BIKKEL thanks Ruthie Tucker, Executive Director-Curator, and her assistents, for the wonderful Gala Champagne Opening Reception at 10 September 6.00 - 8.00 pm. Amsterdam Whitney Gallery, 511 West 25th Street, Chelsea, New York, NY 10001.

September 8 - October 6, 2009 Exhibition at Amsterdam Whitney Gallery. www.AmsterdamWhitneyGallery.com

Two dear friends travel with Bikkel and Andries to New York from Holland: Ronald en Jully.

 

Important collectors attended as well, including prominentjudges, lawyers, doctors, Wall Street moguls, a French Prince, a French Marque and a Russian Baroness.

Ruthie

Bikkel meets so many lovely persons at the Gala Opening.

 

Ruthie Tucker, Executive Director-Curator, of the Amsterdam Whitney Gallery, write about the art of BIKKEL:

“ " There is no reason not to consider the world as one gigantic painting." Robert Rauschenberg once said. Contemporary artist Bikkel mythologizes the everyday in sweeping brushstrokes and exuberant hues. Working in oil on linen, Bikkel playfully re-interprets nautical scenes, injecting them with legendary figures and a spiritual significance. Combining figuration and abstraction, Bikkel's work provides an aesthetically unique viewpoint on contemporary life and its effect on the natural world.

 

A modern tug boat seems to float through an imaginary dimension, suspended in a chimerical sea as Poseidon comments the activity of the scene. Bikkel masterfully employs a drip technique and multi-coloured, shimmering washes to imbue the image with an aquatic sensation. Diaphanous paint application adds to the dream-like effect. However, inky, black forms often drift into the scene, creating a sense of tension and foreboding. A recurring pattern dominates the background, its composition reminiscent of fish scales and fish nets, obligating the viewer to consider the duelling forces of man and nature and the destructive influence of pollution and over-fishing. The monumental figure of Poseidon seems to defiantly struggle against the dark changes which overtake the sea but finds himself powerless to stop them.

 

Bikkel has exhibited throughout Europe, the United States and beyond, including at the Curacao Museum, in the Shanghai Art Fair in China, and in the 2007 Biennale Internazionale dell'Arte Contemporanea in Italy. She is nominated for the 2009 Climate Prize Vlaardingen in the Netherlands.  Amsterdam Whitney Gallery is pleased to represent Bikkel in New York City.”