Our Mission & Vision
The Blindpainters Foundation is an Amsterdam based Art Foundation founded in 1994.
It produces transcendent projects in a contemporary art context. Metaphorically the name Blindpainters is understood as in ‘turning a blind eye on facing constraints’, when manifesting complex projects. Quality and care are top priorities. The manpower behind it is a sustainable network of people, who not only enjoy immensely the energy released by the projects but also believe that these projects are to set milestones in the journey of art history. By realising the impossible they find the inspiration for continuity and uniqueness.
Blindpainters is multi-tasked, from art production work to curatorial arrangements, from film productions to book publishing. Please find out more about these projects in other sections on this website.
The teams include people in Amsterdam and abroad:
David Haberkamp (printed matter, design)
Frank Theys, Jelle Baars (videography)
Lies Schermer (general support)
At this occasion we would like to thank the following people within the network and supporters here in Amsterdam and overseas for their dedication and help with the projects:
Carol Poyé, Rodney Sinclair, John Klinkenberg, Eva de Klerk, Paul Vogel, Jeroen de Swaaf, Ciska van Beek, Jon de Ruijter, Michi Meier, Frank Gössinger, Luis Soler Monte, Martin Rendel, Dania ten Hoopen, Giampi D’andrea, Argenti Pietro, Anna Flavia Roman, Loredana Manfrè, Ellis van de Giessen, Edo Sutherland, Suzanne Loohuis, Fred Gales, Isabelle Galzin, Ale Bosma, Hans Buitelaar, Mirjam Makkenze, Luciënne Kleverlaan, Akko Dekkers, Myriam Curiel, James Fitzpatrick, Bart Majoor, Jeroen van Roon, Aleksandar Andjic, Jelena Milisavac, Hans-Peter Wipplinger, Mike Schlichting, Marcel van der Bilt, Diana Wempe, Christy Deves, Rowin Snijder, Bart Majoor, Menno Stegeman, Henk Talma, Tom Skullerud, Judith Huemer, Soheila Najand, Hans Gaasbeek, Toek, Azart, Martin Angstl, Agnès Bompy, Margarita Godi, Wolfgang Preisinger, Ruud Deams, Joris Brouwer, Jennette Snape, Harmen Bus, Lucy Nooren, Marko de Pender, John Haley, Max van de Wiel, Annemarie van Duynhoven, Ivo de Jongh, Bert-Jan Zuiderduin, Thomas de Wit, Willem Passenier, Anita van Veelen, Louis Kok†, Silvia van der Wal, Thomas Reineke, Geert van Kerckhove, Aukje Polder, Bojan Orlic, Ernst Reijseger, Gert de Jong, Cato Fluitsma, Renée Hoogendoorn, Maralin Visser, Marlon Heckman, Aart van Bolhuis, Seringe Huisman, Eduardo Rojo, Fons Hoogsteder, Ernst van Deursen, Maralin Visser, Rodolfo Vejar, Pieter Boekschooten, David van der Veldt, Geraldine Dete, Janko Deventer, Han Bakker, Christopher Kaiser, Harald Hein, and many others…
Board members of Blindpainters:
- Eric Duivenvoorden – chairman
- Vacant – treasurer
- Chris Mottes – secretary
- Ronald Koppers – general board member
- Jelle Baars – general board member
Contact:
info@blindpainters.org
Postbus 1136
NL – 1000 BC Amsterdam
The Foundation is a Public Benefit Organisation and has the official ANBI status (Algemeen Nut Beogende Instelling).
RSIN 8052 77 900
Policy plan including remuneration policy, sorry in Dutch only.
F.A.Q.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where does the BlindPainters foundation position its art productions?
The art productions are poetic and philosophical reflections of our times, mainly in form of interventions in public and semi public spaces. One could describe these projects as being part of this ‘active intellectual, social, and political’, metamodernist movement. As much as one can at this stage talk about an actual movement…. However, aspects which can to a large extent be found in all of the projects are, as Kim Levin in ARTnews writes, ‘embrace doubt, as well as hope and melancholy, sincerity and irony, affect and apathy, the personal and the political, and technology and techne (that translates as “knowingness”)’. Including aspects of Romantic sensibility and the ‘new depthiness’ (https://www.e-flux.com/journal/61/61000/the-new-depthiness/), as cultural theorist Timotheus Vermeulen puts it. James MacDowell’s description of metamodern structures of feeling in their balancing of ‘ironic detachment with sincere engagement’, somehow seems to nail it.
Who is your audience?
Lately, established institutions like museums and art exposers are actively open on the search for the ‘new public’. Our work and exhibition formats have always been low threshold and we try to connect with as wide a variety of people as possible. The public and semi-public space is of course perfect for this. Living up to the idea that ‘the best things in life are free’, also by collaborating with highbrow institutions, we have been quite successful in this approach. We love to get into conversation and reflect on the works with people from all kinds of walks of life. But we also get invited for presentations and lectures for specific art audiences. Our work does not fit into museums, on the other hand, our publications, which are documents on the projects can be found in many museum libraries.
Who are the Blindpainters?
There is not a fixed group of people. It depends entirely on the project, who is going to take part in it and what the role of that person is going to be. Projects are mostly interdisciplinary. People who become members, in the long term often stay connected, maybe even take on another role in another project. Because of the scientific component with project there are advisors, academics and specialists who contribute. There is also the notion of the ‘Gesamtkunstwerk’, that is very much in flux and focuses more on the process than on a final result. In the future we will be working more into ‘the performative arts’ and include local artists and people around the installations.