The TextielMuseum used the Bauhaus’ 100-year anniversary as an opportunity to invite four artists to produce new pieces for the museum’s collection in the TextielLab. Marijn van Kreij explored the high- and low-tech possibilities in the TextielLab to shape his ideas, which were inspired by the Bauhaus.
In 1928, Gunta Stölzl wove one of her most famous tapestries, ‘5 Chöre’. For Marijn van Kreij, this tapestry, or to be precise, reproductions of it and her design sketches, formed the basis of this collection commission. He took an existing image as his starting point and continued to work on it. “When studying and reproducing such an image, differences naturally arise,” he said of this approach. “It is a form of ‘editing’ someone else’s work. Consciously or unconsciously, you leave things out or change the colours. These differences and variations create the opening or thinking space I’m looking for. Because I took fragments from ‘5 Chöre’ and repeated them in different ways in my designs, an exercise arises that hopefully evokes the same kind of space or delay.” He used a computer to reproduce the fragments of cloth, including their irregularities. He was particularly interested in the sense of rhythm and colour in the original and the effective use of the different weaves. The fabric was also used for cushion covers, a reference to the Bauhaus ideal of eliminating the boundary between fine and applied art.
Van Kreij developed a single layered fabric with 8 different wefts. He was particularly interested in the sense of rhythm and colour in the original of Gunta Stölz and the effective use of the different weaves.
Marijn van Kreij (1978) lives and works in Amsterdam. He studied at AKV St. Joost in Breda and was a resident artist at Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam. The multifaceted work of Marijn van Kreij often takes existing images, texts and music as a starting point to reflect on their meaning in a new, carefully constructed, highly personal setting. Deviating from the idea that art is made in response to art and in recognition of art, making contact with other artists or musicians is a crucial part of his practice.
