‘Building a new world’, 30 June to 29 September 2024, CODA Museum Apeldoorn. Featuring work by Constant Nieuwenhuys, Gerbrand Burger, Floris Hovers, Pip Passchier and Rob Voerman.

Constant Nieuwenhuys - ‘Building a new world’

Editing, arranging, ordering, composing, stacking, merging and breaking down in order to then be able to build again.....

‘Building’ is a broad principle. Architects, designers and artists, when creating sculptures and installations, are often guided by a playful, exploratory and intuitive process that leads to new insights about architectural forms and compositions.

The end result evokes associations with utopian worlds. It may refer to buildings and constructions from childhood, or, on the contrary, outline a dreary and apocalyptic worldview.

The CODA museum in Apeldoorn presents the group exhibition ‘Building a new world’ from 30 June to 29 September 2024. This exhibition shows the work of five artists and takes as its starting point the 1963 manifesto ‘New Babylon’ by visual artist Constant Nieuwenhuys (1920-2005). In this manifesto, he gives his vision of the city of the future in which the creative, playing human being is central. In addition to Constant's work, the exhibition features sculptures, installations and drawings by Gerbrand Burger, Floris Hovers, Pip Passchier and Rob Voerman.

Constant Nieuwenhuys

Constant was a member of the well-known international CoBrA group (1948-1951) and made a name for himself from 1956 to 1974 with his ‘New Babylon’ project.

In the period of post-war reconstruction, society was changing due to automation and with it the increase in leisure time. From 1956, Constant designed urban models in which people were freed from manual labour and could fully devote themselves to the development of their own creative ideas. The CODA exhibition ‘Building a new world’ features two 1960 models by Constant from the collection of Kunstmuseum Den Haag. Also on display is a unique 1956 painting made by Constant in the Italian town of Alba, which CODA received on loan from the Fondation Constant.

Floris Hovers

Floris Hovers draws inspiration from toys in his work, saying, ‘As an adult, can you revisit naivety without being held back by all the knowledge and skill you have amassed? Always keep playing!’ Hovers' fantasy cities, skylines and abandoned factories are on display in the “Building a New World” exhibition, where his designs constantly seek simplicity and a balanced balance between function and aesthetics.

Hovers calls the result of that quest ‘letting the excess evaporate’. The structures and patterns of Herman Hertzberger, architect of the CODA Museum building, are also recognisable in the grids of Floris Hovers' honeycomb cardboard works. He strives for structures that are not complex, but that elicit wonder and sympathy.

'Building a New World' can be seen from 30 June to 29 September 2024 and shows how artists are building a different, new world in different ways from their own perspective and professional practice.

More information at www.coda-apeldoorn.nl

LEGO exhibition: ‘Travelling Bricks’

Overlapping with the exhibition ‘Building a new world’, CODA Museum Apeldoorn also hosts the travelling LEGO exhibition 'Travelling Bricks' until 25 August. In this cheerful exhibition, you will discover everything about transport and means of transport, and of course let your imagination run wild with the 200,000 LEGO bricks you can use to build your own car, bicycle, boat, rocket, train or means of transport that do not yet exist!

In short, for both adults and children, a visit to the CODA Museum this summer is well worthwhile. Don't forget the museum shop, where you can buy various designs by Floris Hovers for IKONIC!