Fredie Beckmans: Cut from round sausage

January 21 – March 10, 2018 at Café Bern

Starting January 21 until March 10, 2018 Fredie Beckmans is exhibiting some of his work at Café Bern. The exhibition is titled ‘Cut from round sausage‘. Fredie Beckmans, chairman of the Sausage Club, has been wandering all over Switzerland for 4 years in search of the true sausage. He has made contributions on the subject to various magazines, such as Bouillon! Magazine and Hollands Maandblad. So to exhibit a selection of sausage paintings at Café Bern is only a logical next step.

During the opening ceremony guests will have the opportunity to sample some Swiss sausages that Fredie brought back from Swiztserland and some new membership cards of the Sausage Club will be issued.

Please feel free to drop by. From 4:00-6:00 p.m. you can come and see the exhibition at your ease. Or late at night, after 11:00 p.m., when the rather busy dinner time has finished and a lovely relaxed “after hours” atmosphere has descended on Café Bern.

Below you can already have a preview of some of the works exhibited at Café Bern.

Fredie Beckmans

– Chairman of the Sausage Club

Fredie Beckmans (1956, Winterswijk), according to the Heilbronner Stimme a ‘spätgeborener Dadaïst’, formally a painter at the court of the Dutch Queen and once a world champion ´cooking performance´. He won a prize for best essay, titled ‘The philosopher and his sausage’.

Na 4 jaar Zwitserland, schildert en schrijft hij afwisselend in Amsterdam en Brighton aan zijn grote Vogel en Worsten oeuvre.

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Ap Esenbrink: Masks

March 10 maart – May 19, 2018 at Café Bern

From March 10 maart until May 19, 2018 Ap Esenbrink shows a selection of his illuminated masks at Café Bern. They are part of the collection of intriguing plastic objects that have helped to establish Ap Esenbrink´s reputation. Ap has been exhibiting at Café Bern previously: some years ago his (also illuminated) fish have embellished Café Bern.

Please feel free to drop by. From 4:00-6:00 p.m. you can come and see the exhibition at your ease. Or late at night, after 11:00 p.m., when the rather busy dinner time has finished and a lovely relaxed “after hours” atmosphere has descended on Café Bern.

Below you can already have a preview of some of the works exhibited at Café Bern.

Ap Esenbrink

In 1990 Ap Esenbrink finished his education at the AKI Art School of Enschede. He subsequently worked for various film productions and TV productions of VPRO Villa, doing the theatrical scenery.

He has been decorating various well known restaurants, pubs and bars. Meanwhile he has continued to create movies, collages and objects.

Also check: Ap Esenbrink

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Jeroen Blankert: Paintings

May 19 – July 14, 2018 at Café Bern

From May 19 until July 14, 2018 Jeroen Blankert exhibits at Café Bern. A natural talent, a great respect for technique and twenty years of practice have resulted in an imposing body of work.

Please feel free to drop by. From 4:00-6:00 p.m. you can come and see the exhibition at your ease. Or late at night, after 11:00 p.m., when the rather busy dinner time has finished and a lovely relaxed “after hours” atmosphere has descended on Café Bern.

Below you can already have a preview of some of the works exhibited at Café Bern.

Jeroen Blankert

Jeroen Blankert (1966) grew up among terpentine, easels and palettes: his father Barend Blankert and his mother Koos van Keulen are both renowned Dutch figurative painters. In fact, almost everyone in the Blankert family had dedicated his or her life to the arts, if not as a painter, then as a graphic artist of art historian. Even famous Dutch artist H.W. Mesdag (1831-1915) is in the family tree somewhere.

It seemed inevitable that Jeroen, as offspring of this illustrious family, would also do something in the visual arts. So of course he didn’t. He decided to become a drummer and enrolled at Amsterdam’s Sweelinck conservatory. But he couldn’t deny his roots – or his talent. Long before he graduated as a musician, he had taken up painting.

And so he entered adulthood with a drumstick in one hand, and a paintbrush in the other. A free spirit with a lust for life, albeit not a nine to five one, he became a man of many ventures. He painted scenery, played the drums for Ellen ten Damme, Joop van den Ende and Bettie Serveert , briefly ran his own gallery, and is the owner of one of Amsterdam’s most revered clubs-slash-cultural spaces ‘De nieuwe Anita’.

But the painting has always remained a constant. Natural talent, a great respect for technique and twenty years of practice have resulted in an imposing body of work. Landscapes in vivid colours, tronies , nudes, everyday objects, deeply realist but with a cartoonish edge; Blankert’s art is as diverse as his life has been.

It remains unclear what Jeroen Blankert grew up to be. Drummer? Artist? Bar owner? Gallerist? Culture vulture? One thing’s for sure though: Jeroen Blankert is interested in the visual arts – as a real Blankert should be. In the result of his handiwork, right there on the canvas. Not in the stories behind the image. He has enough of those already.

Also check: Jeroen Blankert – paintings

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Anita Prins: Emotion and man

July 14 – September 14, 2018 at Café Bern

Starting July 14 until September 14, 2018 Anita Prins is exhibiting some of her work at Café Bern. The exhibition is titled ‘Emotion and man‘ and features a number of very colourful portraits of brides from various cultures and of people in utter concentration.

Please feel free to drop by. From 4:00-6:00 p.m. you can come and see the exhibition at your ease. Or late at night, after 11:00 p.m., when the rather busy dinner time has finished and a lovely relaxed “after hours” atmosphere has descended on Café Bern.

Below you can already have a preview of the works exhibited at Café Bern.

Anita Prins

From the moment she could hold a pencil, Anita Prins (Amsterdam, 1964) has never ceased drawing anything that catched her attention. Over the years she took up drawing portraits, using soft pastel and currently oil on canvas is her main medium. Anita is a true autodidact.

She feels an urge to paint emotions and states-of-mind that are not easily expressed in words. In seclusion, listening to the right kind of music, she experiences the enchantment of separate colours that evolve into images., grateful for her gifted talent. Painting comes first, the reasoning only in hindsight.

Meestal gebruikt ze daarvoor de afbeelding van een vrouw, in al haar kwetsbaarheid en haar bijna religieuze binding met de natuur.

See also: Anita Prins

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Cor van Rijn (1929-2018)

September 14 – November 16, 2018 at Café Bern

From the early ’50-ies to the beginning of the ’90-ies Cor van Rijn performed in numerous plays and he appeared in no less than 40 movies and many TV plays and series. But to Café Bern he was, first and foremost, ‘Cor, our upstairs neighbour’. Moreover, he had been living there already for 15 years, when Café Bern opened for the first time, forty years ago, in August 1978. And he has been living there ever since, together with his beloved Joyce.

Cor was so much more than merely an actor. He painted, wrote poetry and made graphical work. To pay tribute to Cor, Café Bern will exhibit a selection of his work from September 14 until November 16, 2018.

Please feel free to drop by. From 4:00-6:00 p.m. you can come and see the exhibition at your ease. Or late at night, after 11:00 p.m., when the rather busy dinner time has finished and a lovely relaxed “after hours” atmosphere has descended on Café Bern. Below you can already have a preview of some of the works exhibited at Café Bern.

Cor van Rijn

(1929- 2018)

actor, painter, poet

A few weeks ago our upstairs neighbour Cor van Rijn passed away. He would have given anything to be able to stay as long as he could with Joyce, the love of his life, but it was not to meant be.

Cor was not just a gifted actor. In the 80-ies he took up painting, like his wife had been doing already for many years. He had an exposition in Café Bern, the opening night of which turned out to be legendary with a crowd of actors, directors and other artists joining the party.

His work was very well received and appraised but no other exhibitions followed. Cor much more preferred the secluded privacy of his life with Joyce: painting together, writing poems and playing the grand piano.

We can rightly describe Cor as ‘the pioneer of Café Bern’.  In the early days our upstairs neighbour was one of the rare regulars and through him his wide and colourful circle of artistic friends gradually found their way to our café.

To commemorate Cor we have organised an tribute exhibition of a small selection of his work in Café Bern. The opening night will be on September 14 with a speech by Ursul de Geer. The exhibition will last until October 26, 2018.

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There
am I

Ishan Mohiddin – Novemeber 17, 2018 until January 11, 2019 at Café Bern

From November 17, 2018 until January 11, 2019 Ishan Mohiddin is exhibiting a selection of his work, Title of the exhibition is “There, am I”.

Please feel free to drop by. From 4:00-6:00 p.m. you can come and see the exhibition at your ease. Or late at night, after 11:00 p.m., when the rather busy dinner time has finished and a lovely relaxed “after hours” atmosphere has descended on Café Bern.

Below you can already have a preview of some of the works exhibited at Café Bern.

Ishan Mohiddin

Ishan Mohiddin is a multi-faceted artist. Born in Kirkuk, he came to Amsterdam to seek refuge from the atrocities of war in Kurdistan at the time of the Gulf War. He further developped his skills as a painter and as an actor and he appeared in Dutch movies, such as Nachtrit (2006) and Het spel van de wolf (2014) and on Dutch TV in Flikken Maastricht (2007).

In 2000 he started in stage productions. Ishan is director, artistic leader and actor at “Stichting Kelderlicht (theater and film) that was founded by him.

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Cil: The Wondering Road

February 9 – April 12, 2019 in Café Bern

From February 9 until April 12, 2019, Cil Laurens exhibits a selection of her work at Café Bern..

Please feel free to drop by. From 4:00-6:00 p.m. you can come and see the exhibition at your ease. Or late at night, after 11:00 p.m., when the rather busy dinner time has finished and a lovely relaxed “after hours” atmosphere has descended on Café Bern.

Below you can already have a preview of some of the works exhibited at Café Bern.

Cil Laurens

Cil Laurens creates beautiful drawings and intricate graphic patterns on wood using 0.05 thin ink pens after she created the design to her liking with pencil on the wood first.

In her work she is attempts to create a mixture of female intrigue, darkness and wonder while remaining precise in her style of art. she loves the duality in people’s characters. this leads her to create whimsical yet clear representations of her elusive world.

A native of The Netherlands, Cil Laurens lives in Amsterdam. She studied graphic design at the School for Fine Arts in Kampen, The Netherlands and studied photography at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in The Hague

Clients:
Affordable Art Fair Amsterdam, Absolut Vodca, Tedx Amsterdam, Southern Comfort, H&M Conscious Line, Gategroup, Ue Roll / Ultimate Ears, Cortina bikes, Grolsch.

For more information: WWW.CILLAURENS.NL

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O.C. Hooymeijer: Spiritu videt plura avium

4th of May – 15th of June 2019 at Café Bern

In an exhibition entitled ‘Spiritu videt plura avium‘ (transl.: A free spirit sees more birds) the artist O.C. Hooymeijer shows drawings of his non-existent birds, from May 4 until June 15. All bird portraits, including the Schapenkris, the Oudhaan and the Kaalkopwringer, are featured in his recently released ‘New Guide to the non-existent Birds of Europe‘, in which Hooymeijer depicts and gives a detailed account of some fifty newly discovered non-existent European bird species.

Please feel free to drop by. From 4:00-6:00 p.m. you can come and see the exhibition at your ease. Or late at night, after 11:00 p.m., when the rather busy dinner time has finished and a lovely relaxed “after hours” atmosphere has descended on Café Bern.

Below you can already have a preview of some of the works exhibited at Café Bern.

O.C. Hooymeijer

O.C. Hooymeijer (Vlaardingen, 1958) finished his studies at the Academy of Visual Art in Rotterdam in 1981. From that moment on, he had may successful exhibitions, both in The Netherlands as abroad.

His remarkable series of paintings and drawings, such as “Red Light District”, “Indian Portraits” and “Contemporary 17th Century Portraits” brought Hooymeijer national acclaim. His work “O.C. Hooymeijer’s Panorama of Amsterdam” was exhibited in 2002 in the Amsterdam Museum as part of the exhibition “Love for Sale”. Between 2009 and 2012 he created the impressive and touching series “Abuse”, “Catholic Abuse” and “Worship”.

So far man was the focus of his work. In this book “A small guide to the non-existent birds of Europe” and his exhibitions “The Great Exotic Bird Show” and “O.C. Hooymeijer’s Wondrous World of Birds” (Natuurmuseum Friesland, 2016), man has been replaced by the bird.

His most recent work features once more his theme wise approach, his expressionistic style and his not-to-be-missed picture frames. He even took us one step further by creating the installation “The domain, or Aldert-Jan’s world” for the Ameland Art Month in the Hollum Sorgdrager Museum.

By adding scent and sound his exhibtions are evolving into a “Total Experience”. At the occasion of Leeuwarden-Fryslan 2018 Hooymeijer created a “Bird hide for the non-existent birds of the Rottige Meenthe’ near the village of Spanga.

On the 4th of May, 2019 O.C. Hooymeijer will present his “New Guide to the non-existing Birds of Europe” at Café Bern  In this illustrious dinner café at the Nieuwmarkt, where Hooymeijer prepared many-a-steak in his younger days, a selection of the new birds can be admired.

More info on: www.ochooymeijer.com
or follow O.C. Hooymeijer on Facebook.

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René Windig: draughtsman & illustrator

June 15 – September 13, 2019 at Café Bern

René Windig (Amsterdam, 1951) took up drawing as soon as he could climb out of his cradle. Anything can offer him inspiration:: photo books, art movements (COBRA, Impressionism), exotic cultures (Africa, Japan, Oceania), wildlife and books about nature, the city, the street ……..
From June 15 juni until September 13, 2019 René Windig shows a selection of his amazing, colourful prints at Café Bern.

Please feel free to drop by. From 4:00-6:00 p.m. you can come and see the exhibition at your ease. Or late at night, after 11:00 p.m., when the rather busy dinner time has finished and a lovely relaxed “after hours” atmosphere has descended on Café Bern.

Below you can already have a preview of some of the works exhibited at Café Bern.

René Windig

René Windig (Amsterdam, 1951) begon met tekenen zodra hij uit de wieg kon klimmen. Op het atelier van zijn vader, de fotograaf Ad Windig (1912-1996) vond hij, behalve een kunstbeen en een fles overheerlijke limonadesiroop, ook een aantal flesjes kleurige inkt met een verende vilten dop. Met deze voorloper van de viltstift mochten René en zijn broers het fotopapier van hun vader voltekenen. Windig bleef de viltstift trouw tot op de dag van vandaag. Ook via zijn vader raakte hij bekend met het werk van tekenaars als Picasso, Appel, Van Gogh, Hokusai en Saul Steinberg. Vooral de boeken van Steinberg (The Passport en The Art Of Living) maakten grote indruk op hem.

Op de middelbare school leerde hij Eddie de Jong kennen, met wie hij ruim veertig jaar lang diverse strips zou tekenen. Hun bekendste strip Heinz stond in de jaren tachtig en negentig in zo’n zestig Nederlandstalige dagbladen. Er verschenen 24 albums van en vijf kloeke geschiedenisboeken.

Windig en De Jong wonnen met hun werk diverse prijzen, waaronder de Stripschapsprijs (1991) en de NZH-prijs (1992). In 2008 beschouwden zij hun oeuvre als voltooid en stopten zij met het tekenen van strips. Meer over Windig en De Jong vindt u op de website Gezellig en Leuk van Coen van der Geest.

Naast stripboeken tekende Windig ook vele schetsboeken vol. De laatste jaren doet hij dat met hernieuwde energie. Hij laat zich hierbij inspireren door alles wat er op zijn pad komt: fotoboeken, kunststromingen (COBRA, Impressionisme), uitheemse culturen (Afrika, Japan, Oceanië), de vrije natuur en natuurboeken, de stad, de straat. Het resultaat is een veelheid van impressies en stijlen.

More info: www.renewindig.nl

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Fenneke Voorsluis:

‘The Poetry of the Casual Encounter’

September 14 – October 25, 2019 at Café Bern

Fenneke Voorsluis (Amsterdam, 1981):
– “I investigate the emotional half-life of my parental home: Kalkmarkt 8. A house full of memories, a house in motion, a house like stagnant water. I bend over my legacy, record it, cross over and rewrite my own history. Looking for a new simplicity. Piece by piece I break down and build up until a new order is created that becomes fuel for the future.”

From September 14 until October 25, 2019 Fenneke Voorsluis shows a selection of her work at Café Bern.

Please feel free to drop by. From 4:00-6:00 p.m. you can come and see the exhibition at your ease. Or late at night, after 11:00 p.m., when the rather busy dinner time has finished and a lovely relaxed “after hours” atmosphere has descended on Café Bern.

Below you can already have a first impression of the works exhibited at Café Bern.

Dear visitors to Café Bern

I invite you to share a piece of “The Poetry of the Casual Encounter” that you may experience here yourself. Perhaps you are now experiencing an unforgettable evening, a nice intimate conversation or you have had a special insight into the life of a stranger.

Share a piece of thought, conversation or an idea. Everything is allowed. Write it on a notepad. Four rules are sufficient. I collect them and add them to my own history. I will work with integrity and care. I won’t mention names or background. Just a piece of poetry from a casual encounter, here in Café Bern.

My name is Fenneke Voorsluis. I am an artist, curator and cultural entrepreneur at De Huiskamer, Kalkmarkt 8, Amsterdam. It is my parental home, where I was born and bred and where my parents ran a doctor’s practice.

In January 2019 my father passed away quite unexpectedly. He was a very socially involved kind of person, both professionally and in his private life. He turned Kalkmarkt 8 into a refuge where people of various backgrounds and reference frameworks could meet. It was an exciting place to grow up, a place where all sorts of initiatives, people and ideas could thrive. I have always admired and cherished my parents’ open-mindedness.

To the website of De Huiskamer

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Crispijn: Waterlooplein

2nd of November – 27th of December 2019 at Café Bern

In 2015 Crispijn got hold of Evert Werkman’s book ‘Waterlooplein’. Its final conclusion was: “It has been transformed into something modern, comfortable, neat and tidy; but it’s just not the Waterlooplein anymore.”

Yet the market manifested itself nevertheless, once it returned to its old place in 1988. But now, 32 years later, it’s as if the market is back to square one: threatened to be restricted by the prestigious plans of the city council to embellish the failed design of the city hall with a profitable shopping mall, which will undoubtedly be at the expense of the market.

The city council thinks along straight lines, an approach totally unsuitable for a flea market. Through his pictures Crispijn makes an attempt to show that this fringe of Amsterdam should never be smoothed out, as it brings together so many people from some many different cultural and social backgrounds.

Please feel free to drop by. From 4:00-6:00 p.m. you can come and see the exhibition at your ease. Or late at night, after 11:00 p.m., when the rather busy dinner time has finished and a lovely relaxed “after hours” atmosphere has descended on Café Bern.

Below you can already have a preview of some of the works exhibited at Café Bern.

Crispijn

If only I could have captured the moment

My name is Crispijn. Together with my wife Rozemarijn we trade in second hand goods at Waterlooplein. We have been doing so for 10 years now.

From the very start I had a photo camera lying in my car. But in 2015 I suddenly realized that I had to wear the camera at all times.

A regular customer in a small invalid vehicle wanted to inspect a spare wheel at our stall; he kept one feet inside his car but forgot to take it off the gas. The small vehicle rode out at quite a speed, ending up against a lamp post, that instantaneously lost its top. The regular, although infirm, could suddenly run fast and rode out of there. It was a magnificent spectacle and I said to myself: “If only I could have captured the moment”.

I have been wearing my camera ever since.

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