Clay is cool 3.

This morning I visited Peter Tomesen, who was Marlies' partner for many years and has always remained her friend. 

Not only does Peter have many wonderful stories about Marlies, he also has a collection of photos that capture Marlies and the Breda art scene at that time beautifully.  

The photos are striking because of the sheer joy of life they radiate, and because they show how close Marlies was to her fellow ceramicists, Annerie Teuling and Tjitske Dijkstra. 

As a preview, I am allowed to show readers of this blog these two photos of Marlies with Annerie and Tjitske, and two great portraits of Marlies.

Thank you very much for sharing this wonderful material, Peter.

Annerie Teuling and Marlies van Wijk

Marlies van Wijk and Tjitske Dijkstra

Who's Afraid of Red,Yellow and Blue

Marlies van Wijk

A wall of masks

The moment Denneke discovered these masks in her shed is pictured here.

In these two photos (thanks, Denneke!) we can now see them in their restored state.    

It is clear that some of the masks were deliberately deformed. 

No photos of the original display have been found yet, but no doubt Marlies would have carefully considered the order in which they should be arranged.  

Hopefully, photos of the exhibition will turn up one day.

Denneke has managed to trasce eighteen masks. Another one is owned by Annerie Teuling.

   

Parts of larger installations

Pleased

One of the best things about writing this blog is the enthusiasm of Marlies' family and friends and their contributions in the form of memories and photos of works in their collection.

I was particularly happy to see several items that were part of the two large installations Marlies did in the 1980s and 1990s.

Floor piece from 1983

In 1983, Marlies covered a floor in the Beyerd in Breda with 903 clay hand grips. Some where white, some had writing on them, forming a cross pattern within the white square.

The Bourequat brothers

Another large-scale work from the 1990s was dedicated to the Bourequat brothers, who were unjustly imprisoned in Tazmamart for many years.

Marlies showed it at the TB Gallery in Etten-Leur in a joint exhibition with her great friend Klaartje Scheer.

Klaartje told me that the work of Marlies consisted of a series of large, dark panels of chamotte clay (one for each year the brothers were imprisoned) and a wall of white masks, each showing a different small deformation.

Surviving pieces

Annerie Teuling's collection includes both a mask from the Bourequat exhibition and a hand grip from the floor piece.

Klaartje also owns one of these hand grips, so now I only need to find the other 901!

Marlies' niece Denneke owns several masks that are currently being cleaned and will be ready to be photographed soon.

The photos below of Annerie Teuling's collection were taken by Jessie Hocks. Thank you so much again, Jessie!

The dog forms a pair with the dog owned by Marlies' niece. It would be great to exhibit them together.

The Easter bunny - made in clay from an old chocolate mold - looks great! Marlies also loved sugar animals, so this one fits right in.

From Floor Piece 1983

Collection Annerie Teuling

Clay is cool 2.

Jessie Hocks, the daughter of Annerie Teuling and Teun Hocks, kindly sent me a photo of the missing Marlies sheet from my Artoteek folder. Many thanks for that!

Also pictured in this beautiful photo is one of two almost identical dogs, one owned by Marlies' niece and one by Annerie Teuling. This means we can date the pair to the mid-eighties.

Marlies van Wijk

Photo Marius Klabbers

Every dog has its day

These two come from the home of another of Marlies' nieces - Denneke's sister. Thanks a lot for sharing them!

They are playful and happy:

Breda friends

Most of the artists who worked in Breda in the seventies and eighties were friends and participated in each other's exhibitions.

They also collaborated on projects such as the Galerie de Luxe, a shoebox-sized gallery founded by Teun Hocks.

This work by Sef Peeters from the mid-seventies is one of these collaborations, a wonderful example of mail art. I am publishing it here because it also features Annerie Teuling, who signs her card as Annerie Hocks. Also adding to the work are Teun Hocks, Harrie de Kroon, Pieter Laurens Mol and Moniek Toebosch.

Another set of these cards is kept in the Stedelijk Museum Breda. 

In Bed

This is probably one of Marlies's earliest works. It comes from the collection of Marius Boender, who kindly shared his photos with me.

Marlies and Marius Boender got together after she returned from Japan in the early 1970s.

Mr Boender points out that Marlies made it using a mold of a real, small mattress.

According to him the work should be viewed in the context of hyperrealism and the art of Claes Oldenburg, which were popular in the early 1970s. The spirit of the times is also evident in the piece.

Mr Boender only just saved the work in time, as Marlies had almost thrown it away after they moved house.