Category: Nieuws

The Cobra Museum of Modern Art in Amstelveen celebrates 75 years of Cobra (1948-1951) with an extensive programme in 2023 featuring many international loans. The museum’s programming is based on the ideas of the Cobra movement and focuses on experimentation, free thinking and polyphony.

This autumn, we are showing Cosmogony as a prelude to the jubilee year.

Cosmogony
Zinsou – an African Art Collection
Exhibition
7 October 2022 – 8 January 2023 

For the first time, the Zinsou Collection will be shown in the Netherlands. With a selection of over 130 works of art (sculptures, photographs, paintings and installations), the first floor of the museum will be full of exhilarating art by 37 artists of different generations from the African continent and France. The museum follows the example of a number of Cobra artists in their fascination with African art. 

This exhibition is a prelude to our celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Cobra art movement (1948 – 1951). The Cobra Museum of Modern Art in Amstelveen programmes on the basis of the ideas of the Cobra movement and is devoted to experimentation, free thinking and diversity.

The anniversary year of Cobra 75 kicks off with a triptych of Danish modern art. The Danish artists who founded Cobra in 1948 had a great influence on the much younger Dutch and Belgian Cobra members. Developments in Danish modern art from the 1930s and 1940s take centre stage with themes such as sexual freedom, politics, provocation, experimentation and spontaneity. These developments would later have such a profound influence on Cobra. This is the first large survey outside Denmark that presents around 100 masterpieces by more than 25 artists. 

Je est un autre
Ernest Mancoba & Sonja Ferlov
Exhibition
27 January – 14 May 2023 

A presentation on the artist couple Sonja Ferlov (Denmark) and Ernest Mancoba (South Africa) complements this retrospective. Both were involved in founding the Cobra movement in Denmark. Their interracial relationship was unique at the time. They each had their own international artistic practice. In 2019, Centre Pompidou presented two major retrospectives of their oeuvre; a selection will be exhibited in Amstelveen. 

Becoming Ovartaci
Exhibition
27 January – 14 May 2023 

Ovartaci’s intriguing work forms the final part of the Danish triptych. Ovartaci – born Louis Marcussen – spent most of her life in a psychiatric hospital. Transformation is the central theme in her life and work. The exhibition of paintings, drawings and sculptures is an ode to the imagination and inspiration of this Danish artist who died in 1985 at the age of 91. 

Freedom without Borders
From Appel to Picasso
Exhibition
2 June – 8 October 2023 

In 2023, the Cobra Museum in Amstelveen will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the international Cobra movement (1948 – 1951) by bringing together the work of Appel, Constant, Corneille and Jorn with that of Picasso, Beckmann, Basquiat, Munch and contemporary artists such as Jonathan Meese and Cecily Brown. 

It shows the universal character of Cobra and its close kinship with the free, expressive working methods of artists throughout the years. With around 150 paintings, sculptures, works on paper, photographs and ceramics, the public is invited to compare the work of a large number of Cobra artists and find connections with related earlier, contemporaneous or later artists.   

The Other Picasso
Back to the Origin
Exhibition
2 June – 17 September 2023 

The year 2023 also marks the 50th anniversary of the death of one of the most famous artists of the 20th century and this will be widely commemorated in France and Spain. The Cobra Museum is also dedicating a special exhibition to Picasso. In his career, Picasso always returned to his childhood and his cultural background, in which dance and theatre played a major role. Moreover, he was a source of inspiration for many Cobra artists. “Every child is an artist” is one of his most famous statements. This careful selection of drawings, ceramics and etchings shows the hand of the master who was never afraid to experiment. 

Anton Corbijn
MOØDe
Exhibition
20 October 2023 – 28 January 2024 

In MOØDe, photographer and filmmaker Anton Corbijn presents photographs from his extensive oeuvre in which he explores the crossover between photography and the world of fashion – in the broadest sense of the word. The exhibition, previously on show in Belgium, contains around 200 photographs, including the now iconic portraits Corbijn made of Kate Moss, Tom Waits, Alexander McQueen and Naomi Campbell.  

Special thanks to
The anniversary programme Cobra 75 was made possible by our partners and generous donors. We would particularly like to thank the City of Amstelveen, VriendenLoterij, Trebbe, BPD, Rabobank and the Cobra Business Club.  

During the livestream we will talk about a number of themes in the exhibition by means of expert guest speakers.

Host Myriam Sahraoui of DutchCulture and Stefan van Raay, director of the Cobra Museum, will receive, among others, writer and guest curator Abdelkader Benali, ambassador for International Cultural Cooperation Dewi van de Weerd, writer Khalid Mourigh, Mehdi Qotbi, director of the Fondation Nationale des Musées du Maroc and artist, and museum director Abdelaziz El Idrissi of the Museum Mohammed VI of modern and contemporary art in Rabat.

You will also get a glimpse of Moroccan cuisine, our activity programme and the show will be complemented by atmospheric music!

Because of the Ramadan, the soft opening of the exhibition will take place from April 14 from 19:30 – 20:30 with an inspiring online talk show.
During a table conversation, host Myriam Sahraoui of DutchCulture, author and guest curator Abdelkader Benali and Stefan van Raay, director of the Cobra Museum, will discuss the origin of modern and contemporary Moroccan art.

We are proud to have at the table, among others, ambassador for International Cultural Cooperation Dewi van de Weerd, author Khalid Mourigh, Mehdi Qotbi director of the Fondation Nationale des Musées du Maroc, as well as artist, and museum director Abdelaziz El Idrissi of the Museum Mohammed VI of modern and contemporary art in Rabat, who will join in on the conversation.

Some of the themes in the exhibition will be referred to, such as ‘The Years of Lead’; Who owns the body?; Border crossers and New stories, old characters.

SIGN UP HERE FOR THE ONLINE TALKSHOW

Sign up now for the online livestream The Other Story: Moroccan Modernism, which is on show now in the Cobra Museum of Modern Art in Amstelveen.

Feminism, (queer) identities, and gender in contemporary art

On Friday, 17 september 2021, the museum invited contemporary artists, thinkers and activists for a panel discussion about their art and social engagement. During the symposium, the role of women in contemporary art practice is discussed, as well as the question whether art can still be art or is it only about social engagement? With moderator Cathelijne Blok and panelists Aynouk Tan, Naomie Pieter, AiRich and Frida Kahlo, co-founder of the Guerilla Girls, who was presenting online.

This spring, the Cobra Museum of Modern Art is pleased to present Korda: Cuba, Che, Glamour, a major retrospective exhibition that celebrates the masterful work of the renowned Cuban photographer Alberto Díaz Gutiérrez, commonly known as Korda. The exhibition is made possible with the courtesy of Terra Esplêndida and The Estate of Alberto Korda, which is run by his daughter Diana Diaz, and is curated by Cuban art critic and curator Cristina Vives.

Read the full article about Korda that has been published in Cobra Magazine #5 here.

In the exhibition Constant 101: The Future Can Be Humance, 40 works by Constant are shown together with new works by Antonio José Guzamn and a new installation by Antonis Pittas. The exhibition is part of the year-long programme Constant 101, in which young and contemporary makers, thinkers and partners from all over the Netherlands respond to Constant’s work and ideas with new work and projects.

Director of Fondation Constant, Kim van der Horst, spoke with Zippora Elders; curator-at-large, artists Antonis Pittas and Antonio José Guzman about the recently opened exhibition at the Cobra Museum.

You can read the full interview here.

Clandestine – Photography collection by Pedro Slim
15 October 2021 to 27 March 2022
Exhibition

The Cobra Museum of Modern Art in Amstelveen brings together some 100 black-and-white photographs by roughly 60 famous photographers in the exhibition Clandestine. The theme of all the works is the human body, and they are part of the collection of photographer and collector Pedro Slim (Beirut, Lebanon, 1950). This is the first time that this collection is being shown in the Netherlands. The photographs show an explicit love for the (naked) human body in all its manifestations: woman and man, perfect and imperfect, elegant, erotic or vulnerable.

The exhibition is curated by guest curator Sylvia Navarrete Bouzard (former director of Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City, 1961). The exhibition presents original and contemporary prints (including silver on gelatine, photogravure), collages and photomontages by artists such as George Hoyningen-Huene, Horst P. Horst, George Platt Lynes, George Dureau, Robert Mapplethorpe, Diane Arbus, Graciela Iturbide, Antonio Garduño, Pierre Molinier, Allen Frame, Larry Clark, Peter Hujar, Amos Badertscher, Man Ray and Arlene Gottfried.

Ode
The uncompromising self-expression of the people in the photos from Pedro Slim’s collection is especially relevant today. His photos are an ode to diversity in terms of sexuality, gender and beauty. With this exhibition, the Cobra Museum hopes to contribute to the discussion on stereotypes and prejudices surrounding these themes, striving for a future with more equality and diversity.

The unlimited body
The visitor is introduced to the collection through three themes. The first part presents a variety of views on the beauty of the human body. The photographers believe that beauty primarily lies in personal expression. The artists seek to go beyond prevailing standards and ideals of beauty, and make a plea to cherish the body in all its manifestations.

Life in the margins
The photographs within the second theme show people living on the fringes of society. Many of the photographs are somewhere between art, documentary and an intimate diary, and many of the scenes captured are scenes of everyday life. The artists show how bodily experiences can also be a political tool: their photos proudly assert autonomy over the body.

Arlene Gottfried
Pedro Slim is the most important collector of the work of Arlene Gottfried (1950-2017). Gottfried specialised in the genre known as street photography, recording life in the less well-to-do neighbourhoods of her hometown New York. This collection is the third theme in the exhibition. Her photographs show the spontaneous connections that arise from the love or camaraderie between two people, the serendipity of everyday situations at the beach or on the streets, and from those fleeting moments brimming with amusement, humour and emotion.

About the collector
Mexican photographer and collector Pedro Slim comes from a Lebanese-Mexican family, and was born in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1950. He studied architecture and photography in Mexico and New York. Since the early 1990s, he has had solo and group exhibitions in museums and galleries in Paris, Houston, Barcelona and Beirut. His relative Carlos Slim is known as an international telecommunications entrepreneur. But Pedro Slim’s collection was built independently from his family, and is the result of his passion and interest in photography. The last exhibition of Pedro Slims’ collection was at the Museo de Arte Moderno in Mexico City in 2017. In 2018, he curated the Festival Internacional por la Diversidad Sexual in Mexico City.

About the museum
The Cobra Museum focuses on the art and ideas of the Cobra movement. Cobra is part of the canon of art history, but the ‘spirit’ of Cobra is still very much alive. An alternative culture, based on international solidarity and creativity, is perhaps more relevant than ever in the world we live in today. The Cobra Museum therefore actively links the collection and history of Cobra to contemporary artists, modern art movements and current affairs.

The official opening took place in the presence of the Ambassador of Mexico, Mr. José Antonio Zabalgoitia and the Mayor of Amstelveen Tjapko Poppens. Guests visited  the exhibition and enjoyed Mexican music and dance.

De tentoonstelling Frida Kahlo & Diego Rivera: A Love Revolution trok in de eerste week al ruim 2.000 bezoekers. De unieke Gelman Collection of Mexican Modern Art is voor het eerst in Nederland te zien en bevat maar liefst 23 werken van de hand van Frida Kahlo, waaronder enkele van haar beroemde zelfportretten.

The Mayor of Amstelveen Tjapko Poppens was delighted to finally get together physically and celebrate culture:

“After a long COVID-19 lockdown, finally, restrictions in the Netherlands are being eased and our society is opening up step by step. It has been a tough year for cultural institutions. Cultural activities almost came to a halt. Empty museums, empty theatres, and for such a long time. It has been a tough year for artists, not being able to perform, to exhibit, to bloom. And although the cultural sector developed all kind of online alternatives, it doesn’t replace ‘live’ interaction.

So the 5th of June, the day that cultural institutions could physically open their doors again, was a happy day for many of us. I learned that on Saturday, the first day The Cobra Museum opened its doors again, they received 500 visitors and on Sunday 600. People missed you.

Last year showed us that culture is of great value to society. It encourages people to connect, to discover new worlds, to enrich themselves. It brings hope and inspiration in times of sorrow and discomfort. But, also economically, culture is of great value. It makes a city more appealing, not only to residents but also to visitors and tourist from abroad. The Cobra Museum is part of the Visit Amstelveen programme, our city marketing platform that highlights the rich diversity of our city.

Hopefully, the pandemic made us more aware of the value of culture to society. Hopefully, it will be more appreciated.”

The ambassador of Mexico took the attendees to the Mexico of the last century:

“Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera: a Love Revolution” cannot be fully understood if we do not place it within its time and circumstance. Those times were profoundly defined by a social revolution of enormous scope. During those first six decades of the nineteen hundreds, Mexico defined its vision of social justice and focused on its aspirations to build a modern and inclusive society. It is during that period that Mexico consolidates its national unity and upholds it with massive health and education policies; with the construction of an extensive transportation network; with the launching of industrial development; and by embarking on an urbanization process that produced a middle class and transformed the country.”

And emphasised the influence of Frida Kahlo on contemporary society:

“By concentrating on the works by Frida Kahlo and going beyond the clichés that have made her “the most famous female Mexican artist”, we can also attain a different perspective. We should move beyond her suffering, her handicapped condition and resilience, transcend the actions that tore down barriers and opened new social spaces for women, in order to explore some less obvious and more interesting elements of her work.

Frida continues to inspire us today with her free spirit, enormous strength and overwhelming passion, but also marvels us with her relationship to nature, with her approach towards gender, or with her ability to integrate knowledge and sensations from the past into the present and the future.”