More is More

"This is the first native American temple"
"I found my heaven on earth, it is made by Christie van der Haak"

These are a few examples of texts I find under photos on Instagram from people I don't know but find my installation at and in the Wolfsonian in Miami so impressive that these texts come out.

In November 2015, I was allowed to receive the Ouborg Prize in The Hague, it is awarded once every two years to a Hague artist. I was allowed to make a book, Sproken, together with Studio Renate Boere, I received an exhibition in the Haags Gemeentemuseum and a sum of money. The exhibition was on display until January last year. 2015 was the year I turned 65 and after 25 years my work as a painting teacher at the Royal Academy in The Hague unfortunately came to an end. It was also the year that Galerie Vivid showed my work at the Design Fair in Basel.

From 2003 onwards I have transformed the making of paintings into the design of patterns which are then woven in different places, from furniture fabrics that can be applied to large wall hangings, the last of which was also manufactured in Wielsbeke at Flandres Tapestries with 9 colors. It started in the Textile Museum in Tilburg, there my love for weaving and all its possibilities was born.

At the heart of everything are the patterns that were also very important in my paintings. I make everything by hand and try to surprise myself with each new drawing. For me, a drawing must be complex and offer many possibilities in the way the motifs are repeated.

At the Gemeentemuseum, I had the opportunity to fully utilize the aspect of patterns. Instead of weaving, I used the printing machine that can make a kind of wallpaper. In the project room in the beautiful Berlage building, I made extra walls, making it a kind of palace. Enlarging the patterns made the handiwork of the gouache visible again.

It was a spectacular experience to enter the space and spend some time there; there was furniture with my fabric on which to sit, bowls and paintings hung on the wall, and here and there was a glass octopus, all works that I have made over the past few years. For many people it gave a shock, which made everyone start talking to each other. I was on site a lot during the period of the exhibition because it was so special to hear the reactions of visitors. It made many people happy, one told me he had never been in such a space before.

For me personally it was a huge leap in my development as an artist, I realized that thanks to my age I finally allowed myself to go all the way. Also thanks to the Gemeentemuseum, the beautiful space, the means to realize such a thing I did not hold back. It was as if I had always done that in the years before, don't ask me why. I also don't know if there are more artists who recognize this because I have always dared a lot. The bottom line is that I feel stronger now as an artist than ever before and I hope to stay healthy because I still want to make so many beautiful good works.

That it could go even further and more radical became clear when I was asked by a museum in Miami, the Wolfsonian. Shortly after the award ceremony at the museum, I went to Miami where my work was again on display through Vivid at the Miami/Basel Design Fair. I knew that in the Art Deco district there is a very special museum where there is a remarkable collection of the Amsterdam School. The building is a striking example of Art Deco architecture in Miami, robust with high floors.

I called the museum to make contact with the curator Silvia Barisione and asked her if she had time to receive me because I wanted to give my book to her. She did, the next day, we had a good conversation and the book was so smashing that she brought in the director of the museum to look at it. He too became an instant fan of my work. Unfortunately, they always make exhibitions from their collection and do not work much with contemporary artists. A few months later, to my surprise, I received an email from Silvia, telling me that there was an exhibition coming up in November, New Dutch Design 1890 - 1940 and that she wanted to ask me to do something with the exterior and possibly the lobby of the museum in the vein of my work at the Gemeentemuseum. This meant a huge commission, the opening would be in November 2016.

With my assistant I immediately went to work, we had been working together for some time on my drawings, an archive of several hundred patterns had already been created. For the commission I created a new pattern, a strong and sturdy pattern that does justice to the character of the building.

It's crazy that at such a distance with a photo of the building you can make the idea completely visible. A few weeks later we were able to show a beautiful sketch that immediately drew an enthusiastic response from the museum. The museum was donated to the university as a building with the collection; they have no money of their own. That is a problem when you are asked to realize such a large work. But like many museums in America that don't have any money either, they are very good at generating money, i.e. using sponsorship to acquire large donations from donors who want to be involved.

In Miami, an entire team was active in making efforts to this end. Money was also requested from the Dutch funds Mondriaan Fonds and Stimuleringsfonds, which made substantial contributions. It was impressive how comprehensively and carefully this was handled. The Wolfsonian made an effort to bring additional activities to the museum to show the importance of my work to various people in the art and design world.

The strange thing is that the Wolfsonian is not very well known to the average Miami resident, the name of the museum does not immediately evoke recognition and the building does not make it very visible to the outside that it is a museum at all. There is, however, an attractive store at street level where beautiful design gadgets are for sale. Anyway, while writing this I am already further into the process of the exciting year that preceded the implementation of the project, waiting for the results of various funds and the museum, which really had to come up with a good budget to finance, among other things, my fee and the travel and accommodation costs. Meanwhile, we were constantly sharpening the design: what can be cut and what added, how can we keep the costs down and still maintain the overwhelming result? While I also had other assignments and exhibitions to attend, I stoically tried to follow the developments, constantly reminding myself that it could well not go ahead at all if certain preconditions were not met.

And then, suddenly, it all came very close: there was enough money, also thanks to the Mondriaan Fund, Stimuleringsfonds and Stroom Den Haag. I went to Miami with my assistant to test the patterns on the spot with the computer, the museum would also like me to tackle the lobby. While we were having lunch with the museum team, an email came in that a couple was enthusiastic about my work and wanted to meet me for lunch; depending on my story they wanted to see if they would donate the remaining amount for the lobby and maybe, if it would go down very well, also the remaining amount for the exterior. Joy all around. The next day they, the Frankels, came to the museum. There were seven people at the table, it was pleasant and they looked very carefully at the presentation in the computer, we could show what we could do with different budgets.

"More is more, Christie," said Linda Frankel. I couldn't agree more; besides, it turned out to be the perfect title for the work and the process. After lunch, the director and financial officer got up to continue talking to the couple. "So what happens in there?", I asked the team that stayed behind. "Well, then the director says, 'If you give this much we can do this or that, but if you give even more then this or that will be added.' I just want to say: straight to the point without fuss, tactical maneuvers or modest wait and see. After the weekend it turned out that they were indeed going to add in and out the rest of the deficit in the budget. We could really start making it, a dream!

The opening was a fantastic party with over 300 people, everyone was very excited. Two weeks later was the opening of Design Miami/Basel and a number of international art magazines and blogs mentioned More is More in their top 5 or top 10 as a must see if you were going to Miami. I met many new people at the various openings and parties and invitations from the US are definitely coming again, political developments there permitting.