Jan van Munster | Straight Curved (Light/Dark)

Feb 10 - Mar 18, 2023 ONE | 1955 Julian Avenue
Installation Views
Overview
Opening: Saturday February 11, 5-8 PM

Quint ONE is pleased to present a 1985 sculpture by Dutch artist Jan van Munster, opening on February 11. Since the 1960s, van Munster’s oeuvre has been based on exploring a variety of materials around the same thematic element: energy. Through manipulating the properties of neon, granite, glass, and steel, his sculptures produce tension between opposing forces that may reach neutrality when exerted in equal measure.

 

As the title suggests, van Munster’s visual language deals with the sensorial balance between opposites and how each extreme can be manipulated through energy. Using the simplicity and universality of the line, van Munster draws on the polar qualities of neon as a medium that is both cold and hot, kinetic and static, light and dark. 

 

Jan van Munster graduated from the Academy of Visual Arts, Rotterdam and then received his MFA at the Institute of Applied Arts, Amsterdam in 1960. His work is included in the collections of some of the most prominent museums throughout Europe including the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem, and the Museum of Modern Art in Antwerp. In 2003, van Munster received the Wilhelmina-ring, which is the Dutch oeuvre prize for sculpture, and in 2020, he received the German Light Art Award, which honors artists for outstanding contributions to light art.

Selected Works