Lot 115: HANS AARSMAN

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Description: HANS AARSMAN DUTCH B. 1951 CHILDHOOD TOY ROCKET, GIVEN AWAY ON 1 JULY 2008 2010 inkjet, pigment ink on paper edition 1/1 + AP sheet: 100 x 70 cm / 39.37 x 27.56"; image: 90 x 60 cm / 35.43 x 23.62"

Notes: In 1980, Hans Aarsman turned his attention first to photography, both photo-journalism and unique work (including commissions from the Rijksmuseum and Holland Festival). After touring the Netherlands in a camper van, Aarsman published his first book, Hollandse Taferelen (1988), containing photos and notes of his trip. Once back in Amsterdam, he wrote and photographed Aarsmans Amsterdam (1993). In 1994 he gave up photography, sold his cameras and started writing publishing a novel and a number of plays. Now he writes a weekly column on photography in newspaper de Volkskrant and on www.photoq.nl, he is also the editor of and contributor to Useful Photography, a magazine presenting photography without pretentions. While clearing out his house, Aarsman discovered it was easier to detach from matter once you'd taken a photo of it. 'I had this toy rocket at home. And felt an emotional attachment to it. I gave it to a little boy who was overjoyed with it. I thought – I'll take a photo, and that'll be that.' Now the photo is hanging on a bare wall in his flat.

Hans Aarsman is advisor at the Rijksakademie and studied there between 1978-1981.

Provenance: donated by the artist

Exhibited: Some recent solo exhibitions
Vlaams Cultuurhuis de Brakke Grond, Amsterdam 2008, 'Hans Aarsman: Niemand kan het'
Photographers' Gallery, London 2008, 'Photography Against Consumerism'
Nederlands Fotomuseum, Rotterdam 2003, 'Hans Aarsman: Vrrooom! Vrrooomm! Autofotografie'

Some recent group exhibitions
George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film, Rochester 2009, 'Nature as Artifice: New Dutch Landscape in Photography and Video Art'
The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago 2005, 'In Sight: Contemporary Dutch Photography'
Galerie Jan Mot, Brussels 2002, 'Proposed by Rineke Dijkstra' (with Johannes Schwarts and Arno Nollen)

Literature: Selected publications
Flip Bool [et al.], Dutch eyes: nieuwe geschiedenis van de fotografie in Nederland, Zwolle: Waanders 2007
Hans Aarsman: invisible Ghent: photos and diagrammes of the city, Ghent: Gent Cultuurstad 2004
Marloes Krijnen (ed.), FOAM 'dutch delight', Amsterdam: foam 2002

Selected public and corporate collections
Nederlands Fotomuseum, Rotterdam, NL • Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, NL