Woody van Amen. The Best of

Woody van Amen

Woody van Amen. The Best of showcases key works from his decades-long body of work and traces the development of his art from the early 1960s, when he emerged as one of the pioneers of Pop Art in the Netherlands. From Pop Art paintings and assemblages to the iconic ‘taxat’ motif: the exhibition demonstrates how Van Amen continually explores the boundaries of visual culture, technology and spirituality. His playful, direct and incisive visual language ensures that this artist remains relevant to this day.

Experiment

A remarkable work by Van Amen is Habanera (1961). The work, presented at the time as the longest painting in the world, is a painting on a thirteen-metre-long organ manual. Over the holes that control the music, Van Amen applied his own abstract, expressionist score.

Pop Art

In the early 1960s, Van Amen travelled to the United States, where he came into contact with artists such as Andy Warhol and Robert Rauschenberg. There, he encountered an art scene centred on everyday objects, brand names and images from consumer society. This influence is clearly visible in his early work.