This
catalogue Pierre
de touche - toetssteen has been published to accompany an exhibition of the same name in the
Noordbrabants Museum in 's-Hertogenbosch from March 6th through April 26th
1992. Both catalogue and exhibition are an initiative of the Kunststichting Touche Nederland, a cultural foundation set up in
1986 by the TRN Group (Touche Ross Nederland) and sponsored also by the NORO
Group and Bouwfonds Nederlandse Gemeenten.
It is
the aim of Touche to stimulate young artists in their
profession. This has been effectuated up to now mainly by the organisation in
1987, 1988 and 1990 of prize contests for young sculptors under 35. As an award
for sculpure didn't exist in Holland at the time, the Touche contest proved to
meet a need. On all three occasions three to four hundred artists subscribed.
Each competition produced three winners. Their names are Frank
Bezemer, Kees Buckens, Paul Cox, Bernaar Leenders, John Maters, Karen Oude
Alink, Stan Roukens, Arjanne van der Spek and Ans Verdijk.
These nine prize-winning artists have been brought together in the Noordbrabants Museum in a show of about thirty exhibits. They are presented with sculptures from various periods so that an insight is given into the development of their work. At the same time - and this is the surplus value of this event - a representative overview is brought about of Dutch contemporary sculpture, based on the selected quality of individual works of art. Stone, wooden and pIaster objects are to be seen alongside spatial installations composed of various materials and engine operated machines.
Photographs
of the sculptures are to be found in this book, which also contains analytical
descriptions of the different art products, an introduction about Dutch art and
art policy compared with the situation in other countries and a history of the
above mentioned Touche competition.
This
occasion marks the beginning of a co-operation between Touche and Dutch museums. A
professionallocation, an iIIustrated and expertly designed catalogue and an
interested public will help to attain its objectives. Various museums have
shown interest in future plans by Touche, which goes to prove the quality of the
prize-contest and the function of the group-exhibition as a touchstone for
contemporary sculpture.