On Saturday, 18 January, Slewe Gallery will celebrate the new year between 15:00 and 18:00 amidst the current exhibition But the Energy Continues by the recently deceased Dutch artist Jan van Munster (1939–2024). This exhibition will be extended by two weeks until February 1. Van Munster is renowned for his impressive oeuvre of minimalist geometric sculptures that visualise the phenomena of energy. The exhibition presents his final light works in relation to some of his early light works from the 1970s. It is his second solo exhibition at Sluwe Gallery.
About Jan van Munster
Jan van Munster was one of the most remarkable and influential artists of his generation in the Netherlands. He worked with various sources of energy, such as cold and heat, light and electricity, or magnetism. His work explores contrasts like positive-negative, light-dark, or warm-cold. In addition to their strong physical presence, his works convey spiritual forces as metaphors for life.
Van Munster’s career began in the 1960s alongside other renowned artists such as Ad Dekkers, Peter Struycken, and Marinus Boezem. During that time, he used traditional materials like marble, stone, iron, and steel. However, from the 1970s onwards, he began employing materials like polyester, granite, mercury, and neon tubes to channel energy. During the same period, he created films of his performances, in which he used his own body to visualise energy. In his later years, he translated his brain activity into neon sculptures.
Van Munster created a unique artistic domain around a water tower on the Zeeland peninsula of Walcheren. It served as a place to live, produce art, and display works in an ideal context. His works can be found in many cities across the Netherlands and Germany, as well as in major private and public collections, including the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, Museum Boijmans in Rotterdam, and Museum Voorlinden in Wassenaar, among others. He received numerous art prizes, most recently the Deutsche Lichtkunstpreis, which was celebrated with an exhibition at Kunstmuseum Celle in 2020.
