Ellen Spijkstra exhibits ‘Oud en Nieuw’ (Old and New)

Ellen Spijkstra‘s new photographic series ‘Clean and Fresh’ are printed on poly-silk. The photographic theme is the fresh laundry, hanging outside to dry  in the Caribbean wind and sun. For the exhibit the photo’s were casually displayed, hanging with clothes pegs on a rope between the palm trees, on the patio of the hotel.

As explained in the opening speech by Frank Kunneman, the artist was approached by the lawyer’s office of Vaneps Kunneman Vandoorne for their yearly calendar. It was then decided that Ellen would do a series of 3 calendars, with a different focus for each year. All themes were set by the artist herself. The first theme was ‘Water’ for the calendar of 2011, followed by the color red in ‘Looking for Red’ in the 2012 issue. For the new year 2013, Ellen’s lens focused on the clean laundry, hanging to dry, everywhere on the island.  Eyeing the exhibit and the surprising display, it becomes easy to understand the artists fascination with this year’s theme. All kinds of fabric in all different colors hanging on a rope, subject to wind and sunlight, actually offers a fascinating play of light, shape, line and color.

As stated in the title, the present exhibit shows old and new photographs of all three series.