The Artistic Beacon: Radar Architecture and Art
In 2008, the distinctively creative mind of architect and music enthusiast Marco di Piaggi, breathed life into Radar. This unique gallery is deeply interconnected with the metropolitan heart of Amsterdam, mirroring its spirit in every exhibited piece. Di Piaggi's fervor for the unconventional and innovative has turned Radar into a cerebrum of the avant-garde art scene. His affinity for the city's hush-hush music circles doubles as a radar, alerting him and his audience to the compelling art trends brewing beneath Amsterdam's surface. One noteworthy display of such trend-chasing is when the city's graffiti savant, Laser 3.14, a character both revered and scorned by locals, unveiled his eloquent spray-painted verses and pulsating, dystopian artworks at Radar's snug, yet ironic headquarters, stationed on a quintessentially gabled Amsterdam ground floor house.
Maintaining its commitment to showcasing provocative and timely art exhibits, Radar astounded visitors with its Street | Spirit exposition. This thought-provoking exhibit juxtaposed Nisja’s eerily tranquil cityscapes with Marcel Ozymantra's gargantuan, frenzied artwork. The serene and tumultuous pieces curated for this exhibition offered visitors a captivating exploration of art's diverse emotional range.
Located at Rozengracht 77A, the gallery is also known for its community service as an accessible cultural hub with free admission. It opens its doors to the public every Friday and Saturday from 1 PM to 5 PM, and arranges visits during the rest of the week by appointment. You can find more information about the place and their ongoing activities on the Radar website.
Aschenbach & Hofland
Amsterdam, known for its cultural richness, hosts a myriad of independent galleries, with this specific gallery standing out amongst them. Initially starting off as a squat in the 80s, it has since become a renowned establishment in the city under Gerhard Hofland's discerning leadership. Hofland has a keen eye for fresh talent and mid-career artists, showcased in the works of Jochen Mühlenbrink, who presents an incredible illusion of artwork backsides, filled with faux sticky tape, stapled edges, and packing notes.Beyond this, the gallery has taken a leap into more esoteric exhibitions with a densely packed "Alice in Wonderland" styled setup. Integrating vibrant canvases and urban tribal sculptures from the works of Simon Hemmer, Lutz Driessen, and Seb Koberstädt, the gallery offers a truly diverse spectacle. It also celebrates the unique abstract commentary of Sven-Ole Frahm, with intricately placed geometric strips on, and cut out from, bold fields of primary colours.The gallery, located in a Jugendstil print foundry built in 1901, is more than just an exhibition space. The marble foyer provides a taste of the vintage architecture, invoking a sense of nostalgia and a perfect spot to reflect after immersing oneself in the artistic pieces.For all art enthusiasts interested in visiting the gallery, it can be located at Bilderdijkstraat 165c, can be reached at +31 20 412 1772, and more information can be found at gerhardhofland.com. The gallery offers free admission and is open Wednesday to Saturday, from 1pm to 5pm.
Galerie Fons Welters
Tucked away on a nondescript residential Jordaan street, just off bustling Rozengracht, Galerie Fons Welters is one of the city's most consistent providers of cutting-edge contemporary art. The gallery has been central in promoting and artistically supporting young artists from the Netherlands and beyond since 1988. The larger, more traditional high-ceilinged "white cube" space in the rear has accommodated a ghostly slide projector installation from English artist Claire Harvey's "life in black and white" miniature world, plus more conventional sculpture and painting exhibitions from established artists such as Folkert de Jong and Sven Kroner. In contrast, the smaller Playstation project area in the front of the gallery caters to up-and-coming talent, often fresh from the academies. From painting through sculpture and installation to multimedia and performance, this gallery is a must.
Bloemstraat 140, +31 20 423 3046, fonswelters.nl, free admission. Open Tues-Sat 1pm-6pm
KochxBos
In the converted living room of a ground floor house in a typically claustrophobic Amsterdam street, Esther Koch and Hans Bos have taken their fascination for the surreal and avant garde and created a superb showcase for today's top international lowbrow and underground art. The offerings are always varied and hung with a designer's eye for detail. Previous exhibitions include Ray Caesar's engrossing digital prints, depicting his Victorian future-world denizens, the ink and acrylic carnivalesque creatures by Toulouse-born painter Ciou, and in spring 2011 the gallery hosted the first solo show in the Netherlands by Sarah Maple, England's "heir to Emin". Featured works included her provocative Cock photo series and her self-portrait of a Muslim woman tenderly cradling a piglet. Nestled alongside cafes and fashion boutiques in the picturesque Jordaan, KochxBos is a colourful and strangely refreshing tonic to the quaint surroundings outside.
Eerste Anjeliersdwarsstraat 5, +31 20 681 4567, kochxbos.nl, free admission. Open Wed-Sat 1pm-6pm
Kulter
If you're planning to immerse yourself in the art and culture of Amsterdam and visit this vibrant "tasting room", it might be useful to check out some fantastic hotel deals in Netherlands to make your stay that bit more enjoyable. You'll find a range of options in close proximity to the array of artist-run initiatives and art-buzz neighborhoods like Bos en Lommer.
This self-described "tasting room" (or proeflokaal in Dutch) is definitely worth the cycle or tram ride out to Amsterdam's newest art-buzz neighbourhood, Bos en Lommer. Based in the ground floor of a corner house in a purely residential street, it specialises in bridging art with performance, music and words and as a collective that organises events in collaboration with other artist-run initiatives. But perhaps Kulter's true accomplishment is the creation of a relaxed and homely atmosphere, right down to the servings of bread and homemade soup on the stove at openings. The art, and the artists, are extremely accessible and very international. Shows tend to involve recent academy graduates of all disciplines and nationalities, as exemplified by the site-specific installations, drawings, performances and paintings from the multicultural and nomadic Palatti collective.
Sanderijnstraat 21, +31 61 740 4955 (SMS in advance to check), kulter.nl, free admission. Open Mon-Tues, Thur 9am-2pm, Fri 9am-6pm, Sat-Sun 3pm-6pm
Mediamatic
Occupying a wonderfully aged ex-bank establishment, Mediamatic offers a spacious exhibit area in which it uncovers the effect of cutting-edge innovations and media on societal fabric via captivating showcases, interactive workshops, educational lectures, and enthralling film projections. Among its remarkable achievements lies the now iconic interactive Arcade exhibit, which relayed the history of the gaming sector, from the artless Pong to handheld devices, leading up to sensor-driven game platforms, enriched with an abundance of operative demonstrations. Additionally, it hosted an engrossing exhibition on fixed-gear cycling, complete with a competitive racing course cutting through the gallery space. Furthermore, an extraordinary activity known as Pièce de Résistance encouraged patrons to contribute personal mementos symbolizing disruptive incidents, from World War II to contemporary times, taking the form of pamphlets, pictures, placards or even an irregular brick or stone.
Vijzelstraat 68, +31 20 427 4137, mediamatic.net, admission charges fluctuate according to the event. Operating hours from Mon-Fri between 1pm-7pm, Sat-Sun between 1pm-6pm (schedule may predominantly necessitate adjustments as per the exhibition)
P/////akt
Opened in 2003, this east-side gallery maintains an "anything goes" attitude, encouraging site-specific work and stimulating the artists to incorporate the full scope of the space's whitewashed walls into their work. In 2010 the gallery completed the series Space Is A Word, a three-part examination of art as a mental space – rather than physical – that featured large canvases from Gino Saccone, Jean Bernard Koeman's architectural models and Frederik van Simaey's playfully existential installations, including a striking sculpture of folding beds, bikes and ladders. Debate, performance and book launches are also part of this gallery's mandate as it seeks to bridge the gap between the art, the artist and the public.
Zeeburgerpad 53, +31 20 468 8395, pakt.nu, free admission. Open Thu-Sun 2pm-6pm
Smart Project Space
Situated in Amsterdam's hip Oud-West neighbourhood and occupying a foreboding brick building that used to house an anatomical pathology laboratory, this project space offers art alongside a lot more. The film programming is impressive: multiple rooms screen a well-selected assortment of arthouse flicks from around the world, mostly subtitled in English. Dinner and drinks are on offer in Lab 111, which offers visitors the opportunity to dine on a converted dissection table under surgical lights – surprisingly, an experience that's not as strange as it sounds. Studios are provided for a fortunate few, who use this multi-disciplinary playground for work; and lastly, of course, there are the galleries – spacious, bright rooms that accommodate a varied programme featuring local as well as international young talent. In 2011 these galleries hosted the finalists of the Prix de Rome competition, won by Finnish new media artist Pilvi Takala.
Arie Biemondstraat 105-113, +31 20 427 5951, smartprojectspace.net, admission prices vary with event. Open Mon-Sat noon-10pm, Sun 2pm-10pm; cinema open Mon-Thu, Sun 8pm-midnight, Fri-Sat 8pm-2am; Lab111 open Mon-Sun noon-1am, Fri-Sat noon-3am
Upstream Gallery
Upstream Gallery opened its doors in November 2003, since when the space has been exhibiting an exhilarating mix of contemporary art from the Netherlands and abroad. The general vibe is straightforward and in-your-face – and the gallery is aptly sited in the gentrified, but still cool, De Pijp neighbourhood. Past shows have featured the monolithic concrete and glass sculptures by Cristian Andersen; stop-motion nightmares from Cristóbal León; and installation, video and photographs from Katrina Daschner such as the sexually charged Murderess series featuring hooded, axe-wielding women in bleak, wintry forests. A memorable recent installation from the ever-electrifying Marc Bijl displayed a mesmerising, life-sized black Christ standing upon a stack of white painted pallets, hands outstretched, epoxy dripping like melting wax from arms, hands and face. The work here is always at an intense level.
Van Ostadestraat 294, +31 20 428 4284, upstreamgallery.nl, free admission. Open Wed-Sat 1pm-6pm and by appointment
W139
Sex, drugs and art make familiar bedfellows, and they all contributed to the formation of this gallery in the heart of Amsterdam's infamous red light district. Originally a theatre, the space was squatted in 1979 by five young artists in need of a place to show their work. Painting, performances and punk rock were to be the beginning of one the city's most original hubs of artistic endeavour. More than 30 years later, it still maintains some of its worn industrial demeanour, while scrubbing up to carry a clean museum vibe whenever necessary. With room for gigs, exhibitions, book launches, parties, film and debates touching on hot topics such as the uneasy relationship between politics and art, W139 is perpetually in motion, frequented by skinny-trousered hipsters, bespectacled geeks and paint-spattered freaks alike. And who knows, the tattooed girl that's selling you a book at their kiosk one week might be exhibiting at one of the city's blockbuster museums the next.
Warmoesstraat 139, +31 20 622 9434, w139.nl, admission prices vary with event. Open Mon-Sun noon-6pm