For the Marina Abramović exhibition, a surcharge applies. See Stedelijk.nl/surcharge, also for exceptions.

Sep 24, 2015

Film premiere

Price
Entrance fee to the Stedelijk Museum
Location
Stedelijk Museum, Teijin Auditorium
Time
Sep 24, 2015, 6 pm until 7.30 pm
Main language
Dutch with English subtitles
Admission
Tickets

To close the first day of the symposium ZEROnow: on the topicality of ZERO, the Stedelijk Museum presents the premiere of De Zero Revolutie: Henk Peeters (The ZERO revolution: Henk Peeters) by Sherman De Jesus. In this film, artist Henk Peeters, now an old man, looks back at his career as an artist, his role in ZERO, and his relationship with Yayoi Kusama and others.

The network of artists with whom Peeters founded the Dutch Nul group included Jan Schoonhoven, Armando, and Jan Henderikse, who brought about a permanent change in the art world of the 1950s and ’60s with their innovative ideas. After the Second World War, Peeters traveled through Europe meeting like-minded artists such as Lucio Fontana, Piero Manzoni, Yves Klein, and Gunther Uecker, in Italy, France, and Germany.

The film juxtaposes unique archival images of the young Peeters, Schoonhoven, Armando, and Henderikse with recent interviews. It thereby reveals how the first responses to their work caused a shockwave in the art world: the ZERO artists were met with ridicule and mockery. More than fifty years later, ZERO is making a comeback, with major exhibitions in prestigious museums like the Guggenheim, the Martin-Gropius-Bau, and the Stedelijk Museum.

When the movement disbanded in 1966, Peeters concentrated on lecturing at the Academy of Art in Arnhem (currently ArtEZ). In the film, his former students, Joke Robaard and Paul Damsté, talk about his idiosyncratic lecturing style. His widow, Truus Peeters-Nienhuis, reminisces about her life with Peeters and the many visits of the ZERO artists to their house in Arnhem. Ad Petersen, a former curator at the Stedelijk, discusses the last ZERO exhibition in the Stedelijk.

Peeters tried to remain loyal to the ZERO ideals until long after the movement’s end, an attempt that proved to be impossible when his collection of ZERO works went under the hammer at Sotheby’s. The auction was a great success, but the old artist was not very happy about it. His last words on the subject were striking in this respect: “Yes, this is a sign of the times. That’s how it goes. And now I am sold out.”

MORE ABOUT THE FILMMAKER

Sherman De Jesus is a proficient and multi-faceted documentary filmmaker. His films about art and artists have been screened in theatres, museums and the international film festival circuit. He has produced films ranging from documentaries about ZERO artists Jan Henderikse and Jan Schoonhoven to artists such as the painter Hipólito Ocalia. He has produced the award-winning films Boy Ecury (Frans Weisz), Zielen van Napels (Vincent Monnikkendam), Tulip Time (about the Trio Lescano) and Everything Must Change about the artist Piet Zwart in collaboration with producer Cécile van Eijk. De Jesus also worked as a producer on the film La Vie de Monsieur Khiar about the photographer Jeroen Kramer. The Zero Revolution – Henk Peeters is one of his most recent productions.

CREDITS

Documentary | 2015 | 55’ | Color | DCP NL spoken| Blu-ray NL spoken, EN subtitled

De Zero Revolutie: Henk Peeters was made possible by Mediafonds, the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds Gelderland, K.F. Hein Fonds, Borzo Gallery Amsterdam, The Mayor Gallery London, and the Cultural Fund of the Municipality of Arnhem. The film is a co-production of Memphis Film & Television and Omroep Gelderland.