AMSTERDAM.- Galerie Ron Mandos is presenting Crescendo!, the first solo exhibition by Maarten Baas in Amsterdam. In this exhibition, Baas takes a bold approach, using a series of musical instruments to explore the tension between grand aspirations and practical reality. The show runs from January 18 to March 9, 2025.
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Maarten Baas, an internationally acclaimed artist and designer, is renowned for his unique ability to challenge conventions and push creative boundaries—both his own and those of his collaborators. The theme of navigating and redefining limits often takes center stage in his work.
“In his first solo exhibition at the gallery, Maarten makes his debut in the art world. Apart from a few examples of his world-renowned designs, the exhibition primarily focuses on his fine art. In Crescendo!, Maarten Baas reinvents himself by bravely entering this new world. True to Maarten Baas’s style, he offers a critical perspective on the fine arts. What is its true value? What purpose do musical instruments serve when they are smashed or left hanging? For me, his new works symbolize the severe budget cuts currently being made to the arts and culture sector.” – Ron Mandos
The title Crescendo! refers to the musical term describing a gradual increase in volume and intensity and is also used metaphorically to signify prosperity and growth. For Baas, it reflects the delicate balance between the intangible, magical qualities of art and the practical constraints faced by its creators—a metaphor for human dreams often tempered by reality.
In Crescendo!, Maarten Baas delves into this interplay, with musical instruments symbolizing freedom and beauty. “Musical instruments fascinate me for their inherent poetry—they can create something entirely intangible yet deeply moving: music. At the same time, we live in a world driven by economic value and practicality. This mirrors the daily balance we all navigate, where reality is often less romantic than we envision,” Baas explains.
The exhibition opens with a striking installation featuring two pianos suspended from hooks, evoking the imagery of animals in a slaughterhouse. The legs of the spinning pianos drag ominously across the floor. Just as living creatures are reduced to commodities, these instruments are stripped of their original potential, displayed as objects for sale.
A more literal reflection on limitations comes in the form of the gallery’s door dimensions, which dictated the size of several new artworks. In response, Baas compressed trumpets into compact forms that fit within the constraints of a mailbox package.
A highlight of the exhibition is Variations in E Minor. On a stage, 56 spherical objects of various sizes are arranged, each appearing to represent an instrument from a complete symphony orchestra. These compressed forms challenge traditional perceptions of musical expression and creativity. True to Baas’s signature style, the installation plays with duality: do the instruments’ voices remain confined within the spherical shapes, or do these forms suggest latent potential, like seeds waiting to germinate?
At the back of the gallery, a retrospective showcases over 20 years of Baas’s work, tracing his evolution from design to fine art. Early works often balance absurdity with functionality, such as his student project Hey, Chair Be a Bookshelf!, which broke assignment rules to create a sculptural bookshelf from stacked objects. Another example is the Close Parity cabinet, inspired by the naive logic of children but crafted with expert precision, resulting in a top-heavy yet stable piece. This retrospective highlights how Baas balances between grand aspirations and practical reality.
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