnar Holth doesn’t make anything, or it should be that he found something right before it’s finished. This drawing is what his hand found painting on paper. He left it for what it is, but still gave it a title. These works come from the series ‘Tile paintings’.