{"id":2725,"date":"2022-11-14T18:14:29","date_gmt":"2022-11-14T18:14:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dartmagazine.com\/?p=2725"},"modified":"2022-11-15T00:57:01","modified_gmt":"2022-11-15T00:57:01","slug":"tjebbe-beekman-tetris-at-grimm-in-new-york-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dartmagazine.com\/?p=2725","title":{"rendered":"Tjebbe Beekman: Tetris at Grimm in New York City"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Mary Hrbacek<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Tjebbe
Tjebbe Beekman, To pray for the living and the dead<\/em>, 2022, acrylic, acrylic emulsions, sand and grit on canvas mounted to wood panel, framed. Unframed: 80 x 60 cm | 31 1\/2 x 23 5\/8 in Framed: 82.5 x 62.5 x 6.5 cm | 32 1\/2 x 24 5\/8 x 2 1\/2 in. Tjebbe Beekman, Tetris All images Courtesy of the Artist and GRIMM, Amsterdam | New York | London, photography: Jonathan de Waart\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Grimm presents \u201cTetris,\u201d an exhibition of seventeen new acrylic and acrylic emulsion paintings by Dutch artist Tjebbe Beekman<\/a>. In Beekman\u2019s deeply felt and strongly envisioned images, the components and fragments function as indefinable players in what can be described as confounding theatrical productions; they immediately impress the viewer with their powerful symbolic meaning. The title of the exhibition lends insights into Beekman\u2019s artistic intentions. \u201cTetris\u201d is defined as an \u201cendeavor involving rearranging things of a different shape into physical space.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beekman excels at making visually convincing painted \u201ccollage\u201d details. The interconnecting dystopian elements read as layers of expressive recognizable objects such as cloth, balls, rope, pieces of wood, trays and sticks to name but a few, whose relationships to each other seem unfathomable. They convey deeply intriguing yet puzzling undefined messages. The variety of textures, colors, unspecified articles and entities grip the viewer in a psychic drama presented in many of the works, in the pictorial space of a Picasso collage or Synthetic Cubist still life. The shallow arena appears to be constructed of overlapping items that might have been dredged from a cellar, woodshed or attic trunk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Tjebbe
Tjebbe Beekman, To forgive all injuries<\/em>, 2022, acrylic, acrylic emulsions, sand and grit on canvas mounted to wood panel, framed. Unframed: 80 x 60 cm | 31 1\/2 x 23 5\/8 in Framed: 82.5 x 62.5 x 6.5 cm | 32 1\/2 x 24 5\/8 x 2 1\/2 in. Tjebbe Beekman, Tetris All images Courtesy of the Artist and GRIMM, Amsterdam | New York | London, photography: Jonathan de Waart<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The works on view with their attendant narrative titles, give the impression that they relate personally to the artist\u2019s psychic and emotional states of consciousness. These pieces have underpinnings in Old Master compositions; Poussin comes to mind. They have no pop culture references beyond the 1980\u2019s arcade video game entitled \u201cTetris.\u201d Playing this game is said to thicken the cortex and possibly increase brain competence. The painting actually entitled \u201cTetris\u201d integrates unrelated strata of abstract and figurative items, which may symbolize the chaos in which we live in the world. Arranging ultra-complex configurations woven within pictorial structures probably provides relief for distressing emotional experiences. Art-making can be a constructive venue for exploring feelings and venting emotions directed at the charged episodes that cling inexorably in our consciousness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Tjebbe
Tjebbe Beekman,The Miraculous Draught<\/em>, 2022, acrylic, acrylic emulsions, sand and grit on canvas mounted to wood panel, framed. Unframed: 133 x 100 cm | 52 3\/8 x 39 3\/8 in Framed: 135.5 x 102.5 x 6.5 cm. | 53 3\/8 x 40 3\/8 x 2 1\/2 in. Tjebbe Beekman, Tetris All images Courtesy of the Artist and GRIMM, Amsterdam | New York | London, photography: Jonathan de Waart<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The piece entitled \u201cThe Miraculous Drought\u201d diverges from the collage-based still life works, with a storm setting in which four human figures reach dramatically into a trough to collect water, amongst a barrage of flying debris. A desperate peacock, the flamboyant bird that symbolizes personal vanity, cranes its neck to beg for water, verifying that human and animal needs intersect. In a mesmerizing display of nature\u2019s chaotic powers, the debris blows wildly across the top of the format signaling an apocalyptic natural disaster which pits us not only against nature, but against each other.  It seems the artist is striving to reconcile life\u2019s struggles with its rewards.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The various collage-like and cubistic spaces seem to express their own particular emotional conundrums disguised within the undefined forms presented. \u201cTo Pray for the Living and the Dead\u201d hints at aquatic looking shapes that seem to intersect a black empty area that conceivably signifies the \u201cself.\u201d Sensory stimulation gives a certain distraction and pleasure to life, when conflicts and unresolved relationships, especially from the past, become intolerable to bear.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The artist\u2019s superb technical mastery of the medium comprises a striking underlying message that permeates this mesmerizing body of works. With images whose underpinnings in the old and new masters are articulated by honed elements with deeply saturated hues, few art shows today are more serious or more engulfing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tjebbe Beekman: Tetris<\/strong> (October 21 through November 12, 2022) at Grimm Gallery, 54 White Street, New York City, NY 10013<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Mary Hrbacek Grimm presents \u201cTetris,\u201d an exhibition of seventeen new acrylic and acrylic emulsion paintings by Dutch artist Tjebbe Beekman. In Beekman\u2019s deeply felt and strongly envisioned images, the components and fragments function as indefinable players in what can be described as confounding theatrical productions; they immediately impress the viewer with their powerful symbolic meaning. The title … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Tjebbe Beekman: Tetris at Grimm in New York City”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dartmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dartmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dartmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2725"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/dartmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2725\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2732,"href":"https:\/\/dartmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2725\/revisions\/2732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dartmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dartmagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}