DL Review: Jaap van den Ende at AKINCI / Amsterdam

Jaap van den Ende

Active Landscapes

AKINCI

Lijnbaansgracht 317

1017 WZ Amsterdam

11 April – 10 May 2025

Review by Àngels Miralda

Jaap van den Ende, Kwadraat – structuur (1969), 72x72cm. Photo by Àngels Miralda.

The first room of Akinci opens up to various paintings by the Dutch conceptualist master Jaap van den Ende. The first pairing of works across from each other initiates an extraordinary dialogue between two of his own working periods – one of recent works connected to the title “Active Landscapes”, and the other from the late 1960’s and 1970’s anchored firmly in the minimalist works of the time, simultaneous to the pioneers of computer art.

On the left of the entrance, Kwadraat – structuur (1969) is the earliest work in the exhibition. Its perfect squares in alternating colors made with near-perfect precision produce effects of minimal op-art without the exaggerations of Vasarely. This early work reveals a deep interest in complex mathematics and in the creation of systems for variations on colour. The hues of this work belie the logic of the square by creating a yellow sphere out of contradictory angular geometry.

Jaap van den Ende, Active Landscapes at AKINCI, 2025, photo by Peter Tijhuis

Jaap van den Ende, Active Landscapes at AKINCI, 2025, photo by Peter Tijhuis

Across from this earliest work, Procesmatige ordening (2023) introduces van den Ende’s new series and makes visible the intensive development that has taken place over a period of 45 years of practice. The new series bursts the regularity and routine of the square into unpredictable “active quadrangles.” This term of his own refers to the trapezoid or rhomboid forms that are regularly found on these new works on linen. The square never appears on the canvas, but it is the form of the canvas itself. Split into three, this work is composed of separate rectangular pieces that come together to form a square exactly the same size as the work from 1969, creating a portal for the visitors to pass through into the interior of the exhibition through this threshold of the quadratic form.

Each of the recent works follows a precise logic – three canvases arranged together made up of two abstract compositions flanking a realistic figurative mountainous terrain. Van den Ende sets out to capture the movement of territory, its constant degradation and the sculptural poetry of the mountains through his mathematical compositions that float as if freed from the compression of earth’s gravity. The repetition of each mountainscape creates a visual codex for understanding his way of seeing the world through graphic forms that collide on the diligent and infinitely calculable surface.

Jaap van den Ende, Informele systemen, 2008. Photo by Àngels Miralda.

Although the subject matters may appear divergent, the methodology shows incredible consistency over a long time-span. This is seen in one inclusion of an unusual diptych at the entrance of the back offices. Informele systemen (2008) is the only work which is neither from the 2020’s or the early series – rather, it acts as a conceptual bridge between the two. A figurative bouquet of flowers is accompanied by a graphic interpretation of its forms. It is a disciplined exercise in how to reduce visuality to the minimum of interpretability and simplification of organic shapes.

This exhibition is an excellent opportunity to gain an in-depth understanding of the development of painting practice over decades of work from the hand and mind of van den Ende.