Nieuwe Witty Art Expo op bijzondere locatie in Rotterdam: Ookami

Vandaag de bevestiging gekregen dat Witty Art vanaf morgen, vrijdag 1 mei te zien is op een zeer bijzondere locatie in Rotterdam: de gloednieuwe koffiebar Ookami aan het Burgemeester Meineszplein 19. Ookami, het Japanse woord voor 'wolf'', serveert koffie uit eigen branderij, waaronder één van de allerbeste (double) espresso shots van Rotterdam, zo niet Nederland (wie mij op Instagram volgt weet van mijn grote passie voor een echt goede kop koffie). En hoewel dat op zichzelf al bijzonder is, is dat niet het meest bijzondere aan Ookami.

Nee, het bijzondere aan Ookami is het initiatief dat deze koffiebar runt: Heilige Rotterdamse Boontjes Koffie. Het is een werkervaringplek voor jongeren uit Rotterdam. Laten we zeggen: jongeren met 'een randje'. Een randje van de straat, met een verleden. Waar ze zelf ook niet op trots op zijn, en waar naar ze ook niet meer terug willen.

'It takes a whole village to raise a child', is het motto van de initiatiefnemers achter dit project: Marco den Dunnen, jeugdcoordinator bij de politie; en Rodney van den Hengel, jongerenwerker en sociaal makelaar. Samen met partijen als TOS (Thuis op Straat), de stadsmariniers, Pitch010 (Werk en Inkomen, Gemeente Rotterdam) en andere ondernemers die dit initiatief een warm hart toedragen, zetten zij alles op alles om een groep jongeren in de leeftijd van 17 tot 27 jaar weer op het rechte pad te krijgen. 

En koffie is daarbij het middel. De jongeren leren in Ookami alles - maar dan ook alles - over koffie, over het branden van koffie en het maken van een goede espresso of latte macchiato, want ze worden opgeleid tot echte barista's. Daarnaast leren ze wat nodig is om een eigen bedrijf op te zetten en te runnen.

Dus toen Marco (links op de foto hierboven) en Rodney (rechts) mij benaderden met de mededeling dat ze allebei gek waren van mijn werk en vervolgens met de vraag of ik geinteresseerd was om Witty Art te exposeren in Ookami, hoefde ik daar geen seconde over na te denken. Als Witty Art al ergens over gaat, gaat het over de Rafels en Randen van het Leven. Over Falen, en Overeind Kruipen en Doorgaan. Over de Klappen die het Leven je verkoopt, en over de Klappen die je soms zelf uitdeelt, al wil je het niet, al schaam je je er dood voor. Over Schuld, en Boete doen, en Overnieuw Beginnen.

Omdat mijn werk gaat over Tweede en soms ook Derde Kansen. En omdat ik er nu een paar keer geweest ben om kennis te maken en de motivatie van die gasten afspat. En omdat dit nu eenmaal de initiatieven zijn waarin ik geloof.

Kom het zelf meemaken, morgen, tijdens de opening van Ookami: Burgmeeester Meineszplein 19, Rotterdam, vanaf 16.00 uur. Be there!

ARTificial Uprising #6: or just a bad case of artist paranoia?

I am sure that things are taking a turn for the worse... People around me say I am just imagining things but  am sure something is going on behind my back. I am sure of it... 

To be continued... 

  

Witty Art Wall turns out to be one big live sketchbook!

It's been just over a week since the highly succesful 'Maak Het Mee' Pop Up Expo closed down. Started originally as just a two-day weekend pop-up as part of a somewhat bigger Makers' Movement Festival taking part in Rotterdam (and partially co-organised by me) I never expected it to be such a success. In the end, the exhibition got extended not only one, but three times in a row, running for almost two months. So, the creative entrepreneur in me was and is very happy with the result.

But from a more personal, artist's perspective, it has proven to be even better, as I used this opportunity not only as a great way to showcase my work, but as a chance to develop myself further, by using the raw, somewhat worn out state of the location as an inspiration to create new Witty Art on the spot. So I came up with the concept of creating my own Witty Art Wall. 

One wall, completely filled with Witty Art Work: drawings, in all various kinds of sizes and formats, created in ink and/or pencil, some finished, some not, some created on the spot, some finished on that very spot, others taken home and finsihed at some later point. And while the exhibition got extended over the following weeks, the wall's content changed constantly, developed, while sketches and drawings started to influence, then interfere and even interact with each other. And as a serious case of GottaDraw set in, I found that my Witty Art Wall had become one big giant sketchbook in itself.

It's a concept I will definitely use more, as the presentation really suits Witty Art, it's easy to set up and its flexiblity makes it ideal for pop-ups. And, most importantly, it leaves so much room to draw and create live, to explore and to experiment.

ARTificial Uprising #5: or just a bad case of Artist Paranoia?

Things have not progressed since the last post, not at all. Not.At.All. They are up to something, I can just feel it. ....

To be continued...

'My Dear Panda '79' : joint live painting gave great ending to our PopUp Expo

 

Well, our Maak Het Mee! Pop Up Expo seemed like it never would end, but the end was there, finally and ultimately. After getting extended at least three times in a row, thanks to the people of the Alliantie West-Kruiskade, especially Armando Sorrentino, who kindly gave us permission to use this empty shop as a venue to host our artshow.

So, for our final night and closure, we organised another live painting session, this time with remaining participants Bima Engels, Naomian Jansen, Xenia Gott and Christy de Witt, but there were a few other creative minds joining us, such as Irene Siekman (of Rotterdam art venue Werklicht). All of us got together in the making of a wall-covering piece, using various materials and mixed techniques, all purely for the 'joy of painting' (as Bob Ross would put it) and the need to create. It was truly a joy, because we all kept challenging and inspiring each other but while remaining respectful.

A true dialogue of creative minds, the best there is!

We named our work 'My Dear Panda '79'. It didn't survive the clean-up the next morning, as the paint was still dripping wet, there was no way to preserve it and we had to get all our stuff out that very afternoon. So, we creatively demolished it, however, its memory forever preserved in pictures and some video's. 

And on the spot, another Witty Art Work got sold as well! 

I would like to thank each and everyone who helped me realise this Pop Up Expo, as part of the Maak Het Mee! Project, I organised and coordinated on behalf of the local culture intermediators, Cultuurscouts Rotterdam: 

Menno Rosier, Cultuurscout Centrum for a great collaboration

Armando Sorrentino, Ron van Gelder en Alice Fortes, Alliantie West-Kruiskade 

Naomian Jansen, partner in creative crime and a helping hand in need 

Stichting Cretopia, especially Nik Draaijer, Lennard de Vlieger en Richard Kasperink 

Bima Engels, for all his hard work, assistance and his good spirit 

Gladys Jacobson for the logo design 

&

and all participating artists during the whole run of the exhibition:

Naomian Jansen, Bima Engels, Nik Draaijer, CasperInc. Jimmy Granti, Roland Hendrik, Ann Katherine, Quint Hartmann, Stephanie van Loenen/YARA, Dolle Baas, POSYX, J.E. Hanley, Sluban Squad, Brian Engel en Xenia Gottenkienny.

Several Witty Art Work got sold during succesful pop-up expo

So far, so good: our Pop Up Expo proved to be quite succesfull up untill now, at least for me, as some Witty Art Works changed hand and will move to their new owners soon! And that always is something to be happy about - and to be proud of!

Pop Up Expo Josephlaan got extended till the end of March!

Great news! Our Pop Up Expo at the Josephlaan got extended for the 3rd time in a row - and this time not for just one or two weeks, but for almost another three full weeks, up and untill with March 29th!

Maak Het Mee! III Pop Up Expo
Josephlaan 38 Rotterdam

A selection of art works by:
Bima Engels, Xenia Gottenkienny, Casper.Inc, Jimmy Granti, Sluban Squad, Naomian Jansen en Christy de Witt.

For this occasion, TWC & Witty Art have joined both creatieve and organisational forces and skills with Naomian Jansen/Planet Zork, who I can fairly claim to be my newly found partner in creative crimes for a lot of upcoming projects! More on that, on another blog soon!

Naomian Jansen is also responsible for designing both the really cool banner and flyer this third ''sequel'' of our Pop Up Expo.

And as we are prepping for this new extended period, we say goodbye to some of the artists who have been participating over the first two weeks.

We say a great thank you to Niks Art Fart, who has been of great support during these first two weeks, and without whom this exhibtion would not have been realised; to Stephanie van Loenen aka YARA, who has designed the digital flyers for our two Live Art Jams; and to POSIX, Dolle Baas, Quint Hartmann, Roland Hendrik and Ann Katherine, who all have other obligations elsewhere. It was great having you guys around!