Friendships can come about anywhere people meet. Also in the art world. Maartje Jaquet from the Netherlands and Rinaldo Klas from Suriname first met each other ten years ago, on the premises of the Nola Hatterman Art Academy in Paramaribo, Suriname, where Klas was the director at that time. They have kept in touch ever since that day and they even exhibited together on a small scale, in galleries in the Netherlands.
Work by Rinaldo Klas. clockwise from left to right: ‘Mama sloth and child’, acrylics on canvas, 60x60cm; ‘Mystic man with frogs’, acrylics on canvas, 60x60cm & ‘Circle of life’, acrylics on canvas, 60x60cm / PHOTOS Courtesy Readytex Art Gallery
In 2018 Klas started preparations for a new exhibition. This time, it would not be a solo exhibition, because he didn’t think that would be very exciting. What he wanted most, was a collaboration with two friends and colleagues from other countries. Due to circumstances however, Moritz Ebinger, a Swiss colleague who has been living in the Netherlands for a long time, was no longer able to participate. It then became a duo exhibition with Maartje Jaquet: Bezielde lijnen, Inspired lines, in Readytex Art Gallery (RAG). “Lines are created even before you put them on paper, and just a fraction of them actually ever reach the paper”, says Klas. Both artists display their affinity for lines in their own ways. Klas primarily makes figures that are in harmony with nature. He also creates monoprints. Maartje made a series of portraits and drawings of various people in public spaces. Especially for this exhibition, she also drew people at the Waterkant in Paramaribo. At the opening of the exhibition she announces that she will be available to make sketches of 4 people on each of the two following open evenings.
Maartje Jaquet makes a portrait of a visitor of the gallery / PHOTOS Courtesy Readytex Art Gallery
Klas and Jaquet also created a joint painting for the exhibition. They painted ‘Vuur’ [Fire] to show the beauty as well as the danger that is associated with fire. Maartje Jaquet: “We created the work ‘Vuur’ entirely together. Rinaldo started with the first layer: fire. The idea for the lianas came from me. We both painted fire, lianas and leaves. The remarkable thing is that you can’t tell which flame, liana or leaf is whose.” Rinaldo: “There are so much beautiful things that you can do with fire, but if you are not careful with it, you can cause damage to your environment. That is true all over the world.”
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TEXT Rose-Marie Maître
Rose-Marie Maître is a freelance writer and likes to visit art and culture events. In the past ten years, she has primarily produced news items for television, newspapers, websites and also radio. She also writes poems and now also creative texts for Sranan Art Exposed.
TRANSLATION Cassandra Gummels- Relyveld
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What: Bezielde lijnen, Inspired lines. A duo-exhibition by Rinaldo Klas and Maartje Jaquet
What: Bezielde lijnen. A duo exhibition of visual artists Rinaldo Klas and Maartje Jaquet
When: Thursday, October 03, 2019, 19:00-21:00 hrs. The exhibition is open from October 04 until November 02, 2019. Opening hours: Monday thru Friday, 08:00-16:30 hrs and on Saturday, 08:30-13:30 hrs. Also open in the evenings on Friday the 04th and Saturday the 05th of October, Friday the 25th and Saturday the 26th of October and Friday the 01st and Saturday the 02nd of November from 19:00-21:00 hrs.
Where: Readytex Art Gallery (RAG) (also on Facebook), Steenbakkerijstraat 30, Paramaribo, Suriname
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My Lifestyle and Readytex Art Gallery (RAG): interview with visual artist Rinaldo Klas: