AMSTERDAM.- The project 'Fencing the Museum' involves seven young artists creating a completely different appearance every two months for the fence surrounding the building site of the new Stedelijk Museum. They will cover the 108 metres of the fence with their work in the form of A0 posters, using the museum’s historical publicity material as a starting point.

In this project, the artists are investigating the boundaries between art and publicity, particularly the use of artistic images and the role of the artist in the representation of the museum. The project is a collaboration with the research group in Art and the Public Space at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie.

The first artist in the series is Karin Hasselberg (b. 1980), who is basing her work on two Stedelijk Museum catalogues. In a book published by the museum in 1984, a printing error resulted in Henri Matisse’s La perruche et la sirène appearing upside down. She combines this image with a work from the museum’s 1991 Daan van Golden catalogue: the artist’s Blauwe Studie (Blue Study), which he based on the work by Matisse. Last June, Hasselberg visited Daan van Golden in his studio in Schiedam. Following her suggestion of involving both images in her work, Van Golden decided to adapt the page in the catalogue by placing a line along the outer left side of the golden frame.

Fencing the Museum extends further than the temporary beautification of a building site – this is about allowing art to be present in the public space, in a place that, in over a year’s time, will once again be an important centre for modern and contemporary art. So, there was good reason for inviting young and promising artists to test their artistic vision on the wall around the Stedelijk, which can, in a way, be seen as the dividing line between the museum and the public space.

Every two months, the fence will be covered by a different artist. The other artists are: Joris Lindhout, Juha Laatikainen, Vincent Vulsma, Frank Koolen, Mark Kent and David Jablonowski (whose work can now be seen in the exhibition Deep Screen – Art in Digital Culture at Stedelijk Museum CS). The project will run from July 2008 to September 2009.

The fence at the Stedelijk Museum runs from Paulus Potterstraat to the site hut on Van Baerlestraat. (The panels to the right of the hut on Van Baerlestraat are not part of the project, but were previously installed for Midreth, the building contractor.)