Page 43 - 1968 ... 2013 Soft Living Room

The Hague and in the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam. On bition takes place at the museum at the same time, adding
pictures of this last happening, Kusama is shown in the an extra dimension to the current 60s-hall, that of old
Polka Dot Love Room covering the naked Jan Schoonhoven acquaintances reunited. During the exhibition an article
with black dots. A board member of the Birds Club, is published which raises a point of discussion that, from
Frits Becht, is also the founder of the marketing agency then on, is often to re-emerge. It concerns the typification
Intomart, which gives an impression of the blending of of textile works as ‘applied’ art. The writer of this article,
advertising and visual arts worlds at the time. signed with a ‘V’, does not agree with this classification.
He concludes that in contemporary art, and in particular
Maria assists her mother-in-law, Anni Apol, for a short in this exhibition, many examples of experimental shape
time with the composition and embroidery of tapestries. and material choices can be seen, of which he includes
She also makes textile collages, as she calls them. These tapestry. And therein many insignificant things can be
she had begun making when at the academy in Gron- seen. However, he adds, that is also the case in the liberal
ingen. The fabrics were sourced from Ani. Artificial fur, arts. He concludes: ‘Bound, applied, functional or free,
for example, is loved in fashion at the time. An early work that is not what determines the value of the work itself’.
from 1962-63, now in the collection of the RKD (Dutch The pejorative use of ‘applied art’ in reference to textile art,
Institute for the History of Art) is Landscape I. Her textile and also ceramics, persists. A few years later, Maria van Elk
collages are made using applique. Onto a foundation she is to enter into discussion on the subject with the Director
sews pieces of cloth, often self-printed with bright colours of the Stedelijk Museum, Edy de Wilde, in the Museum
or finished with silver and gold threads. In some pieces, Journal.
colours are set alongside each other or applied using a
marble technique she learnt at the Academy in Groningen. In the spring of 1968 (through to April 21 ) she exhibits
st
textile collages and drawings at gallery Punt Vier in
Gradually, exhibitions follow. She holds a show at the Schiedam, owned by Cees van der Geer, of which a
Mangelgang in Winsum, for example, together with selection are later donated to the Municipal Museum of
Pieter Holstein, Jan Dibbets, her brother, Ger van Elk, Schiedam. Later that year she shows with Jan Schoonhoven
and Jacques van der Heyden, in August 1966. Coosje and Gust Romijn in gallery Pribaut in Amsterdam
van Bruggen writes about her work: ‘Her tapestries are (October 5-25 , 1968). The name Pribaut is a combination
th
of a weighed refinement. She always starts from a warm, of the name of the gallery’s founder, advertising agency
smooth foundation, against which fabric in subtle shades is Prad, and Prad’s then new address, the Wibautstraat. The
used to build an ingenious composition. By using materials ground floor was furnished as an exhibition space where
diverse in structure she creates a relief effect. This effect is Paul Mertz would go on to host a series of important exhi-
amplified by the use, here and there, of tulle stencilled over bitions over the years with the assistance of Deborah Wolf.
the fabric. Her composition is not static; she avoids sharp This gallery serves as another example of the interconnec-
contours and does not accentuate shapes with stitch-work, tion between advertising and visual arts at the time.
but deprives them of their severity by playing over the
edges with zigzag stitching.’ In particular, she mentions Soft Living Room
Sweet Little Dreams: ‘Blissful that bright green, pink
‘orange’. A tapestry that illuminates the dark hall with a Prior to this exhibition, the show ‘Works in Textile’
glowing light.’ (25.5.68-21.7.68) takes place in the Meat and Fish Halls in
Haarlem. According to the catalogue, seven works of Maria
In 1967 she participates in the show ‘Atelier 5’ (24.11.67- are shown, four of which are textile collages, including
7.1.68) at the Stedelijk Museum with a number of textile Mama Look No Hands and The One Exists Because of the
collages such as Pink Clouds, that is featured in newspaper Other, both now in the collection of the Stedelijk Museum
articles, and with Pillows, a freestanding sculpture of textile Amsterdam, in addition to two textile-plastic sculptures,
and plastic which gives an early indication of the spatial of which Pillows had already been shown at the Stedelijk
dimensions her work is soon to take. A Lichtenstein exhi- Museum. Pillows can be viewed as the predecessor of the

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