Bart de Baets - Exhibition #1

Ever since 2001 Bart and I have been class mates, friends, neighbors, car sharers, colleagues and even competitors. I knew his work from e-mailed sketches, test prints, every now and then a single piece in his studio, found on my doormat, on his website or somewhere in public space. But I had never seen all his work at once. And neither did he.



The shelves of my living room cabinet are filled with 39 items by Bart de Baets. It's hard to tell whether a work is commissioned, self initiated or just a means of communications with students. A work can be a birthday announcement for his parents or a book for an artist. Bart will not only give it a shape, by his shape he will also give it a content.






I never understood what Bart was looking for. But I knew that he had a clear vision of it and was very precise in his approach. Now with all his work in the cabinet, I see a mix of wonderous color combinations, odd sizes, clever slogans, all combined into a new reality. Bart's world tries to tell me how to get rid of a body, that brown is a good color, how Mickey goes to art school, that there's never enough typefaces, you can write a book (or two), a postcard is a lot bigger than you thought, a business card can be a hit, there's even more you can do to photo books and a wish list can be a mission statement.

I think I understand Bart's work better now. His quest for ugliness resulted in a world of beauty, with a new shape and a new language for every single item. I'm proud that it's part of my living room these next three weeks. I hope to share it with a lot of people.



Schrank8 - The four shelves (click to enlarge)

All pictures for this post were taken by Charlott Markus.
Thank you so much for your time and effort, Charlott!

Bart de Baets - Opening

Yesterday Schrank8 was open for public for the first time. So many people showed up to see the works of Bart de Baets. It was amazing and great fun.

The opening of 'SCHRANK8 - Bart de Baets' was made possible with the caring help of Babette and Suzanne serving us 28 bottles of wine, 4.5 liters of orange juice, 6 liters of mineral water and loads of smiles. Thanks girls!

Bart de Baets - In Progress

Bart is currently (watching his favorite tv-show and) setting up the cabinet in preparation for the opening on Friday.

Bart de Baets - Invitation

On January 29th 2010 Home Gallery SCHRANK8 will kick of with its first exhibition. Graphic designer Bart de Baets is invited to fill the shelves of the cabinet.

SCHRANK8 - Name

The cabinet has an old handwritten label with 'Schrank 8' on it. 'Schrank' is German for cabinet. The '8' makes me wonder were the other seven are...

SCHRANK8 - The start

In 2007 I purchased a wooden 1930's showcase cabinet. For the first years I used it to proudly display beautiful items. But lately I've gotten a bit lazy and it got quite messy. Time to invite someone else to take care of it.

SCHRANK8 - Before start

The content before start:
(in order op appearance)
Tivoli Audio, Model Two / 12x 3D letter for exhibition signage Come to my place / Candleholder / Glass vase with coins / Post-its / Airmiles card / Businesscard of Kim Bouvy, designed by me / Businesscard of Wouter Klein Velderman, designed by Suzanne Caerteling / Businesscard of Kultivator, designed by Floor Wesseling / Invites to Paradise Lost, Hotel Mariakapel and W139 designed by Bart de Baets / Set of birthday cards with kittens, 5x Unopend foreign chewinggum packages, Seal-stamp ‘H’, Little leather brown note book, Mini paper knife, presents from Noor Berkman / CD’s and DVD’s / Flashlight / Silver ring, present from my mother / 5x whiskers from two cats / 10 guilder-cents coin from 1977 / Paper aeroplane / Plastic Disney figure from Albert Heijn / Kodak Album Classeur, empty green leather picture wallet / Empty bottle of coffee liquor, present from Herman Verhagen / Full bottle of Boccate de Fraise des Bois liquor, present from Terry van Druten / Mini can of Jodenkoeken, big can of Stroopkoeken / Wrapping paper with woodprint by Miek Zwamborn with morse code cards in felt jacket / 7x Album by De Kift / 6x Soap bar, present from Bart de Baets / Lacie external harddrive, broken / 2x Chanel package, a plastic groom, birthday card with rabbit, presents from Karen Willey and Marieke Stolk / Wooden spoon, fork and knife / Chinese babushka’s, present from Marian Engelbertink / Fake mini plastic pencil and sharpner buttons / Empty De Ruijter Anijsmelk package / Spare set of house keys / Delft Blue vase / Package of 44 and 88 cent stamps, designed by me / Set of earphones / Old custard package Albert Heijn, ‘taken’ from the parents of Gijs Weijer / Bell’s Seasoning package / Papersheet with cutout alphabet, present from my mother / Book ‘Rickey Ragebol en het Brave Hansje’, present from Tom Balm and Julie / 4x Stacked Ikea display shelves / Can of WD-40 multispray / Pair of sunglasses / Piece of plastic bubble wrap / Red baby t-shirt, birth announcement for Soraya Wesseling, designed by Floor Wesseling / Pritt correct-it roll / Green felt handbag from Tommy Hilfiger / 4x Invites for Soepboer&Stooker, Invite Hotel Mariakapel, Service Garage, Horsemove designed by Michiel Schuurman / Brochure for ‘Uit de tijd’, Service Garage, designed by Michiel Schuurman / 3x Invites for W139, designed by Bart de Baets / Flyer for Undercover, designed by Job Wouters and Yvo Sprey / Birthcard of Bobbie Boom / Brochure ‘Voor of tegen de atoombom’, 1950 / Bag of flowerseeds, present of Herman Verhagen / Postcard ‘Burglar’ from the criminal alphabet by Stymir Orn Guomundsson / Estonian music note book, 1962 / 3x Scratched letter ‘h’ postcard / Businesscard of Hugo Naber / Aluminum brooch of a butterfly / Vedett bottle cap / 5x Estonian magazine, 1965 / 4x Pictures of my graduation, 2003 / 2x Pictures of project by Eric de Haas, 2005 / Birthcard of Egon Ruiter, design by me / Wedding invitation Gijs and Serena, design by Michiel Schuurman / Set of handouts by Arie / ‘20 Steunbonnen’, coupon booklet to help Spain, from the 1930’s / Bulkboek # 54, Belcampo, a novel published in a newspaper, 1976 / Poësie-album, cover made my father / Recipe for heartburn cabbage by my grandmother / Booklet ‘Diploma’ by Daniel Maarleveld / My name in orange marker, by PenJet, graduation project from three Rietveld students / TV, VCR and 3x remotes / Big old empty log book for the city Oss, present from my father / Road maps of Italy, Paris, The Hague and Amsterdam / Old leather Canon photo case / Two green plastic rulers, one with Russian letters / Big white ball with multi-colored light, present from Bart de Baets / Curb Your Enthusiasm DVD-box / Vinyl single Automobile by singer Hansje, present from Ramon / 2x Fake or Real game, by Mieke Gerritzen / 3x wooden knitting neelde cover, from grandmother / 2x Mourning card from 1900’s / Zeeuws kapje, historical traditional dutch cap / Book ‘Hansje Wip en het boomhuis’ / Book ‘Een hut voor Hansje’ / ‘Poezenkrant’ Vol. IV, Nr 22, 22 August 1977, by Piet Schreuders / Fake moustache / ‘Ken je gezelschapspel’, designed by me / Invite to exhibition Paulien Oltheten / Tijs en Lapje, photobook with texts by Annie M.G. Schmidt, 1960 / Almost empty bottle of Wodka, present from Johannes Naan / Dummy of my own book / Three colors of cotton wool / Birthcard of Magali Wiersma, designed by Chromosoom / Wafer drum / CD ‘Lost in the Forest’ by Brigid LeFevre, designed by me / Books that are (not) worth mentioning.

Bart de Baets - Content #1

The content of SCHRANK8 by Bart de Baets:


Schrank8 - The four shelves (click to enlarge) - pictures by Charlott Markus.

(in order op appearance)
Things to do before I die poster (silkscreen) / Johan & Miriam, birthday invitation (laser print) / Death to the Corpse, briefing for Rietveld assignment (laser print), set of business cards for Sajoscha Tallirz (stencil print by Knust), An Upward Movement, invitation for a show by Rinny Biberstein (off set) / How to get rid of a body from the series Let's get physical - booklet for Rietveld students (laser print) / United Colors Of, book design for Frank Koolen (off set) / Color me bad, How's Bubbles doing?, Write a suicide note or ransome note, from the series Let's get physical (laser print) / Party, entrance ticket for W139 (stencil print by Knust) / The Collectors, invitation for W139 (stencil print by Knust) / Personal Affects invitation Hotel Mariakapel exhibition with David Blandy, Theo Cowley, Bas Schevers, Johnny Amore (stencil print by Knust) / No Future, W139 30th birthday party poster (stencil print by Knust) / Mickeys walk on the wild side, booklet with Rietveld students (laser print) / Invitation for Lost&Found (off set) / book launch invite to 'Mosquitoes, elephants, mountains and molehills' (laser print) / blue Rietveld assignment (laser print) / De luister van het land, book for Koen Hauser (off set), Mosquitoes, elephants, mountains and molehills - II (off set) / The Pop Quiz Hotshot, Rietveld assignment (laser print) / C.A.R.L., newsletter for Eric Von Robbertson (stencil print by Knust) / Write down a sentence of exactly fifteen words, from the series Let's get physical (laser print) / Welcome to Egypt - Don't know much about history, publication of the diary during Bart's artist in residency in Egypt / Thank you for hurting me. I really needed that..., poster for Melanie Bonajo / Who eats who?, from the series Let's get physical (laser print) / Mosquitoes, elephants, mountains and molehills, poster (off set) / Stacked and Scattered - George Korsmit + Federico Campanale + Constant Dullaart + Frank Mandersloot + Henny Overbeek + Boris Tellegen + Nico Jungmann, Dafna Maimon in three different shades, Application of the Boon - Alexandra Werlich and Matthijs Rensman, Aufruf zur Phase Null, Today's Special - Sjim Hendrix, Distinguished by the Swans - Erin Dunn, all invitations for W139 / Gijs' business (stencil print by Knust) / Write down five capitol cities in alphabetical order, from the series Let's get physical-booklet for Rietveld students (laser print) / Make a visual music essay, assignment for Rietveld students / Mister Motley, post card / Mosquitoes, elephants, mountains and molehills, 2nd issue (laser printed pre-release) / Draw a famous cities' skyline, from the series Let's get physical (laser print) / There's a theory [...], assignment for Rietveld students / I'm easy (like a Sunday morning), (laser printed pre-release of Mosquitoes, [...]) / Is there life on maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaars?, from the series Let's get physical (laser print) / Star Trek, Star Wars - What's the difference?, from the series Let's get physical (laser print) / Full House, Gijs' moving card (stencil print by Knust) / Composition 2, invitation for de Balie / '+31(0)652058492 For a Good Time', back side of a fanzine.