Author(s): Jan Van Der Ploeg

Art & design

During the 1990s, Amsterdam-based artist Jan van der Ploeg (b. 1959) gained international acclaim with his bold, colorful geometric wall paintings. His abstract modular motifs sometimes recall Calder s mobiles, Artschwager's conceptual blps, or LeWitt s minimalist wall paintings. Though van der Ploeg's installation for Kunsthaus Baselland consists of two massive wall pieces, the accompanying catalog is a survey of almost a decade of work by the artist. With 350 color plates featuring a number of museum installations, it is his most extensive document to date. Jan van der Ploeg first began painting geometric designs on the walls of buildings in his native Amsterdam. Since then, he has painted in hundreds of galleries and institutions, from the Hammer Museum lobby (L.A.) to the walls of the Rijks Museum, considering the specific architecture of each space and adding to it new depth and dimension. Unique combinations of common shapes, bold colors and shifts in scale invite the viewer to experience familiar spaces in new and dynamic ways.