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Vincent van Gogh finally joins artist group

In this Van Gogh year, the painter has become part of a real group, an artist community, something he never managed to do during his lifetime. With the exhibition 'When I Give Myself, I give Myself' the Van Gogh Museum connects 23 contemporary artists to the lonely Van Gogh, who had hardly any friends during his lifetime and sold only one painting. The artists make the connection through Vincent's letters rather than his work. Leading figures such as Anish Kapoor, Jan Fabre and Job Koelewijn can thus give their own vision of Van Gogh, which for once is not about the sunflowers or the world-famous drawbridge, but about the doubts, dreams and ambitions the painter wrote down in his letters.

These thanks to the Van Gogh Museum, with support from the BankGiro Lottery created virtual artist community that Van Gogh never had in real life, produces exciting interactions. Posthumous conversations with the legendary artist, performed in images Van Gogh himself could never have dreamed of.

Thus Job Koelewijn perhaps not the most obvious artist when you think of Van Gogh. Could they have been friends? Both loved books and struggled(d) with their Protestant backgrounds. According to Vincent, a painter was not obliged to paint alone: he also had to immerse himself in life. Job Koelewijn's work consists of a bookcase on which, among other things, Van Gogh's collected letters lie. On top of each book is a stack of cassette tapes. Every day, Job Koelewijn reads aloud from this for 45 minutes, and records it. 'The word becomes flesh,' as Koelewijn himself puts it, 'or actually a cassette tape.'

Job Koelewijn - Relief 6 Jan 2012 to 27 Nov 2014 - 200x140x25cm Books and cassette tapes
Job Koelewijn - Relief 6 Jan 2012 to 27 Nov 2014 - 200x140x25cm Books and cassette tapes
Job Koelewijn - Relief 6 Jan 2012 to 27 Nov 2014 - 200x140x25cm Books and cassette tapes (detail)
Job Koelewijn - Relief 6 Jan 2012 to 27 Nov 2014 - 200x140x25cm Books and cassette tapes (detail)

At Jan Fabre see the other side of Van Gogh's faith: death. Vincent embraced the beauty of life in his paintings, but at the same time he was aware of mortality. He painted so much for a reason.

Jan Fabre - Skull with paint brush (Beef & Synthetic hair & Squirrel - Goat) - Painting from jewel beetle, polymer, wood and animal hair or synthetic hair
Jan Fabre - Skull with paint brush (Beef & Synthetic hair & Squirrel - Goat) - Painting from jewel beetle, polymer, wood and animal hair or synthetic hair

Van Gogh also knew that, above all, he had to paint a lot. After all, not all works could be equally good; some had to fail. He tried things out and took risks. 'Sometimes something comes out of the blue that is beyond your own capabilities,' also says Michael Borremans On his own work. 'That is an important factor for me in the creation of paintings.'

Michael Borremans - The Invader - 42x53cm Oil on canvas
Michael Borremans - The Invader - 42x53cm Oil on canvas

Navid Nuur tries to paint away the myth of Van Gogh by adopting typical Van Gogh brushstrokes in a dark green colour, from which the image has disappeared altogether. So is it a work by Van Gogh or by Navid Nuur?

Navid Nuur - I wish they would only take me the way I am - 210x170cm Oil on canvas
Navid Nuur - I wish they would only take me the way I am - 210x170cm Oil on canvas

Below is a selection from some other responses:

Anish Kapoor - Monochrome (Grey) 98x90x47cm Resin and paint
Anish Kapoor - Monochrome (Grey) 98x90x47cm Resin and paint
Christian Jankowski - Neue Malerei (Van GoghII) - Oil on canvas
Christian Jankowski - Neue Malerei (Van GoghII) - Oil on canvas
Constant Dullaart - Hennifer in Pradise, CS6 Filter series (Halftone Circle) - 80x120cm Archival lenticular prints
Constant Dullaart - Jennifer in Pradise, CS6 Filter series (Halftone Circle) - 80x120cm Archival lenticular prints
Eylem Aladogan - Whatever the Mind Believes - 40x50cm Coloured pencil and marker on paper
Eylem Aladogan - Whatever the Mind Believes - 40x50cm Coloured pencil and marker on paper
Gabriel Lester - Shell Creators - 70x110cm, 5.34minutes Video
Gabriel Lester - Shell Creators - 70x110cm, 5.34minutes Video
Maria Barnas - A Brief History of Fame - Sports awards, polyurethane lacquer and epoxy resin
Maria Barnas - A Brief History of Fame - Sports awards, polyurethane lacquer and epoxy resin
Rory Pilgrim - Radical! Radical! - 60cm diameter Coloured glass
Rory Pilgrim - Radical! Radical! - 60cm diameter Coloured glass
Ryan Gander - Set Out Your Stall - 218x170cm 135 losing scratch cards with space for the winning cards on which cash prizes have fallen
Ryan Gander - Set Out Your Stall - 218x170cm 135 losing scratch cards with space for the winning cards on which cash prizes have fallen
Simon van Til - Untitled - 10x13cm Silver gelatine print on barite paper (detail)
Simon van Til - Untitled - 10x13cm Silver gelatine print on barite paper (detail)
Wouter Venema - One to One - 300x400cm Colour pencil on wall
Wouter Venema - One to One - 300x400cm Colour pencil on wall
Wouter Venema - One to One - 300x400cm Colour pencil on wall (detail)
Wouter Venema - One to One - 300x400cm Colour pencil on wall (detail)

Van Gogh's influence may not be immediately apparent with all 23 artists, but it is understandable after some interpretation. When I Give Myself, I Give Myself shows that his style encompasses more than just those brightly coloured smudges of oil paint on canvas. Vincent's dream of his own artist community is probably not what he expected, but his work will continue to inspire future generations. And that can lead to sometimes surprising results.

The exhibition When I Give Myself, I Give Myself can still be visited at the Vincent Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam until 17 January 2016.

Niek Hendrix

Niek Hendrix is a contemporary visual artist and writer/founder of the web magazine Lost Painters. He is also regularly asked as curator, guest lecturer, speaker on art and is one of the co-founders of the art initiative Park in Tilburg.View Author posts

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