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Amsterdam has always been a city I love. Its historical center, an intricate network of canals lined with stunning 17th-century brick-built townhouses of restrained and minimal interiors, appeals to my sense of aesthetics. Rich in history, the city allows me to indulge in many of my passions. A visit to the Rijksmuseum to see their fine collection of Rembrandts, Van Dycks and Frans Hals, to name but a few, is always a must, while exploring the numerous antique shops that scatter the city has always provided many a bargain.
As much as Amsterdam celebrates its history, it is nonetheless a city that looks clearly to the future.
My reason for visiting Amsterdam this time is to see the unveiling of Stedelijk BASE, a new exhibition concept developed by AMO / Rem Koolhaas and Federico Martelli for this leading contemporary art and design museum.
In 2012, the Stedelijk opened a new extension designed by Dutch architects Bentham Crouwel, which was immediately referred to as "the tub" because of its close visual similarity to a molded bathtub. After just a few years, the museum decided to amp up the wing, giving new purpose to what was once primarily a bookshop, café, and temporary exhibition space.
Rem Koolhaas was a natural choice for the project. He has been visiting the Stedelijk since he was 12 years old and refers to it as his university, crediting it for shaping his sense of aesthetics. For its reinvention, Koolhaas and Martelli developed a concept that at once references the history of Dutch art and looks to its future.
As Koolhaas points out over lunch at the museum, since painting has continually increased in value over the years, there is a notion of how it needs to be displayed. Uninspired plaster walls have become the most ubiquitous material in museum interiors. Koolhaas wants to undo this tradition, making a display that is less polite and less politically correct. Particularly inspired by the 1963 exhibition of Francis Bacon at Stedelijk, he was drawn to the temporary-looking structures supporting some of Bacon's finest works. Convinced that he wanted ultra-thin walls for his installation (even if they could have an art fair connotation), the architect called upon Tata Steel Nederland to collaborate in making the supports he envisaged.
One hundred and eighty tons of steel were used in the creation of the exhibition walls. Because of this extreme weight, Koolhaas's concept could only be installed on the lower ground floor of the building. Incorporating innovative techniques allowed for no visible bolts. Precision laser cutting formed a jigsawlike base which gave required stability. Combining gray sandblasted steel with elements of white traditional walls made for a more suitable surface for displaying paintings. The layout of the walls creates an urban-feeling landscape, with plazas, squares, and roads through which visitors are able to choose their own routes, as adventurous as circulation through any city.
As impressive as the walls alone may be, they are completely transformed once the collection is displayed upon them. Koolhaas and Martelli collaborated with Margriet Schavemaker of the Stedelijk Museum for the selection and presentation of the works. Combining together fine art, sculpture, product design, graphics, photography, textiles, and jewelry was a first for the museum. "Stedelijk BASE is our way of making the collection relevant today, in the 21st century," explained Schavemaker. "The presentation is crammed with surprising connections and associations."
Picasso's 1956 Nude in Front of a Garden is displayed alongside Hans Gugelot and Dieter Rams's audio system "Snow White's Coffin" from the same year. Mark Rothko's powerful Untitled (Umber Blue, Umber Brown) sits next to Willem de Kooning's North Atlantic Light (untitled xviii). De Kooning's typically aggressive paint handling juxtaposes superbly against Rothko's restrained canvas. Elsewhere, masterpieces by artists such as Piet Mondrian, Kasimir Malevich, Charley Toorop, Gerrit Rietveld, Cindy Sherman, Jeff Koons, and Marlene Dumas are highlighted. The perimeter walls of the gallery offer a chronological overview of developments in art and design from 1880 to 1980 and provide a way for visitors to reorient themselves.
Stedelijk BASE is divided between two spaces: Post-1980 is located on the first floor and accessed via a moving escalator. Between the two floors, on the mezzanine, visitors enter an immersive artwork by Barbara Kruger. Bold and graphic, it is a powerful, challenging work, realized at the Stedelijk for the third time.
All told, the concept is a fresh, accessible way to discover art and design from 1880 to the present. Engaging and unorthodox, the display epitomizes the Stedelijk's tradition of bold, experimental presentations. The design and curation of the exhibition are intelligent and thought-provoking, yet not discriminative; it'll appeal to millennial Instagrammers and intellectuals alike. From my own perspective, it is how I want a museum to be. On leaving the Stedelijk, I find myself in the museum quarter of Amsterdam. The Rijksmuseum looms in front of me, and as tempting as it is, today the Dutch Old Master will have to wait. I feel fully satisfied from my time at Stedelijk.
