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The artist collective KAMP HORST emerged in the mid-1990s at the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam. At the time, the six students bonded over a shared dissatisfaction with the Illustration department. They experienced the program as a traditional regime of dullness, lacking the raw edge they were actively searching for. In response, they started their own magazine called Antistrot, a bit of an act of defiance, with "strot" (Dutch for throat) being a nod to the surname of one of their professors. Driven by fiery energy and a touch of frenzy, they dashed together various absurd columns and bizarre topics at the local copy shop to create a magazine.
What drove them was the pure need to create, independent of academic assignments. The zine was distributed around the academy, and before long, their work expanded into drawing together on a single, large sheet of paper. This resulted in what they called "Krisis" drawings. To them, this word meant "half-baked," unfancy, raw, and therefore highly appealing. Those first drawings were mostly in black and white, occasionally with a splash of color. Everyone drew from a different corner in their own style, after which everything came together. They worked in a slightly chaotic atmosphere, driven by their own 'ultimate jazz' - the simultaneous playback of talk shows on Radio 1 and music - but they also often listened to Ronflonflon met Jacques Plafond. They drew inspiration from everywhere: from comic books and fashion magazines to the gay lifestyle magazine BUTT.
Success followed fairly quickly after art school. Via a group exhibition at MaMa and a solo show at MK Galerie in Rotterdam, the collective eventually ended up in New York. Meanwhile, their work had shifted primarily to vibrant paintings and murals. The foundation remained unchanged: without a preconceived plan, each member chose an image to interpret, after which spontaneous connections emerged on the canvas as they reacted to one another within the same frame, naturally giving rise to stories.
As their success grew, so did internal differences. In addition, everyone was busy developing their own individual careers as illustrators, artists, or musicians. By 2009, they no longer saw eye to eye, and the group decided to call it quits. However, that breakup was short-lived. Five of the members - Paul Börchers, Bruno Ferro Xavier da Silva, Johan Kleinjan, Silas Schletterer, and Michiel Walrave - reconnected under the name KAMP HORST, this time joined by Gees Voorhees. The new name was yet another reference to the academy, as it was named after a former professor.
Although the artists have very distinct styles, their visual collages form a compelling unity. They function much like a band, where different instruments come together to compose an organic piece of music. By trusting each other’s individual strengths and their signature absurdist humor, their styles lock together perfectly. Worlds filled with monsters, superheroes, and animals burst toward the viewer in spectacular colors. The result is a chaotic energy that somehow forms a highly balanced and powerful whole.
Eline van der Haak
See Kamp Horst at [GRID] on 25 & 26 September, as part of our two-day programme of visual art, live music and experimental sound.
KAMP HORST > 25 & 26 September
[GRID], The Hague
Friday 25 september
18:00 - 22:00
Exhibithion Kamp Horst
20:30
De Storm: performace by Ibrahim R. Ineke and Bruno Ferro Xavier da Silva
21:00
Hakai 0+0: the experimental noise duo of Paul Tas (Error Instruments) and Yuri Landman
Free entrance
Saturday 26 september
12:00 - 18:00
Exhibithion Kamp Horst
14:00 - 18:00
Yuri Landman will lead the Cloudbusting Organic Workshop by Error Instruments at [GRID].
Duration: 4 hours
Price: €100
Limited places available.
