When you first see Lenny Oosterwijk, you don't think: ha, a gallery owner. Somehow, you expect a more posh look with that. But the man who founded Galerie Untitled in Rotterdam Noord in 2011 comes from a different background.
A photographer and art director, he worked for a time at Holland's most stolen magazine. There, he got to know so many people from the creative sector that he was able to run a gallery based on that fairly alternative network alone.
In the podcast he tells how that works: setting up Rotterdam's largest gallery. He has five premises at his disposal, in an old school building behind Rotterdam's Bergweg. One of those neighbourhoods where, coming from Rotterdam North Station, you are greeted by the terrace crowd of Café 't Stoplicht (safe as long as you are not an overt 020-supporter). But also a neighbourhood that is cosmopolitan in a pleasant way, with creatives, people from all corners of the world and upmarket wine bars next to traditionally Turkish coffee houses.
Hall
During Poetry International, a wide range of poets perform at the gallery, which has set up a special room for this purpose. In any case, this is something Lenny Oosterwijk has thought up well: not only showing art, but also arranging meetings. Here, too, that network comes in handy. Not only Wilfried de Jong is a regular guest, but also Loes Luca likes to show off. And sometimes Lenny can simply turn a poet into an artist, as he did with Jerry Hormone, the punk alter ego of writer Jeroen Aalbers.
Walk with us during the podcast, and have a look for yourself. Untitled is the most approachable gallery I know.
Currently, in addition to Lenny's own extraordinarily intriguing photographic work, there are also works by Carlin Kingma. She draws absurdly detailed fantasy constructions, providing an ever-evolving commentary on the world. Her version of Breughel's Tower of Babel makes sense.
Chicks
The work of writer and musician Jerry Hormone, who was enticed by Lenny himself to take up visual art as well, ranges from violent to bizarre. A huge relief of cat drop hangs next to a display of KFC troughs filled with real chicks. And mugs with the cheerful inscription "Die. Not a hell of a lot of those have been sold yet.
Wandering through Untitled is almost museum-like. The work on display is interesting, and often with a wink. Very Rotterdam, in fact.
Good to knowDuring Poetry International 2018, Joost Baars will perform at Gelerie Untitled. Information.
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Dear William, clever that you manage to take such a quote as an insult (and even apply it to yourself). Shakespeare and The Beatles also managed to appeal to all walks of life... do you find that condescending too? Rather art understood by only a few and the Toppers for the rest? Good luck with your view of man, feel free to enjoy beautiful things (fortunately, you get to choose what appeals to you).
ai ai ai, what a statement "that a cashier at the Albert Heijn supermarket is just as fascinating as a university professor"..... if it had read "bus driver" instead of "cashier" I would have completely exploded (I have been a bus driver for 5 years and had many other jobs that, according to your worldview, are something other than professor), but what on earth kind of a human image do you have in your head if you dare to say such a thing????
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