ART FIX

Could you tell the process of your education in the world of art and how your vocation for this dimension of culture arose?

From a very young age my father took me to galleries, museums and artist studio’s. These visits always felt like true adventures. After high school, I studied Art History and got my master’s degree at the University in Leiden. I followed a Post War and Contemporary Art course at Sotheby’s Educational Centre in London. That’s where the teachers took us around the London Art Scene and we experienced the rise of the Young British Artists like Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin, first hand.

After completing my studies I became a curator for the Caldic Collection and had my own artadvising company. After years of curating, art-advising and touring art enthusiasts, I realized the power of storytelling in art. It has the power to bring the art works to life. This was my prime motivation to start Art Fix, the online storytelling platform that makes contemporary art accessible.

Making contemporary art accessible and exciting to all” is one of ART FIX’ mottos. How does your e-learning platform work? Is it a traditional online education system or something more? When you join Art Fix, you become part of the Art Fix community. We provide online learning about contemporary art anywhere at any time, allowing you to enjoy every episode at any moment and place that suits your lifestyle. Because it’s 100% online, you can learn at your own pace in a safe space. Art Fix is accessible without weary art-snobbism. We’re here to democratise the way contemporary art is understood, discussed, and experienced. Our 30-minute thematic episodes include interviews and artist deepdives. We’ve released exciting episodes with subjects varying from street art to sculpture, new media to Black female artists, light art and self portraits. For those wanting a little more than just the episodes itself, we also offer several Stories, which invite you further into the secrets behind the art. These Stories take on various forms: they could be of the IRL kind, tiplists packed with our top must-see art destinations, from Amsterdam to LA from Paris to Beijing. Photo 5 So in that sense it’s untraditional, because we offer so much more than just the e-learning platform itself: the Art Fix community, even Pod-casts.

The Voorlinden Museum is a contemporary art center of great beauty of painting and sculpture. What were its origins and how is the collection structured? What are the present and future projects? The origin of Voorlinden is the Caldic Collection. My father is the founder of this collection and of the Voorlinden museum. I am very proud to be on the board of the museum.

The collection is diverse and ranges from modern to contemporary art with subcollections for sculptures, self-portraits and Zero art.

The right wing of the museum Voorlinden always shows its own collection. Only 50 to 60 works change regularly so there is always something new for the visitor to explore. Right now Voorlinden has an exhibition of Robin Rhode. This retrospective celebrates the artist’ artistic journey from 2000 to the present day. Whether it’s a photo, video, sculpture or performance, each of his works can be traced back to the act of drawing. For Robin, a wall functions as his canvas, on which his temporary interventions depict imaginary worlds. In the Fall of 2021 Voorlinden will present an impressive exhibition of Picasso and Giacometti and I really look forward to the spring of 2022 when the solo show by British sculptor Antony Gormley will open. Photo 8 I am a huge fan and it will be the largest exhibition Voorlinden has ever done. Not only in the museum but also on the premises of the estate you will be able to enjoy the sculptures of this famous British artist.

In your opinion, what are the most relevant streams that currently exist in contemporary European art? Art that acts as a tool for social consciousness and change, such as Black art where artists have used their work and platforms to humanize and protest the Black experience. Nature and Land Art is another example as it has inspired many artists during and after the upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. I also predict IRL immersive experiences in contemporary art such as in New media art and performances will be on the rise.

Two years ago you founded Art Fix, a digital project for the education and teaching of contemporary art that is having great success. Which are its next projects and activities? We have just launched Art Fix Collect! It is our newest product up to date. Where our members can purchase limited edition prints created exclusively for Art Fix of the artists featured in our episodes. We came up with this idea as it became very clear to us that many of our members not only want to learn about art, but they want to collect it as well. So, we thought that there was no better way to exercise new learnings about an artist than to bring the actual works of those artists to our Art Fixers.

Another project that is in the works is a series of live events for our Art Fix members. As covid restrictions are lifted and we’re (finally) getting back to normal, we’re really looking forward to meeting with our Fixers to continue to enjoy art and learn the stories behind each work together IRL! How has art been affected in the pandemic? How do you think you have contributed to overcoming it? The art world has been affected in many different ways as a result of the pandemic. While many artists, art fairs, museums and galleries experienced loss from sales and cancelled openings, artists had the opportunity to focus on creating new work and some even reinvented themselves… I’m really excited about all the exciting works that have been produced during these turbulent times.

I think that this period also impacted the way in which art is viewed and experienced as we only had the opportunity to enjoy art virtually during the pandemic. The silver lining is that artists, galleries and museums focused on strengthening their online presence, which was long overdue! Is technology a threat to art or will it be the best option for survival in the future?

Rather than seeing it as a threat, I see technology as a tool to open up a whole new world of artistic possibilities. The collision between art and technology can not only enhance a visitor’s experience but it can also free art from the confines of a gallery, reaching an entirely new audience. We live in a digital world, and the only way to reach new generations will be through technology, so my answer would be the latter – I think that it is indeed the best option for survival in the future.