“Shall I omit that kitchen altogether?” Pietsjanke Fokkema critically examines her painting in the making. On the right in the picture you can see an already well-developed kitchen. ‘I am satisfied with the layout, but there are actually too many small things in that kitchen.’ She has to decide quickly. She only has a few hours left to finish her work. Fokkema participates in the art project In a Pig’s Whisper in the Haarlem Vishal, for which she has to create a new work of art within one day. For the past few weeks, two new artists have been working every day in the former covered market hall from 1769, which today serves as an exhibition space.
Artist Chantal Breukers, who conceived and initiated the project with fellow artists Noor van der Brugge and Beth Namenwirth, explains: ‘In a pig’s whisper means ‘in no time’. This project is a kind of ‘cadavre exquis’ as invented by the surrealists, a poem written by several poets.’ The first poet invents one line of poetry, the second responds with a new line and folds the paper in such a way that the first line becomes invisible, and so on.
In front of In a Pig’s Whisper Thirty diverse painters and draftsmen were asked to respond to the work of the artists of the previous day. They only get to see the work of their predecessor, all previously created works of art are shielded. Breakers: ‘In a Pig’s Whisper also resembles the game in which children whisper a word or sentence to each other, and in the end something comes out completely different from what it started with.’
Two huge strips of white canvas are stretched on the long sides of the centuries-old market hall, which become filled with drawings and paintings during the project. The initiators, all three of whom also participate as artists, came up with a few extra rules for an adventurous work process: (1) work is done on a fixed size of 150 by 120 centimeters and (2) everyone must send a photo at 5 p.m. to his or her successor, so that he or she can prepare somewhat. Some artists arrive after a sleepless night with folders full of sketches, and they work frantically from early in the morning until late at night.
Recognizable jacket
She made the painting by Fokkema in response to pastor Casper Warmoeskerken. He made a painting of a black boy in a large down jacket, with a pink street lamp and electricity poles in the background. Although the boy is somewhat hidden under his cap and hood, his piercing gaze seems to follow the visitor everywhere in the Vishal.
In Fokkema’s work we see a large kitchen diner, in which the pink street lamp returns in the form of pink room lamps. In the foreground are two chairs with messy draped clothes. The jacket of the boy from Warmoeskerken’s work can be recognized on the right seat.
Such interplay with, in this case, color (pink), lines (the vertical lanterns) and thematic elements (such as the coat) creates an exciting image rhyme between the works. This in turn invites visitors to a new game: searching for similarities and fantasizing about the artists’ choices.
Fokkema explains that the kitchen diner in her painting represents her own kitchen diner. ‘And that dark man from Warmoeskerken, he came to my house and took off all his clothes.’ She points to the clothes in the left seat: “Just like me. It’s a seduction scene, see?’ She smiles. ‘I call this work: One Day/Night Stand.’
Beautiful pig
How do you start a whisper game? Chantal Breukers found the painting Farmer with pig (1644) by Adriaen van Ostade as a starting point. ‘By luck: he is a Haarlem hero’, says Breukers, ‘and he also painted such a beautiful pig.’
The last of In a Pig’s Whisper is Hamid el Kanbouhi. On Friday, August 19, he will paint the two strips of canvas that have grown together in one extra large thesis. Breukers: ‘He always works big, quickly and with flair; he may string the chain together. Or better yet: he makes the lock of the chain.’
On Saturday, the end result of the Haarlem whisper game will be revealed and the individual works of art (which will be cut loose in two weeks after the exhibition) will be sold. In the Vishal, visitors can see how impressively quickly and handsomely large new work is taking shape. And how that sometimes disappears very quickly. There is no trace of Fokkema’s kitchen ten minutes after her doubts.
Unveiling and sale
In a Pig’s Whisper in the Vishal in Haarlem resulted in thirty works of art, from young talents (Kiana Girigorie, Donglai Meng) to well-known names (Andrea Freckmann, Rosemin Hendriks, Henk Visch, Dick Tuinder). The works will be unveiled and sold on 20/8 (prices between 400 and 4,000 euros). The result can be seen until 4/9.