Jaap van den Ende, Ger Dekkers, Jan Dibbets and Ger van Elk | Broken Landscapes

By Silke von Berswordt-Wallrabe, Thorsten Schneider, Anna M. Storm, Beate Reifenscheid, Gesine Emmerich, Ronja Friedrichs, Maria Schulte and Annette Urban

The extreme artificiality of the Dutch polder landscape is the starting point for the work of Ger Dekkers, Jan Dibbets, Ger van Elk and Jaap van den Ende. From 1965 onwards, the artists explored the representation and design of this landscape in various ways. In doing so, they seek new ways of representing it. Fragmented panoramas, geometric structures and striking details offer a new view of familiar surroundings. Historical landscape painting from the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries largely defines the image of the Dutch landscape in the visual arts. But these peaceful, open landscapes with lots of light, grazing cows and working people no longer exist. The Dutch landscape now looks different: cultivated and parcelled out for economic efficiency. Broken Landscapes challenges an art historical tradition by using photography, film and painting to add new perspectives.

Language: Dutch/German

© 2014 Ger Dekkers, Jan Dibbets, Ger van Elk, Jaap van den Ende; Stiftung Situation Kunst, Bochmum and authors