Impulse Control and Composure
On view until 13:12 2025 @martin_van_zomeren Amsterdam (open Wednesday to Saturday, 1pm–6pm).
Erwin Thomasse’s practice navigates the intersection of material experimentation, social critique, and emotional depth. Themes of destruction, regeneration, and mental health are at the heart of his multifaceted work. Rooted in his experience of public urban spaces, the artist draws from the materials and gestures of protest and resistance found in those environments. His pieces often embody a tension between destruction and creation, challenging traditional painterly techniques. In a recent series like ‘Impulse Control and Composure’ and ‘Constellation (Fallen Stars) II’, Thomasse reflects on both personal and contemporary social anxieties in visually impactful and conceptually layered ways. In ‘Discord’, a series of works on mirrored glass, the artist engages with notions like transparency, opacity, and the act of mark-making through chemical etching and coatings. Through this, he transfers the materiality of public space to works of art in innovative ways.
Extract from the text A Dialectics of Disquiet Notes on the work of Erwin Thomasse by Xander Karskens, taken from the upcoming publication Impulse Control and Composure, to be released in December.
Works: ICC (Impulse Control and Composure) – Defense, Reliance, Confidence, Domestic Comfort, Distance Gives Light I & II, Actuality Builds Itself, Discord – Series II, The Other Side of Serenity, Point Blank Rage, Constellation – Falling Stars, Premediated Ignorance
Galerie Martin van Zomeren, Amsterdam – Photography: Gert Jan van Rooij
Turn Panic Into Magic
A series of works by five artists: Daniëlle van Ark (1974), Annabelle Binnerts (1995), Vibeke Mascini (1989), Navid Nuur (1976) and Erwin Thomasse (1972).
The title of the show is inspired by the series of light boxes made by Erwin Thomasse during the pandemic, commissioned by Van Abbemuseum Eindhoven. For Thomasse, the aesthetic of the engagement of recent years can be found in the flight of thrown stones, cracked windows, shards of glass and shop windows boarded up with wooden panels. He sees this visual language as the translation of the zeitgeist, expressed in the form of five light boxes. The light on the inside of the light boxes breathes with the calming, anti-panic attack rhythm that Thomasse took from a Youtube video. The sleek object exudes calm, but the front has been violently battered, and the smashed glass is riddled with stars and cracks. Appealing to the imagination, the goal is to compel the reader to alchemise panic into magic; a transformation from something painful to something extraordinary.
18 November 2023 – 13 January 2024
Galerie Martin van Zomeren, Amsterdam – Photography: Gert Jan van Rooij
Controlled Opposition
Van 25-03-23 tot 29-04-23
Controlled Opposition
Noun (countable and uncountable)
Plural: controlled oppositions
-
(politics) A supposed or manufactured opposition group, party, or movement that is actually influenced, steered, or created by the ruling party, government, or another dominant power. It serves as a strategic tool to mislead the public, redirect dissent, or create the illusion of pluralism while maintaining real control.
Works: Fleece
Former Office, Eindhoven – Photography: Peter Cox
De collectie is …
Collectiepresentatie Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven.
Van 08-10-22 tot 06-11-22
Opmerkingen: Locatie: Oudbouw . – Presentatie in het kader van de Dutch Design Week (DDW). – Curator: Steven ten Thije (hoofd collecties) i.s.m. Lidewij Edelkoort. – Titelvariant website VAM: De collectie is… : – Activiteit: Alexandra Pirici & Manuel Pelmus, Public Collection of Modern Art, 2014, performance uitgevoerd door Maria Mora, Rolando Matsangos & Cristian Nanculescu, 08-10-2022, 06-11-2022 12.00-16.00 uur
Works: Repetitive Strain Injury
Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven – Photography: Peter Cox
Turn Panic Into Magic | Dat Bolwerck
De tentoonstelling Turn Panic Into Magic (28 mei / 26 juni 2022) is ontstaan in het kader van de landelijke herdenking van het jaar 1572, dat wordt gezien als het geboortejaar van Nederland. In die herdenking staan vier begrippen centraal: vrijheid, verdraagzaamheid, verbondenheid en verscheidenheid – begrippen die ook nu, sinds de strijd om Oekraïne, weer op scherp staan. Turn Panic Into Magic toont werk van kunstenaars Luba Drozd (UA), Erwin Thomasse (NL) en Atelier Roosje Klap (NL) waarin paniek bezworen wordt, we meegenomen worden naar de beklemmende situatie in het huidige Oekraïne, en we aangespoord worden om de vier vrijheden – vrijheid van meningsuiting, vrijheid van godsdienst, vrijheid van angst en vrijheid van gebrek – letterlijk zelf (uit) te dragen.
Turn Panic Into Magic vindt zowel ondergronds, in de donkere, Middeleeuwse kelder van Dat Bolwerck, als bovengronds, in de lichte, open tentoonstellingsruimtes, plaats. In dit contrast, tussen licht en donker, maken we gedurende de tentoonstellingsperiode, samen met de gemeenschap van Zutphen, kimono’s waarop de 30 artikelen van de Universele Verklaring van de Rechten van de Mens te lezen zijn. Door middel van deze samenwerking staan we samen actief stil bij wat het betekent om in oorlog of in vrede te leven.
Works: Turn Panic into Magic, Property of Illusion / Illusion of Property
Dat Bolwerk, Zutphen – Photography: Te-Sing Wan Ngoh Pow
Dwarsverbinding #1 Recursive News, Perverted Truth
Collectiepresentatie Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven. – Duo show Erwin Thomasse, Marcel van den Berg.
Van 18-09-21 tot 03-04-22
Opmerkingen: Locatie: B2 07. – Conservator: Steven ten Thije (hoofd collecties). – Tijdelijke sluiting vanwege landelijke coronamaatregelen: 19-12-2021, 14-01-2022 verlengd: 25-01-2022. – Tekst in neonletters Turn panic into magic van Erwin Thomasse geïnstalleerd 29-04-2022, ontmanteling gepland 01-06-2026. – Event: Draaitafellezing, 26-03-2022 15.00-17.00 uur. – Event: Boekpresentatie, 08-04-2023 14.00-15.30 uur
Works: Turn Panic into Magic (inside), Turn Panic into Magic (outside), Property of Illusion / Illusion of Property, The Network / This Too Shall Pass, Repetitive Strain Injury
Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven – Photography: Peter Cox
Ooggetuigen van strijd: Goya, Beuys, Dumas
Brook Andrew, Joseph Beuys, Anna Boghiguian, Sarah Charlesworth, Constant, Chto Delat, Marlene Dumas, Francisco José Goya, Michal Heiman, William Hogarth, Asger Jorn, Gülsün Karamustafa, Erzen Shkololli, Erwin Thomasse
Van 31-08-19 tot 06-10-19
Groepstentoonstelling – Opmerkingen: Locatie: Oudbouw. – Curatoren: Charles Esche (directeur) en Steven ten Thije (conservator collecties). – Opening: 31-08-19. – Toespraken door Charles Esche (directeur) en Steven ten Thije (conservator collecties). – Promotordiner op zaal: 26-09-19. – Tentoonstelling i.s.m. Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester m.b.t. de bruiklenen van Goya en Hogarth
Works: 20-07-43/27-07-43
Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven – Photography: Peter Cox
TRADE MARKINGS: Frontier Imaginaries Ed. No. 5
Trade Markings is inspired by the world-wide reach of Eindhoven and North Brabant’s trade relations over 600 years. It follows the centuries-old push and pull of trade marking and liquidity – the opacity of property and the transparency of exchange.
Van 07-04-18 tot 01-07-18
Trade Markings is the first major exhibition in Europe of art and research foundation Frontier Imaginaries. Each edition of Frontier Imaginaries studies the encounters of grassroots and global forces through award-winning contemporary art.
Groepstentoonstelling Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven – Opmerkingen: Locatie: Oudbouw. – Curatoren: Vivian Ziherl (Frontier Imaginaries), in samenwerking met Annie Fletcher (hoofdcurator). – Projectleider: Inge Borsje. – Opening: 07-04-2018 om 15.00 uur ; 15.00-16.00 uur performance/lezing DASH door Ho Rui An in het auditorium ; 15.30 uur: demonstratie sigaren maken door Jacques Dielis ; 16.00 uur: presentatie over valkenhandel door een valkenier ; 16.30 uur: welkomstwoord door Charles Esche (directeur Van Abbemuseum) en Annie Fletcher (hoofdcurator) en Vivian Ziherl (curator Frontier Imaginaries) ; 16.45-17.30 uur: Artist Assembly met verschillende kunstenaars en speciale gasten.
Works: 20-07-43/27-07-43, Fleece
Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven – Photography: Peter Cox