Trained at the Willem de Koning Academy in Rotterdam, and a former resident of the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam, Marcel van den Berg (NL, 1978) nonetheless turns his attention away from academic contemporary arts and towards the aesthetics of graffiti and street culture as a guide to his work.
His artistic practice consists of drawing, painting, collage, video, ceramics, installation and photography. Van den Berg also performs as a DJ and hosts a monthly Pan African variety show called Rice Peas Roots and Culture at online radiostation Echobox Radio. Conceptuative, a term coined by Jabu Arnell, is the approach. Sampling is the method. This manifests itself through an associative, physical and sometimes aggressive way of working. Artistic production is not an illustration of a concept, Van den Berg thinks in material. Work is produced, shown, destroyed (deliberately or not), recontextualized or re-used. With this method Van den Berg wants to question the shelf life of terms such as (de)construction, use, re-use, abuse and hierarchy.
Conceptually informed by Pan African, Rastafari and Afrocentric Futurist movements, his work is also very strongly influenced by Funk, Hip Hop, Reggae, Electro, Jazz, Rhythm and Blues and Techno music. The political messages in the music are transformed in strong visual elements. His work could be seen as a continious jam session and depicts a rhythm or intensity rather than an finished image per se.
Van den Berg’s work has been presented in numerous institutions such as Buro Stedelijk, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Amsterdam Museum, Van Abbemuseum Eindhoven, TENT Rotterdam and can be found in private collections worldwide and in the public collections of Van Abbemuseum Eindhoven, Contemporary Art Museum Moengo (SU), The Black Archives, Dutch Graffiti Library, Metro54, all three in Amsterdam.
As important as showing in institutions, his work can also be seen in artist run spaces like PS Kot, Kunstplatform De Apotheek, both in Amsterdam, Project Lokaal, Utrecht and Raum Vollreinigung, Berlin (DE). The balance between showing “institutional” and “underground” is very important for Van den Berg. This allows the work to be shown in many different settings and enables Van den Berg to test and experiment with different audiences and approaches to his work.
Mentoring
“Receiving Start can feel overwhelming, it may paralyze, it may invoke a certain laidbackness or firestart new levels of ambition. Whatever it is I will be here to listen and observe at first. As a mentor I can provide tips and tricks to move forward while staying true to the heart. For a young artist the art world can be a devilish snake pit, especially when institutions and/or galleries are knocking at the door with proposals, deadlines and opportunities. The power to sometimes say no, stay focused and allow yourself the freedom and time to produce, but also to contemplate and experiment (a.k.a. mess up) is a tool that can be learned. I would love to help find balance in this. Keep in mind that everything is connected. Perfectionism is a disease as in dis ease. Overthinking is overrated. Curiosity for the unknown is key. One on one studio visits are preferable, but it can also be an online meeting to talk about upcoming shows, applications and residencies. Or sometimes just a coffee in the sun to discuss practical, conceptual, financial or personal issues can be all you need.”