Text

Light: this is what it is all about in the work of André Kruysen. For him, it is both subject and material. After all, the construction of his often monumental structures is determined by the way light is present in the place where he starts working. In turn, these snow-white, architectonic-looking structures control the light or the fall of light. The contrast between the open, deconstructed space with the lopsided surfaces and the serenity radiated by the installation is striking. Kruysen makes light tangible, almost magical.

Crucial to his work is an experience the artist had in his youth at the rock Vedra (Ibiza). While diving, he ended up in a cave. The magic that reigned there has never been found in any other place. His interest also extends to architects/artists such as Le Corbusier, Struycken and Schwitters. The first two because of their pursuit of pure form, colour and (spatial) proportions, the last because of his anti-art.

As the title suggests, Kruysen's pedestal sculpture 'Rondanini' refers to Michelangelo's last sculpture of the same name: a Pietà. In the abstract pedestal sculpture, too, you can still see the figures of Mary holding her dead son Christ in her arms. Kruysen conceived the space above the plinth as an oval tube. He cut it into pieces and then rebuilt it with the Rondanini Pietà in mind. Because of the sculpture's different directions, it is unclear whether Mary and Christ are standing together or whether Christ is slipping away. In Kruysen's installations, the same ambivalence is visible in the shaky balance between construction and deconstruction.
Of course, there is also light in the pedestal sculpture. The matt black patina of the bronze turns white when exposed to direct sunlight. This makes the contrasts with the shadows even greater.