Best of Graduates 2024. Photo by Jonathan de Waart
Every summer, Galerie Ron Mandos offers space and opportunity to newly graduated artists. In this 17th edition of Best of Graduates, work by 24 young artists is on display, representing all art academies. The RM Young Blood Award this year was won by Katarzyna Baldyga, who graduated from the Rietveld Academy.
This edition was curated by Radek Vána, Lars Been and Ron Mandos, who visited all Bachelor graduation exhibitions. Vána comments, "It is unique that all academies are represented, which was not the case in previous years. Interestingly, each of the academics has its own unique character. In Maastricht, there is a lot of focus on material research, while the programme in Enschede has a classical setup with departments such as painting and sculpture. You don't see that elsewhere and it also attracts certain types of students."
The fact that all academies are represented on the Prinsengracht does not mean they are all equally represented. Most Bachelor presentations are by students of the Gerrit Rietveld Academy (GRA) and the KABK (6 each), the HKU (4) and the Willem de Kooning Academy (3). From the remaining five institutions, the work of one graduate can be seen. As in previous years, this edition of Best of Graduates provides a good overview of what is currently being produced at the art academies. With a single visit to Galerie Ron Mandos, you are immediately up to date, although with the small caveat that performance art lends itself less well to a gallery setting and is therefore virtually absent.
The three themes that dominated the previous edition – the immediate environment of the artists, the influence of social media and memories – are also prominently present this time. Performance artist Pieke Pleyers (GRA) photographed different friends and lovers at the beginning of their relationship. These are sober, but extremely intimate portraits that keep the outside world at a safe distance.
Pieke Pleijers | GRA 2024 | Celine, 2019
Dating and doomscrolling
The influence of social media on our lives is highlighted in the work of Onno Meeuwsen (HKU), who painted the emoticons used on the gay dating app Grindr on 60 x 60 cm panels: a torso with an arrow pointing upwards (Love on top), a zucchini, a golden zucchini (Golden shower). The images not only say something about this time, but they are also skilfully painted. The way Meeuwsen depicts the texture behind the golden zucchini demonstrates considerable talent.
Onno Meeuwsen | HKU 2024 | Golden shower, 2024
Less pleasant is the numbing effect of doomscrolling. In the short video by Ben Christ (KABK), a bald avatar shows the viewer short clips of a silly dance or a suicide, only to retreat back into his phone. This is exactly the moment that Sam Reekers (HKU) captures in his paintings of people waiting at Schiphol. They sit slumped on a bench, absorbed in their phones, unaware of being watched. Reekers perfectly captures their body language, making it clear how long they have been there: they've been sitting for a while and the gate hasn't been called yet.
Ben Christ | KABK 2024 | On a Day Like Yesterday, 2024
Like last year, there is attention to the past and memories of it. The family of American Emily Bernstein (GRA) originally comes from the border region of Poland and Ukraine. In the early 20th century, they moved to the U.S. The only information about the place they left behind is found in stories. Bernstein interviewed family members about the place where their ancestors lived generations ago. This yielded rather generic clues like we lived on the fourth floor and looked out over rooftops from the window, clues that are almost impossible to verify. Until recently, a fragment like this would not have been enough to transport someone to around 1900, but AI has changed that. Bernstein fed an AI programme with photos and videos of family members, photos of the region and gave prompts based on her family's stories. This resulted in images that, while not real, provide a rich depiction of a place that previously only existed as oral history.
Emily Bernstein | GRA 2024 | For Anna, an immemory, 2024
Cut-off heating pipes
The most notable absentee in the previous edition is the war in Ukraine. The most direct allusion is the cut-off heating pipes in the presentation of Jesse Andriesse (GRA), but Andriesse's presentation is otherwise anything but straightforward. The lecterns with generic symbols like a laurel wreath and the placeholder text Ipsum lorem are more a commentary on form – the completely interchangeable speeches – than on content.
Jesse Andriesse | GRA 2024 | LECTERN 1, 2024
The numbing effect of news about (war) violence is also addressed. South Korean artist Juwan Moon (GRA) created a life-size Newton's cradle – the device that illustrates the law of conservation of momentum and energy – but replaced the steel balls that collide with each other with casts of his head in clay. When the pendulum is set in motion, the system works for a while – until a head breaks. Moon is saying here that violence becomes normalised and goes on silently until it escalates and attracts attention again.
Juwan Moon | GRA 2024 | Crash experiment with ceramic heads, 2024. Foto door Jonathan de Waart.
Ron Mandos Young Blood Award
This year, the Ron Mandos Young Blood Award went to Polish painter Katarzyna Baldyga. Earlier this summer, she completed the part-time DOGtime Expanded Painting programme at the Rietveld Academy. Those who see Baldyga's work understand why the word ‘Expanded’ has been added, as her works are more than just oil on canvas. She combines different techniques: besides oil paint, she also screen prints and repaints sections. While working on a canvas, she regularly rotates it from horizontal to vertical to upright. Baldyga's working method is based on spontaneity, with each brushstroke eliciting the next. It is a method that embraces the unpredictability of paint and lets the medium determine the outcome. Baldyga calls her works transformations.
Katarzyna Golenia-Baldyga | GRA 2024 | Starfish, 2024
As a prize, a work by Baldyga will be donated to the Museum Voorlinden in Wassenaar by the Ron Mandos Young Blood Foundation. Suzanne Swarts, Director of Museum Voorlinden, said the following about Baldyga's work: “Seeing Katarzyna Baldyga's work was love at first sight. It's clear that she knows exactly what she's doing. She has a unique ability to captivate the viewer, inviting them to join her in her experiment with painting, printing and repainting.”
Best of Graduates 2024 can be seen at Galerie Ron Mandos in Amsterdam until 15 September.
Best of Graduates 2024, Galerie Ron Mandos. Photo by Jonathan de Waart
