Ellen de Bruijne PROJECTS is glad to participate in Art Island 2024 with a presentation of recently graduated artists from Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam: Elle van Baaren, Mariana Charrua, Aske Hvitved, David Kloosterboer, Mayya Kuznetsova, Max Onink, Luca Mosbech, Gabriel Stoll, and Bein van Vilsteren.
The title Dear John is a reference to the history of the Ijmuiden fortress, the venue of Art Island, a military defense facility used in both World Wars. The term ‘Dear John’ has been used since World War II in the US military in break-up letters in which girlfriends or spouses of deployed soldiers would end their relationship.
The artworks in this presentation reflect around significant shifts in the intimate and personal in the face of a world where so many crises are pressing in. How do you relate to a complicated and threatened outer world while the inner world is pressured, and vice versa?
The practise of the artists in Dear John allow for the process in making the work to reveal itself in its final stage. Aware of the constant influences between the personal and the collective, they allow themselves to let go, writing a "Dear John" letter to convention.