Piet Zwaanswijk: ‘Primates occupy Bern’

A collection of monkeys in all shapes and sizes

2nd of October 2021 – 3rd of March 2022 at Café Bern (extended during lockdown)

From the 3rd of October until the 2nd of December, 2021 Piet Zwaanswijk (1947) is exhibiting a selection of his work at Café Bern. All-embracing theme of the work shown in Bern: a collection of monkeys in all shapes and sizes.

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.

Piet Zwaanswijk

Haarlem, 1947

Piet Zwaanswijk is an autodidact and has been an artist since 1967. It would be hard to categorize his work as part of a movement or school. To him the self-chosen “Quasirealism” comes closest to characterize his work. The wide range of images, expressions, material use and techniques, mixed and interchanged all the time, all contribute to a unique image of Zwaanswijk.

As varied as his palette is his choice of subjects: images from newspapers or from the TV news, social injustice, war, terrorism, suicide, eroticism as well as humour, glamour, music or the seamy side of life.

Other sources of inspiration are his long stays in Indonesia, as well as art history. In short, life as it presents itself to Zwaanswijk: from understated to exuberant, from absurdistic to realistic, from abstract to figurative. Fragmentary connections that show multiple sides of subject and artist in all forms of expression. A major part of his work stems from passion and impulsiveness, to touch, to inspire, above all to amaze himself (and us). The work of Piet Zwaanswijk is similar to that of Martin Kippenberger (Germany) or Edwin Wurms (Austria): just as capricious and unimaginable, just as varied in its forms of expression.

For more information: www.pietzwaanswijk.nl

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Gerrit Pasman: The landscape

The whole field of view

12 March – 22 April 2022 in Café Bern

From 12 March to 22 April 2022 Gerrit Pasman (Lochem, 1955) exhibits landscapes in casein tempera and oil paint in Café Bern. A large, monumental space, translated onto a relatively small surface, while the space experience remains intact.

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.

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Sammy Iason: ‘The world surrounding me‘

28th of May – 26th of August 2022 at Café Bern

From 28 May to 26 August 2022, Sammy Iason (Heerlen, 1995) will exhibit a selection of his (analogue) photographic work, from the period 2018 to the present, including photographs from his latest series ‘Sleepers’.

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.

Sammy Iason

Heerlen, 1995

Sammy Iason lives and works in Amsterdam, where as a photographer he is inspired by the everyday. He focuses his lens on the street, on people he knows, but also on strangers and situations that may often be overlooked precisely because of their banality. In this way he tries to capture the moments the way he experiences them. Sammy is challenged and inspired by the work of major 20th-century photographers, including Brassaï, Vivian Maier and Elliott Erwitt.

He works analogueue and shoots his images, alternating quick snapshots and portrait photography, through the lens of various cameras such’s the Leica M6, Hasselblad and Rolleiflex. His black-and-white photographs often feature in series that he merges into zines like Arctic charm (2020), a series centered on the Icelandic landscape.

Sammy studied guitar at the pop department of the Amsterdam Conservatoire. Besides photography for various bands like City Park, Joya Mooi and Teddy’s Hit, for which he shot portraits and album sleeve art, his work was also shown in the exhibition Golden Glue (‘PAND, Heerlen, 2020). Also he plays in various bands.

For this exhibition he took a dip into his archive: ring binders filled with sheets full of negatives, dating from 2018 to 2022. Working with film and making prints gives him a lot of creative freedom. It gives a look and a certain character to the photos that’s unique. His field of work is the world around him. He always carries a camera to capture everyday life.

Sammy takes photographs of the city of Amsterdam and of the people he encounters, of friends and family, of the nightlife of the music world and the people and places that belong to it. Street photography, the people unknown to him who stand out from him, who somehow draw his attention.

The new work contains photographs of his series ‘SLEEPERS’: sleeping people in all kinds of postures in all kinds of places in the world. These photo’s have been bundled in a zine, but have not yet been printed. In addition, there are photographs shot in the center of Amsterdam.

Also check: www.sammyiason.com

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Eddie de Jong: ‘Dutch-Japanese character dictionary‘

August 27 – October 7, 2022 in Café Bern

In anticipation of the forthcoming appearance of his Dutch-Japanese character dictionary, Eddie de Jong (Amsterdam, 1950) will exhibit a selection from the artwork in Café Bern from the 27th of August to the 7th of October 2022, such as examples from the Japanese print, film and other arts, drawings and paintings by De Jong and fellow comic artists plus other works, to illustrate the approximately 3.000 ‘kanji’ (Chinese Japanese characters).

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.

Eddie de Jong

Amsterdam, 1950

A life dedicated to drawing: that draws the picture of Eddie de Jong. His years at the Vondel Gymnasium (now the Barlaeus) formed the beginning of a long-standing collaboration with René Windig. Together they made furor with the daily comic Heinz, which appeared in many newspapers like the Parool from 1987 to 2007.

Before then, they had written stories for the Donald Duck (1974-1975) and stories like Dick Bosch, Oom Wim et al for various magazines (1979-1985), including the Balloen.

In the autumn of his life Eddie de Jong started a Kanji study in 2012: the study of Chinese/Japanese characters. The soon to be published ‘Nederlands-Japanese character dictionary’ will be the tangible result of this study. Needless to say, that book will feature many drawings and paintings by Eddie’s hand as well as by other artists.

Eddie de Jong lives alternately in Amsterdam and with his wife in the USA, where he has done most of his Kanji study.

The illustration material shown is not (yet) for sale, as it is still needed in the production of the book. Eddie de Jong will be more than happy to make a dragon painting (acrylic, A4). More information about this in Café Bern.

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Robert Duyf: ‘10 Years, Sweet Memories‘

4 December 2022 – 27 January 2023 at Café Bern

From 4 December 2022 to 27 January 2023, work by the artist Robert Duyf, who died in 2012, can be seen in Café Bern. With this exhibition friends, family and Café Bern want to pay a final tribute to Robert Duyf. With his house and studio around the corner, he was a well-known person in the neighborhood and a very welcome guest in Café Bern.

All exhibited work is for sale. Robert’s brother Hans, who manages Robert’s bequeathed work, donates 20% of the proceeds to the Salvation Army.

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.

Robert Duyf

Bombay, 1950 – Anandapuram, 2012

Robert was a multi-disciplinary artist in the broadest sense of the word. He exhibited in the Stedelijk Museum and in various galleries, was a linchpin in the Dordtse Art Society Pictura and for many years created decorations for the Rho Theater and the Stadsschouwburg in Rotterdam. His work ranges from simple lines to colorful scenes that undoubtedly reflect his close relationship with his native India. Just as colorful were the group exhibitions he organized and with which he showed contemporary artists to a large audience.

There are a limited number of books available at the exhibition (€20) about the vibrant life of Robert Duyf.

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Obituary in ‘Het Parool’, 2012

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