Ger van Elk

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Ger van Elk (1983)

Ger van Elk (born March 9, 1941 in Amsterdam ; † August 17, 2014 there ) was a Dutch conceptual artist , painter , photographer and sculptor . Together with Jan Dibbets and Marinus Boezem, he was one of the representatives of Arte Povera in the Netherlands.

life and work

Ger van Elk studied from 1959 to 1961 at the Instituut voor Kunstnijverheidsonderwijs in Amsterdam, from 1961 to 1963 art history at the Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles and from 1965 to 1966 at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen .

In 1961 and 1962 he co-founded the artist group Adynamische Groep ("Adynamic Group") , together with Wim T. Schippers and Bob Wesdorp . In 1967 he was a co-founder of the Internationaal Instituut voor de Herscholing van Kunstenaars (school for further training of future artists) with Jan Dibbets and Reinier Lucassen . From 1972 to 1981 he taught at Ateliers '63 in Haarlem . From 1994 to 1995 he was visiting professor at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris . He had his first solo exhibition together with Wim T. Schipper's “Adynamic Works” in 1962 at the Museum Fodor in Amsterdam. Ger van Elk was a participant in Documenta 5 in Kassel in 1972 in the Individual Mythologies : Film department and also represented as an artist at Documenta 6 (1977) in the Photography department and Documenta 7 in 1982.

He was awarded the David Roëll Prize in 1982, the JC va Lanschot Prize for sculpture in 1996 and the uvre Prize for the visual arts in 2004.

As a conceptual artist, Ger van Elk turned painting on its head and broke with artistic traditions. His entire work was characterized by the fact that he consistently pleaded for contemplation , concentration , calm and intimacy .

In the 1970s he created series of photographs such as “The symmetry of diplomacy” (1972 to 1973, where he depicted all the people depicted: diplomats himself) or “The missing persons” (1975/1976). The photo series were also post-processed painterly by him.

Literature and Sources

  • Exhibition catalog Broken Landscapes. Ger Dekkers, Jan Dibbets, Ger van Elk, Jaap van den Ende , Situation Kunst (for Max Imdahl), Bochum 2014, ISBN 978-3-941778-08-5
  • Exhibition catalog: documenta 5. Survey of Reality - Imagery Today ; Catalog (as a file folder) Volume 1: (Material); Volume 2: (list of exhibits); Kassel 1972
  • documenta archive (ed.); Resubmission d5 - A survey of the archive on documenta 1972 ; Kassel / Ostfildern 2001, ISBN 3-7757-1121-X
  • Catalog for documenta 6: Volume 1: Painting, sculpture / environment, performance; Volume 2: photography, film, video; Volume 3: Hand drawings, utopian design, books; Kassel 1977 ISBN 3-920453-00-X
  • Catalog: documenta 7 Kassel ; Vol. 1: (visual biographies of the artists); Vol. 2: (Current works of the artists); Kassel 1982 ISBN 3-920453-02-6

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Elk, Ger van
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Van Elk, Ger
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch conceptual artist, painter and sculptor
DATE OF BIRTH March 9, 1941
PLACE OF BIRTH Amsterdam , Netherlands
DATE OF DEATH 17th August 2014
Place of death Amsterdam , Netherlands