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A PIECE ON THE NEW YORK BASED NEO-GEO TREND IN ART, THAT WAS HITTING
EUROPE AT THAT TIME. PROCLAIMED AS AN ANSWER TO THE DECLINING
PROMINENCE OF THE WILD PAINTING SCHOOL FROM COLOGNE, HAMBURG AND
BERLIN, MAENZ AND HIS PARTNER IN CRIME, GERD DE VRIES, HAD DECIDED TO
INTRODUCE THE WORK OF PHILLIP TAAFE, MAYER VAISMANN, ASHLEY BICKER-
TON, PETER HALLEY, JEFF KOONS AND MATT MULLIGAN BY STAGING A GROUP
SHOW AT THE GALLERY, BISMARCKSTRASSE 50 IN THE BELGIAN NEIGHBOR
HOOD BELGISCHES VIERTEL), AT THAT TIME THE MOST POWERFUL EUROPEAN
ART CENTER, THAT DEALT DIRECTLY WITH NEW ART DEVELOPMENTS FROM
SOHO AND CHELSEA IN THE BIG APPLE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE LARGE POND.
THE EVENT WAS TIMED WELL. COINCIDING WITH THIS IMPORTANT SHOW AT
THE MAENZ GALLERY, THE ART COLOGNE FAIR TOOK PLACE, THE BIGGEST EVENT
ON THE EUROPEAN SUBCONTINENT FOR WHEELING AND DEALING IN THE
EMERGING ARTWORLD OF THE 80S. CONCEPTUAL AND MINIMAL ART HAD BEEN
FADING IN COLOGNE SINCE 1980, WHEN MAENZ DE VRIES PUBLISHED A SMALL
BOOK, DELLA PINTURA/ON PAINTING/ÜBER DIE MALEREI, WRITTEN BY THE
ITALIAN PAINTER SALVO. SALVO'S TREATISE ON PAINTING WAS A CALL FOR A MORE SENSITIVE, THOUGHTFUL JUDGEMENT OF ART. ALTHOUGH SALVO HIMSELF
WAS A MEMBER OF THE INTERNATIONAL AVANTGARDE, HE RECOMMENDED A CERTAIN SCEPTICISM TOWARDS THE DOMINANT ARTSCENE OF THE TIME WITH ITS
READYMADE THEORIES, BASED ON MARCEL DUCHAMPS, THE GAME OF CHESS, GEOMETRY OR ALGEBRA. SALVO HAD CALLED ATTENTION TO THE QUALIFYING
VIRTUE OF TIME, THE IMMEDIACY OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT AND THE OPPOSITION OF WAYS OF SEEING VERSUS BLINDNESS IN PERCEPTION. SALVO'S GIFT FOR CLEAR
ARTICULATION, -SPECIALLY FOR A PAINTER-, WAS ASTONISHING. HIS LITTLE BOOK WITH ITS 238 STATEMENTS ON THE ART OF PAINTING TOOK A FITTING FORM
INTHE STYLE OF WITTGENSTEIN'S TRACTATUSLOGICOPHILOSOPHICUS. SALVO 1947, SICILY) HAD BEEN A MEMBER OF THE TURIN CIRCLE OF ARTE POVERA DM
THE LATE 60S. OVER THE 70S HE FOCUSSED ON THE GENESIS OF THE MEDIUM OF PAINTING IN THE WEST. SALVO'S BOOK ON PAINTING RAPIDLY BECAME THE BIBLE
OF A NEW GENERATION OF 80S ARTISTS IN ITALY, GERMANY AND THE U.S.A.WHO WANTED TO BE DIFFERENT IN OUTLOOK FROM PRECEDING GENERATIONS. SO
THEY LOOKED AT THE PHENOMENON OF FASHION.
THE FUSION OF ART AND FASHION WAS ABOUT TO BE ESTABLISHED, NOT ONLY IDEOLOGICALLY, BUT ALSO ON A SOCIAL LEVEL. THE OLD BOYS COMMERCIAL
NETWORK OF THE 60S AND 70S WAS FINALLY GIVING WAY TO THE NEW COHORTS OF MOSTLY YOUNG FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS WITH DEGREES IN ART HISTORY,
EDUCATION, MANAGEMENT AND MASS COMMUNICATION. BLACK SKIRTS ABOVE THE KNEE, A CHAIN OF PEARLS, HIGH HEELS, SHOWY MAKE-UP AND GLOSSY
MAGAZINES BECAME A CURRENT COMMODITY AT FAIRS, MUSEUMSHOWS AND GALLERY OPENINGS. WHAT YOU GET IS WHAT YOU SEE, WAS THE PHRASE OF THE
DAY AND THERE WAS NO WAY BACK. SO MAENZ DECIDED IT WAS TIME TO MOVE THE FURNITURE. BUSINESS FROM THE GALLERY HAD BEEN GOOD UP TILL NOW, BUT
WOULD IT HOLD IN THE FUTURE? MAYBE IT WAS TIME TO MOVE THE GALLERY OFFICE. SOA DIVINER WAS INVITED TO SHOW HIS ART. AFTER A SESSION WITH THE
ROD, HE DISCOVERED THE SALES OFFICE HAD BEEN OVER AN SUBTERRANEAN WELL ALL THE TIME. HE PREDICTED A SWITCH IN ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY
FIELDS, IF NOTHING WAS DONE. DECISIONS HAD TO BE MADE THAT WERE FAVORABLE TO NEAR FUTURE BUSINESS OF THE GALLERY! SO THE OFFICE WAS MOVED
TO A SOCALLED DRY OR MORE NEUTRAL SPOT IN THE GALLERY SPACEFURTHERMORE THE DIVINER SUGGESTED THE OPENING OF THE NEW SHOW SHOULD BE ON
11.11 AT 23.00 HOURS, WHICH WAS FOOLISH DAY AND THE BEGINNING OF THE COLOGNE CARNAVAL. A MARCHING BAND WAS ENGAGED, ACCOMPANIED BY A
REGIMENT OF GOOD LOOKING BOOTED DANCING GIRLS, WHO COULD SWEEP UP THEIR LEGS IN IMPECCABLE UNIFORM FASHION. THE OPENING OF THE NEO GEO
SHOW BECAME A NIGHT TO REMEMBER, THE SHOW SOLD OUT, AND EVERYBODY WAS HAPPY.
SEBASTLAAN SPIT, THE DIVINER. WHO IS THIS ARTIST?, I WONDERED. TIME FOR SOME INITIAL LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS. WHAT'S IN A NAME? THE NAME
SEBASTIAAN CLEARLY SUGGESTS A CATHOLIC BACKGROUND. THE STORY WENT THAT THE CHRISTIAN MARTYR SAINT SEBASTIAN, -AS A SPECIAL
PUNISHMENT-, HAD BEEN RIDDLED WITH A MULTITUDE OF SHARP ARROWS FROM THE BOWS OF HIS OWN FORMER ROMAN REGIMENT. IN RENAISSANCE
PAINTING BY MANTEGNAAND BOTTICELLI, UP TILL THE BAROQUE SCHOOL OF EL GRECO, THE ICON OF A CONVERTED PAGAN OFFICER DEVELOPED INTO
A STRAIGHT HOMOSEXUAL IDOL. COMPARATIVE MYTHOLOGY LEARNED THAT THE ROMAN SEBASTIAN HAD BEEN MODELLED AFTER THE CLASSICAL GREEK
HERO ACTAION, A LOCAL LEADER OF A GROUP OF HUNTERS, WHO,-FOLLOWING A FLEEING DEER DEEP INTO THE FOREST-, HIT UPON A BATHING SCENE. DIANE,
HUNTING GODDESS, SURROUNDED BY HER NYMPHS, WAS ABOUT TO STEP INTO A WELL. AS SOON AS LADY DIANE FELT THE SPYING EYES ON HER NAKED BODY,
HER NYMPHS COVERED HER NUDENESS BY THEIR OWN. WHEN APOLLO, GOD OF THE ARTS, GOT NEWS OF THE LONELY SHAMEFUL TRESSPASSER, WHO HAD SET
EYES ON HIS VIRGIN SISTER, HE TRANSFORMED ACTAION INTO A RUNNING DEER, WHICH WAS SHOT AND EATEN BY HIS OWN MEN. SO MUCH FOR KILLING
YOUR DARLINGS! FURTHERMORE OUR ARTIST SEBASTIAAN'S LAST NAME WAS SPIT. WHAT WAS THE DICTIONARY MEANING OF SPIT? SPIT REFERS TO THE IRON
ROD FOR ROASTING BEEF. A ROD! ANOTHER MEANING SPEAKS OF A STRETCH OF LAND SURROUNDED BY WATER. MOREOVER THERE IS THE CONNOTATION OF
A BLURP OF ANIMAL LIQUID FROM A MOUTH, LIKE IN THE EXPRESSION: A SPITTING IMAGE. IN DUTCH THE WORD SPIT REFERS TO A CERTAIN PAIN, FELT IN THE
SPINE (LUMBAGO). FINALLY SPIT IS THE WOODEN OR METAL ROD, USED FOR TYING A BOAT TO THE SHORE. SEBASTIAAN ROD ALLRIGHT! THE NAME RANG LIKE
A BELL. TIME FOR SOME DECENT BIOGRAPHY.
SEBASTIAAN SPIT WAS BORN IN 1958 ON THE WEST INDIAN ISLAND OF ARUBA, 25 KILOMETERS OFF THE NORTH COAST OF VENEZUELA, ABOUT THE SIZE OF THE
DUTCH NORTHSEA ISLAND OF TESSEL. THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS CALLED ARUBA: ORA-OUABO OR SHELL-ISLAND. THE IRONY OF THE ISLAND NO DOUBT WAS
THE ARRIVAL-EARLY 50S-, OF SHELL GASOLINE COMPANY IN THE CAPITAL ORANGE-CITY, WHERE IT BEGAN REFINING OIL FROM VENEZUELA. THE GASOLINE
PRODUCTION NOT ONLY STARTED THE MIGRATION OF CHEAP BLACK LABOR FROM SURINAM AND THE BRITISH WESTINDIES, THAT LED TO AN ETHNIC MIX WITH
THE ORIGINAL INDIAN POPULATION. ALSO DRUGTRAFFICKING-COCAINE AND MARIJUANA-, FROM SOUTH AMERICA TO THE U.S. EMERGED AS A LUCRATIVE
BUSINESS, LEADING TO CORRUPTION IN LOCAL ADMINISTRATION AND INSTITUTIONALIZED GAMBLING TO LAUNDER THE DRUGSMONEY.
SO I ASKED SEBASTIAN FOR HIS BOYHOOD IMPRESSIONS OF ARUBA. "TO ME ARUBA IS THE ISLAND OF ORNAMENTS. THE WORD SHELL IS JUST AN ORNAMENT I
CAN USE IN MY WORK. LIKE BOTTICELLI USED A SHELL IN HIS PAINTING BIRTH OF VENUS, SITUATED ON THE SHORE OF THE ISLE OF CYPRUS, I USED EGYPTIAN
ORNAMENTS IN MY OLDER WORK. BELIEVE IT OR NOT, BUT THERE IS A STRUCTURAL SIMILARITY BETWEEN THE INDIAN ORNAMENTS OF ARUBA AND THE OLD
PHARAOIC ORNAMENTS OF EGYPT. I CLEARLY REMEMBER THOSE PRECOLUMBIAN INDIAN CAVES IN THE SOUTH EAST OF ARUBA COVERED WITH PRIMITIVE
WALL PAINTINGS. RESEARCH SHOWS THAT THE SUBSTANCE OF THESE PRIMITIVE FRESCO'S CONTAINED MINERALS LIKE QUARTZ AND GOLD, THAT ARE FOUND
ON THE ISLAND ITSELF. THE WALLPAINTINGS IN LASCAUX AND ALTAMIRA WERE ALSO DONE WITH PIGMENTS FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD. ANYWAY, THESE OLD
MEMORIES LED TO MY FIRST ORNAMENTAL PAINTINGS. I GLUED WALLPAPER AND DRAWINGS ONTO THE CANVAS AND STARTED SCRIBBLING GRAFITTI OVER THE
PASTED FRAGMENTS. THEN I GLAZED TRANSPARENT LAYERS OF LACQUER ONTO THE SURFACE OF THE CANVAS. ONE OF THESE PAINTINGS: BOCA PRINS, WILL BE
IN MY NEXT SHOW AT THE W3 COMPLEX IN FLUSHING, OPENING IN NOVEMBER 2010. BOCA IN PAPPIAMENTO MEANS MOUTH. PAPPIAMENTO, - A MIX OF INDIAN,
SPANISH AND ENGLISH VERNACULAR-, WAS MY FIRST LANGUAGE. ALSO I DO REMEMBER THE NORTH COAST OF ARUBA. STEEP SLOPES WITH PRACTICALLY NO
CURVES, WHERE THE NORTH EAST TRADE WINDS BEAT THE WAVES CONSTANTLY FROM THE SAME DIRECTION. THE WAVES BEAT THE ROCK. AND THE ROCKS
SUCCUMBED TO EROSION, MAKING ARUBA SHRINK ONE MILLIMETER A YEAR. I PAINTED THESE ROCKS BEATEN BY THE WINDS INTHE 60S STYLE OF DE WILLEM
DE KOONING, WHEN HE WORKED AT THE EASTERN TIP OF LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK. THESE ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONIST MEMORIES ARE MY BASIC INGREDIENTS
FOR A THEORY OF THE PAINTED LANDSCAPE. ARUBA IS A WALKING ISLAND. WHAT IS LOST IN THE NORTH EAST, IS RECOVERED IN THE SOUTH WEST. IN SOME
MIRACULOUS WAY, IN THE SOUTHWEST THE ISLAND IS GROWING ONE MILLIMETER A YEAR BY THE FORMATION OF NEW DUNES ADJACENT TO THE CORAL
REEFS. BY THE WAY, THERE IS PRACTICALLY NO RAIN ON ARUBA. NO CLOUDS WHATSOEVER. ARUBA HAS A VERY DRY CLIMATE.
SEBASTIAAN SPIT WAS BORN ON ARUBA AS THE YOUNGEST SON OF A FIRST GRADE HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER IN 2006 SPIT HIMSELF BECAME A SECONDARY LEVEL
SCHOOL TEACHER OF ART IN MIDDELBURG. COINCIDENCE? "MAYBE NOT. WHEN I WAS 7 YEARS OLD, I WON A DRAWING COLOR CONTEST ON ARUBA. I
COULD PICK ANY PRESENT AS A REWARD. SO I CHOSE A WOODEN SPEEDBOAT. HOWEVER, MY PARENTS DID NOT ALLOW ME TO KEEP THIS PRESENT. THEY DID
NOT WANT ME TO PLAY AT THE COASTLINE. TO PLAY WITH MY SPEEDBOAT, I COULD NOT GOTO THE DANGEROUS BEACH. PARENTLAL LAW ORDERED THAT I
EXCHANGED MY SPEEDBOAT FOR A BULLDOZER, THAT COULD MOVE AROUND EARTH IN THE GARDEN OF OUR HOUSE. I THOUGHT IT WASN'T FAIR, BUT WHAT
COULD I DO? A BIT LATER WE MOVED BACK TO THE NETHERLANDS AND LANDED IN ALMELO, FARMING COUNTRY. THAT'S WHERE I STARTED TO PAINT MY
MEMORIES OF ARUBA IN MY LITTLE BEDROOM. I WAS A TEENAGER THEN, 16 YEARS OLD, AND A PUPIL AT THE MAVO HIGHSCHOOL. IN THE WEEKEND I WENT TO
THE LOCAL HANGOUT (HOOKHUUS), WHERE I MET WITH MY PEERS, LIKE THE LATER COMIC HERMAN FINKERS. I REMEMBER LISTENING TO SYMPHONIC ROCK
MUSIC. AMERICA, YES, FOCUS, JAN AKKERMAN. ALTHOUGH IT TURNED OUT TO BE A DEAD END STREET IN THE HISTORY OF ROCKMUSIC, I LIKED IT AT THE TIME.
IT HAD THIS CLASSICAL BACH KIND OF RESONANCE. IN 1978 I WAS SENT TO THE AKI ART ACADEMY NEARBY ENSCHEDE. I DID NOT LIKE IT AT ALL. THERE WAS NO
PROGRAM. NOTHING EVER HAPPENED. TEACHERS NEVER SHOWED UP. SO I APPLIED FOR ADMISSION TO THE ARNHEIM ART ACADEMY IN THE SECOND YEAR.
I WAS ACCEPTED. BUT IT WAS THE SAME THING. TEACHING WAS BAD. SO I APPLIED FOR THE NEW ART TEACHING PROGRAM AT THE ACADEMY OF NIJMEGEN.
AGAIN I WAS ACCEPTED, FOUND A PLACE TO LIVE AND STUDIED ART FOR FOUR YEARS. THAT'S WHERE I DID MY FIRST DRAWINGS, LANDSCAPES IN INK AT THE
OOIPOLDER. I RETURNED TO ARNHEIM TO GRADUATE AND GOT A FIRST DEGREE TEACHING IN DRAWING AND GRAPHICS IN 1986."
SO SEBASTIAAN SPIT WAS A TEACHER ALL RIGHT, BUT HOW AND WHEN DID HE RETURN TO THE COAST? "THAT'S A RATHER LONG STORY. FIRST I WANTED TO FIND
OUT WHAT THE ART WORLD WAS ALL ABOUT. SO I MOVED TO AMSTERDAM, JUNE 1986. AMSTERDAM WAS THE PLACE WHERE IT ALL HAPPENED. THE DUTCH ART
SCENE AT THE TIME WAS IN AMSTERDAM. I LANDED IN THE STATESMEN NEIGHBORHOOD (STAATSLIEDENBUURT) OPPOSITE OF THE GAS FACTORY ON THE
OUTGOING HIGHWAY TO HAARLEM. AS LOT OF ARTISTS HAD SQUATTED APARTMENTS THERE. JUST A FEW HOUSES AWAY WAS THE STUDIO OF ROB SCHOLTE,
WHOSE NAME WAS BUZZING ALL OVER THE NEIGHBORHOOD. I FELT LIKE I HAD LANDED IN A BEEHIVE, WHERE SCHOLTE WAS THE ABSOLUTE QUEEN.TRUE.
SCHOLTE WAS THE ROLE MODEL OF A LOT AMBITIOUS DUTCH ARTISTS, WHO WERE TRYING TO MAKE IT AT HOME AND ABROAD. SCHOLTE HAD BEEN ELECTED FOR
THE SAO PAOLO BIENNALE IN 1985. HE WAS THE BESTSELLING ARTIST OF THE LIVING ROOM GALLERY IN THE JORDAN NEIGHBORHOOD. THROUGH HIS CONTACT
WITH JIRIDOKOUPIL, WHO HAD BOUGHT FOUR PAINTINGS FROM THE KLAPPERHOF STUDIO SHOW STUFEN DER ANREGUNG/STAGES OF INSPIRATION, JUNE 1984)
IN COLOGNE, SCHOLTE WAS INTRODUCED TO THE MAENZ GALLERY, THAT DID A SELL OUT SHOW OF HIS PAINTINGS IN JUNE 1986. SCHOLTE'S PIECE DE RESISTANCE
WAS A CANVAS CALLED UTOPIA, A PARAPHRASE OF THE FAMOUS IMPRESSIONIST PAINTING IN THE TRADITION OF THE RECLINING NUDE BY EDOUARD MANET:
OLYMPIA (1863). DUE TO MASSIVE PUBLICITY SCANDAL ON COPYRIGHT IN DUTCH QUALITY NEWSPAPERS, SCHOLTE'S PROVOCATIVE COVER ART IN A DRY, EXACT
STYLE OF PAINTING, ACQUIRED A NEW MEANING. IT WAS DUBBED APPROPRIATION ART' AND REFFERED TO ASSOCIATIVE BORROWING ON THE FLOW OF MEDIA
INFORMATION AS A MIRROR OF ARTISTIC REALITY. SCHOLTE HIMSELF CALLED IT CUBISM OF MEANING", AS A TAKE OFF ON PICASSO'S EARLY GEOMETRIC STYLE.
JUST LIKE MANET HAD DONE A CENTURY BEFORE, SCHOLTE CHANGED THE FASHION OF HIS ART FROM A HIGHBROW CLASSICAL ACADEMISM TO A POST
MODERN VERSION OF DIRTY REALISM. APT MEDIA COMMENTS ON THE PARADE OF BEGGARS MARCHING IN THE OFFICIAL ARTWORLD DID THE JOB. SCHOLTE
WAS BOUGHT BY A HIGH BROW INTERNATIONAL GALLERY IN A CENTER OF THE GLOBAL ART WORLD. COLLECTORS, ALWAYS LOOKING FOR SOMETHING NEW,
JUST LOVED IT. AS SCHOLTE WENT ON TO HIS NEXT PROJECT OVER THE SUMMER OF 1986 IN GHENT, BELGIUM CHAMBRES D'AMIS /ROOMS OF FRIENDS, CURATED
BY THE LEGENDARY JAN HOET)THE ROTTERDAM MUSEUM BOYMANS VAN BEUNINGEN BOUGHT THE CANVAS UTOPIA FOR ITS COLLECTION. THE SCANDAL
STRATEGY OF SEDUCTION WORKED LIKE A SNOWBALLSCHOLTE STARTED A WHOLE NEW SERIES OF DECLINATIONS OF CLASSICAL PAINTINGS, PRODUCING NEW
