On display until November 7, 2021 > A Dream of a Museum.
The exhibition ‘A Dream of a Museum’ can be seen until 7 November ’21 in the Kunstmuseum in The Hague. The interesting exhibition clearly shows how the museum was conceived and developed over a period of ± 15 years by Messrs van Gelder and architect Berlage.
In the small, but most authentic museum room, there are 18 frottages on display that I made of the museum building. In the adjacent hallway you can see the spreads of the book that I have published in a small edition in 2018.
August 2021 > Wim de Jong conducts an interview for Blog Villa Augustus
In August last I was sympathetically ‘cut through’ by Wim de Jong about my work for one morning. And in particular about the work I made for Villa Augustus in 2008. Read the interview on Villa Augustus’ blog. . . click here [in Dutch]
2021 > A Dream of a Museum, Berlage’s Masterpeace Kunstmuseum The Hague
A Dream of a Museum, Berlage’s Masterpeace Kunstmuseum The Hague, Netherlands Narratives, photographs, designs, drawings and unique archive material will be used to present a complete picture of a building which, since the day it opened, has been a favourite with visitors, artists and architects the world over. www.kunstmuseum.nl/nl/tentoonstellingen/het-gedroomde-museum
This exhibition also includes 18 [of the in total 28] small frottages that Martens made of the museum building. These are also bundled in an artist’s book. https://youtu.be/54aDaeLrtDs
2021 > BOOK WORLD TOP DESIGN IN HOUSE OF THE BOOK
BOOK WORLD TOP DESIGN IN HOUSE OF THE BOOK House of The Book The Hague, Netherlands The 31 laureates of the international competition “Best Book Design from all over the World 2020” and the 33 Dutch winning publications of “The Best Dutch Book Designs 2019”. These can be seen in combination with the special printed matter from non-commercial publishers from the Netherlands and Belgium that has been selected for “Beautiful Marginaal 2018-2019”.
https://mooimarginaal.org/portfolio/fondslijst-kunstenaarsboeken-zines-2019-20-ton-martens-den-haag
https://www.huisvanhetboek.nl/bekroond-boekontwerp
2021 > BABE 2021 at Arnolfini ARNOLFINI- Centre for Fine Print Research Bristol
BABE 2021 at Arnolfini ARNOLFINI- Centre for Fine Print Research Bristol, United Kingdom We’re delighted to bring the Bristol Artists Book Event back to Arnolfini. Due to ongoing Covid restrictions, it won’t be quite the same sort of big, crowded book fair that we’re used to but we are still able to bring you work by over 160 book artists from around the world, online. https://arnolfini.org.uk/whatson-category/babe-2021-the-lost-weekend/
Including a video by Ton Martens.
2020 > Pakje Kunst
Pakje Kunst in Huis van het boek in The Hague, Netherlands. www.pakjekunst.com/huis-van-het-boek . . .Pakje Kunst® is an initiative in which local artists are brought to the attention in their own region in an accessible way. This gives the buyer access to the art supply in the region. . .
2020 > ‘Mooi Marginaal 2018-2019’ selects among others: ‘Fondslijst’ kunstenaarsboeken & zines 2019-20 Ton Martens Den Haag
‘Fondslijst’ Kunstenaarsboeken & zines 2019 -2020
‘Fondslijst’ Kunstenaarsboeken & zines 2019 -2020. Catalog private publication by Ton Martens, The Hague. Printed on a risograph in an edition of 50 copies. See video.
The Other Book 2019
On November 29, 30 and December 1, a number of my Riso books can be seen on the reading table at Quartair, Toussaintkade 55 in The Hague.
On Sunday 1 December [from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm] I will be present at The Art Book Fair at The Gray Space in The Middle, Paviljoensgracht 20.
There I have, together with Frans Baake, a table full of books.
More information for all other activities: http://www.theotherbook.eu/about.html
and more about the fair: http://www.theotherbook.eu/other-book-fair.html
Participation in ‘Grafiek 2019’ in Pulchri Studio in The Hague
Summerbookstore in Middelburg, 7th of July till 25th of August 2019
21 juni 2019, my contribution for ‘No Todo ~ Niet Alles’
Want to see more? Click
21 June 2019 – 17:00 Kick-off No Todo ~ Niet Alles
This tiny exhibition aims at expanding a network and connecting artists by means of their ideas around translation, mailable art and affection for books in a digital world. They expand the definition of what a library, a book, a sentence and a word can be. Their works inhabit that exciting emptiness in between the lines of a text, the blank space of a page or inside a forgotten archival box.
No Todo – Niet Alles takes place in an archival box that once belonged to the legendary archive of Ulises Carrión in Amsterdam. The box reappeared from the shelves of another archive of artists’ books maintained by Johan Deumens. As a thread from a lost carpet, this box connects two archival structures: the archive of Ulises Carrión and the archive of Johan Deumens.
According to Johan Deumens, Carrión was a philosopher and essayist who finally became an artist of appearance and disappearance. His speciality was infiltration —into a certain medium— only to disappear again. In the most ideal case, he would stay invisible, as a strategic, abstract entity. His strongest points were never the lasting and tangible; his practice was more about initiating collaborations. When Carrión’s archive was dismantled in 1989, Johan Deumens secured the empty archival boxes and took them to his own archive, where he started using them to host other publications. As time passed and because the cardboard boxes were not acid free and did not meet conservation standards, they were discarded and apparently disappeared totally. That is, until one day, 30 years later, when one of these boxes turned up in a corner of the archive where even the archivist Deumens himself didn’t think it could be.
Its reappearance brought along an empty space filled with intriguing questions. If the function of an archive is conservation, why does oblivion always lurk upon every document it contains? And if the purpose of an archive is to survive time, why do archival methods become so rapidly outdated?
The exhibition takes place in the space of Carrión’s archival box, with contributions by artists that devote their practice to the contradictions inherent within every archive. It connects artists through photocopied publications, visible and invisible gestures, mailed work, objects that create letters and documents of etymological dissections. They all co-exist in the exciting emptiness of this archival box.
Since an archive doesn’t have an end or closing date and comes with a proposition towards infinity, this exhibition will continue to grow with more contributions over time by artists responding and relating to the topics and strategies that drove Ulises Carrión’s practice. In this way, the ongoing exhibition No Todo – Niet Alles shows that these strategies and ideas are very much still alive and relevant today. It acknowledges the inherent incompleteness of an archive, the various shapes a text can take, how words can be translated and the unexpected ways to inhabit the empty space of an archival box.
ARTisBOOK in Groningen
Till July the 8th > Exhibition in The Atrium, Cork City Hall: Over, Over & Over, Riso’s from The Hague
Still to see till July the 8th in The Atrium. . .
June 2017 > Participation in the FIRST EDITION and exhibition in Cork, Ireland
In last May, I was invited by Valerie Byrne, Director of Cork Printmakers, to exhibit and participate in the FIRST EDITION, a printmaking symposium, in Cork.
From 21 June to 7 July 2017, I will exhibit 39 of the 60 riso’s, from the series ‘Over & over The Hague’, which I recently exhibited in The Poster Gallery in Spui Station, in the Atrium of Cork City Hall. Entitled: Over, Over & Over.
Here is an artists’ impression of the Atrium with a cluster of 12 enlarged riso’s. It is very special to exhibit these prints, again, in a very ‘low-threshold daily environment’.
And here under the other side of the Atrium.
May 2017 > Printing on the Korrex proofing press of Museum Meermanno
I started printing 9 cards [size 12.5 x 19 cm] with different “Profiles” on the Korrex proofing press of Museum Meermanno. Here the first run in iris print.
foto: Kiki van Kooijk
foto: Kiki van Kooijk
February 2017 > The Blue Notebook
Medio February 2017 I was invited to make an artist page for the 2-yearly published magazine ‘The Blue Notebook’. A journal for artists’ books’ published by the University of the West of England in Bristol.
An impression of the studies made at the ‘Grafische Werkplaats’ in The Hague.
And the definite choise.
The text accompanying the image:
Back to his childhood: Martens’ father was a headmaster of an elementary school in a small village in The Netherlands. Every room in the house, he was brought up, had one or more bookcases. Even at the attic, where Ton had his sleeping room, were some cases, filled with all kind of books about history, biology, literature, geography, physics etc. Playing at the attic and exploring by ‘reading’ the pictures in these books was his favourite activity on rainy afternoons. While downstairs his father was smoking his pipe and was studying his books. At a young age, for Martens, ’books’ were transformed into ‘objects’ which had to be cherished.
1 January 2017 > New Years Wish
December 2016 > ‘Fondslijst’
The Beurs van Bijzondere Uitgevers in Paradiso on 11 December 2017 was the reason to make this “Fondslijst”. See more of “Fondslijst” here, in “Artist books and zines”.
October 2016 > Grafiekdoos Museum Meermanno
See Grafiekdoos for Museum Meermanno in “Printmaking”.
September 2016 > Profiles
See more “Profiles” in “Printmaking”.
August 2016 > The trait the saw of Mr. Batta
More about “The trait the saw of Mr. Batta” can be found in “Books and Zines”.
October 2016 > month of Printmaking
June 4, 2016> Day of Architecture, The Hague
The Central Informationdesk of THE DAY OF ARCHITECTURE was in the renovated former Ministry of Internal Affairs. For this day Contractor Heijmans has made available a special room. In this space Joris Wijsmuller alderman SWDC (Urban Development, Housing, Sustainability and Culture) opened the day. I was invited to make a ‘pop-up’ exhibition for this space with photo’s that portray ‘The discovery of the Carriage House Zwarteweg 81‘ in 1981. In a few days time I composed and produced this exhibition.
May 27, 2016> Exhibition: WANDERLUST – Dutch Artists’ Urge to Travel since 1850
On May 27 the exhibition WANDERLUST – Dutch Artists’ Urge to Travel since 1850 openend in De Hallen Haarlem. A very diverse and interesting exhibition that spans three floors of the building. Research and composition Antoon Erftemeijer and Renske Koster. In this exhibition some sheets, from the book The Court Journey are presented. A working journey I made with my son Michael late 1999. The exhibition will last until September 11, 2016. A beautiful catalog accompanies the exhibition.
11 April 2016 > Display case at the Museum Meermanno in The Hague.
Still be seen [and for sale!] till 29 May, during the exhibition The book inside. An attractive and interesting exhibition! During the term of this exhibition, every Sunday a printer is printing at the small printshop of the museum. With ‘cut-foam’ and wooden type I printed this booklet of 8 pages in an edition of 20 copies on a Korrex Berlin proofpress. You can see the result of this exercise in the display case at the entrance of the museum. The display is complemented with some books from my hand from the museum’s collection.
English version and shop > 20 April 2016
We proudly present two new features of the website: the option to switch between English and Dutch (click te flag of your choice in the upper right corner), and a “shop” which shows all the works that are for sale (click “Shop”) in the upper menu of the website.
With kind regards!
Marek en Ton
Printing in the attic of Meermanno Westreenianum
During the exhibition The Book Within [until 29 May] every Sunday afternoon the Korrex proof press is in use by one of the enthusiastic Sunday-printers.
On March 20 I started printing a booklet with 8 pages. On April 3, I will continue. . .
Happy New Year. . .
Invitation/poster for the exhibition ‘Over & over Den Haag’ in De Affiche Galerij > 25 March 2015
Een impression of the exhibition OVER DEN HAAG in the Affiche Galerij can be seen here.
Dr Ilse Boon Grafiekprijs 2014 > Gepubliceerd op 13 december 2014
Met een smoes word ik op 13 december j.l., waar om 17 uur de officiële opening van de Grafiek Biënnale gaat plaats vinden, naar Pulchri gelokt. Bij aankomst meteen doorgesluisd naar de bestuurskamer, waar rond de enorme tafel met kelim en een 10-tal personen zitten. het wachten is op Caroline Koenders. Als ook zij aanwezig is wordt ons medegedeeld door Dick Brongers dat Caroline & ondergetekende de Dr. Ilse Boon Grafiekprijs 2014 hebben gewonnen. De jury, bestaat uit Saskia Monshouwer [voorzitter], Bob Bonies [beeldend kunstenaar], Arno van Roosmalen [directeur Stroom], Maurits van de Laar [galeriehouder] en Siebrand Weitenberg [beeldend kunstenaar]. De keuze was lastig en de jury heeft besloten om de prijs te splitsen.
Wat betreft mijn werk zegt de jury in hun rapport o.a.:
“. . .Martens onderscheidt zich in zijn werk door de uitdagende opdracht die hij zichzelf stelt. Hij wil datgene bewaren dat gedoemd is te verdwijnen, en toont ons de esthetiek van onze achteloos gemaakte sporen. . .”
De Stichting Ilse Boon Fonds is opgericht in 1992 door mevrouw Dr Mr Ilse Boon. Het doel van deze stichting is het bevorderen van kunst en wetenschap in de meest uitgebreide zin van het woord. De stichting maakt mede de tentoonstelling mogelijk en stelt een geldbedrag voor de winnaar ter beschikking.
MPC # ? > Gepubliceerd op 27 oktober 2014 > Haagse Vogels in Riso
Wederom een MPC-avond met 12 enthousiaste deelnemers. Naar aanleiding van de tentoonstelling Vogels in het Museum Meermanno Westreenianum, waar o.a. een enorm boek wordt getoond wat in facsimile opnieuw is uitgegeven [en die wel 11 kg weegt!]. Heb ik voorgesteld om met elkaar een heel klein Haags vogelboekje te maken. Als aanzet alvast van te voren de voor- en achterkant gemaakt.
Deze avond is er hard gewerkt en in 1,5 uur ligt er dan toch maar weer een piepklein leporello-achtig boekje vol met ‘vogels’ van diverse pluimage.
Lees de reactie van conservator Paul van Capelleveen op zijn blog, of op het blog van de KB.
http://pvc-kb.blogspot.nl/2014/11/45-haagse-vogels.html
http://blog.kb.nl/haagse-vogels
Hoogtij # 34 > Gepubliceerd op 27 september 2013 > Riso Results
Grafische Werkplaats Den Haag
De Grafische Werkplaats heeft 7 kunstenaars gevraagd ‘iets’ te doen met de Risograph printers en om met de resultaten een expositie in te richten in de Grafische Werkplaats.
De deelnemende kunstenaars zijn: Dennis Koot, Erik-Jan Ligtvoet, Henning Rosenbrock, Jurjen Ravenhorst, Rowan McCuskey, Stefanie Scholte, Ton Martens
Lees vooral het blog van Bertus Pieters in Villa La Repubblica, die hier enthousiast over schrijft.
MPC #3 > Gepubliceerd op 11 jul. 2013
Op 24 Juni 2013 was er de 3e Monday Printing Club-avond op de Grafische Werkplaats in Den Haag. Vanwege de grote belangstelling van de eerste keer ging deze avond weer over de Riso printer. Van 18 tot 20 uur is er door 15 deelnemers hard gewerkt aan het betekenen, knippen en plakken van de opnamemodellen, die vervolgens meteen werden gedrukt in rood en blauw. Aansluitend: vouwen, nieten én snijden.
MPC # 1 > Gepubliceerd op 28 apr. 2013
De Monday Printing Club is een initiatief van de Grafische Werkplaats te Den Haag. Op 22 april 2013 was er een kennismaking met de Riso-printer.
12/12 > Gepubliceerd op 27 mrt. 2013
Zondag 31 maart vanaf 19:35. Elk uur een herhaling!Het project 12/12 bestaat uit een serie van 12 documentaires van 12 minuten over 12 Haagse kunstenaars. De documentaires worden vanaf zondag 13 januari uitgezonden op TV West en een groepsexposite van de 12 deelnemende kunstenaars. De kunstenaars vertellen over hun jeugd, opleiding, inspiratiebronnen, exposities, collecties en hun verbintenis met Den Haag. Het zijn monologen waardoor de toeschouwer een inteim kijkje krijgt in het leven van de kunstenaar: een bijzonder zelfportret.
12/12 is een idee van Jaap Andela, grafisch vormgever en Hagenaar. Dit idee is verder uitgewerkt door Jan van Stokkom, filmmaker en Scheveninger.
De kunstenaars die geportretteerd worden zijn Joop Polder, Yke Prins, Jozef van der Horst, Willem Moerenhout, Mieke Kettler, Peter van Loon, Rineke Kop, Theodora Plas, Jos van den Berg, Fredrick Linck, Ton Martens en Phil van de Klundert.