Page 124 - The 70s - ABC of the material

page 34 have a photograph (but you can see this also on
Light on Material
Maria van Elk chose as subject for two drawings
that are shown on the exhibition the analysis of
a specific property of the pencil: the variation
in the hardness of them. She made visible
the property of the material graphite as we
know it in the form of a pencil, by the following
actions. In the Drawing 6B she drew with a
very “soft” pencil a straight vertical line on a
sheet of white paper. Over it she rubbed in a
horizontal direction from left to right with a white
greasy pastel. The two contrasting actions and
materials appeared to influence each other
to a great extent. The straight, vertical, black
pencil line lost part of its blackness and its line
– ness; the white greasy chalk took with it the
blackness in horizontal direction without being
able to erase completely the vertical image. In
the Drawing 3H, 3B, 6H, 6B she used the same
principle but different types of hard and soft
pencil in one drawing. This way the different
degrees of hard – and softness get a visual
form.
Jetteke Bolten, 1979
page 39
Letter to Coosje
Dear Coosje,
quick now for I have to leave for school (AKI).
Hereby 6 photographs of which I have
duplicates.
Of each series only three are photographed (lack
of money).
The degree of hardness comes after the lines
under and over areas of chalk.
That carrying of graphite by the chalk and
at the same time the standing still of the line
originates from a drawing of which I do not
120
photograph no 3 in the middle area) a line drawn
with soft pencil which I covered from bottom to
top with a layer of oil pastel and in the direction
of the middle the oil pastel gets thinner and the
line comes into focus.
In the area in between you get the peculiar
moving along of the graphite.
Of these ideas/observations I made several
drawings of which I will try to make slides and
which I will send you.
Salute Maria
Maria van Elk, October 25th, 1979
page 41
Choises in watching
Finsterwolde: Galery Waalkens, Hoofdweg 39,
MARIA VAN ELK
Even among sheep in the meadow, far away
from swinging Amsterdam, it is possible to
have a gallery with an international reputation.
Heyboer, Dekkers, Struycken, Oppenheim
and Jan Dibbets …. many artists who are now
well known did have an exposition in this long
erstwhile stable. This is already the second
time for Maria van Elk.
It is difficult to say whether, what is nailed to
the walls here, are paintings or linen objects.
The clothe has the character of a plastic
object: first a sharp fold was made, thereafter
it was blackened over this fold with crayons,
then Maria cut a large triangle from the cloth
and unfolded the fold. The outside, now with
a little angle, became a “shaped canvas” with
a little piece of untouched cloth on it. This four
step process can in all openness be verified
from her work: no pretence, no mysticism and
still the result looks surprising. It looks like a
projectile has split a plane in two parts. The
same principle is varied a few times.