More stories please!

Hello all.

First of all a very belated Happy New Years to you all.

I would love to post more stories.

Adriaan is alive through its successfull artists and the ongoing success of the gallery.

It would be nice if we could keep Adriaan alive on this blog too.

If you have some stories or pictures: get off your lazy butts and send them to me.

If you have been trying to reach this blog the last month: I appologize the old contact email was not working.

You can use my direct email: wderuytter2@aol.com

Hope to hear from you.

. Wouter

Art Rotterdam

Right now: Torch Crew is showing at ArtRotterdam.

Looovely Tinkebell has some great pictures on her Facebook page.

(showing a few below)

Last year; that was the last ArtFair that Adriaan Torchmeister attended...

He is definitely approving the new Torch booth and its energy.

But ofcourse he will never show his approval; just a grin will tell all.

Torch booths are always busy.

Loretta Lux, Teun Hocks, Tinkebell, Burtinsky: The well known Torch Language

Torch table is always filled with artist's publications. And the in-between late lunches.

Tinkebell The Infidel.

Behind her a great Philip Akkerman installation.

Adriaan watching over it all. He'll never go away.

The Torch keeps on burning!

Earlier this month: Torch gallery was showing at the Pulse Miami art fair.

The Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad sent out their finest art critic to follow the new gallerist Mo Van der Have. In the special weekly cultural section, Sandra Smallenburg wrote this very nice article.

Click on the pictures to see the Dutch original version.
Below the pictures is an English translation.

(Translation provided by the kindness of Mr Stijn (stijn@sysmans.com))

CULTURAL SUPPLEMENT NRC Handelsblad - FRIDAY DECEMBER 11th 2009

TORCH GALLERY ON THE PULSE ART FAIR IN MIAMI by SANDRA SMALLENBURG

We are all friends

North Miami Avenue and 14th Street is not exactly a place where you would expect an art fair. I have to walk a few blocks from the last stop of Miami's light rail along wastelands and abandoned parking buildings. Tramps and prostitutes are hanging around the stairs to the platform. A couple of kids are spraying a new layer of graffiti onto a wall. Then suddenly, around a corner pops up The Ice Palace, a bright white art-deco building that is home to this week’s Pulse fair.

It is Tuesday, December 1 and just two days before a series of art fairs will take over the city. Art Basel Miami Beach is its largest and most famous, but in its wake there are about twenty other fairs organized.

In this first week of December everyone tries to benefit from the presence of the world's leading collectors and museum authorities in Miami. There is art to be seen in every corner of the city: in the rooms of the luxury hotels in Miami Beach, where the gallery owners share a view of swimming pools, the ocean and palm beaches, as well as in the empty warehouses of rugged Wynwood, just north of downtown Miami.

In front of The Ice Palace, a former ice cream factory, galleries from around the world are loading their precious crates from trucks. Inside the air is sticky and hot. "The air-conditioning is still not on," complains Mo van der Have of Amsterdam's Torch Gallery, who is drinking a coke in his booth amidst empty walls and several wrapped artworks. "They only switch it on just before the VIP opening, for economic considerations."

At 24, Van der Have is no doubt the youngest gallery owner in the show. He is in his senior year studying advertising and marketing, but doubts that he will ever finish it since he’s occupied with Torch seven days a week. "People often think that I am the gallery assistant, or a young artist." Just yesterday, on his birthday, he couldn’t even get a beer. The bartender didn’t believe he was over 21.

Earlier this year Mo succeeded his father Adriaan, who died on April 3 of the rare Kahler’s disease. Van der Have was known as a charming and defiant man with a rather unconventional taste. When he founded Torch in 1984, he was one of the first people who began to sell art photography. Early on he linked big names like Inez van Lamsweerde, Teun Hocks, Anton Corbijn and Loretta Lux to the gallery. Adriaan liked to shock, for example with the campy paintings of the American Terry Rodgers, who so effectively put the feckless decadence of the parties of the rich on canvas. And with Tinkebell, notorious for her purse made of cat fur, he again gave shelter to an artist who was set to provoke.

Mo van der Have didn’t bring the cat purse. "That would only get me into trouble at customs," he says. What he did bring is a stuffed white rabbit created by Tinkebell, which can be wound up and then hops around happily. "European rabbit fur can be imported, I figured that out." Van der Have took the animal to Miami in his hand luggage and customs thought it was a toy. "That saved me money," he laughs "because you pay 6 percent duty on art."

Because the transportation of art is expensive – it costs five to ten thousand Euros to send over a crate of paintings from the Netherlands - Van der Have searched for creative solutions. He points to a couple of man sized cardboard tubes that hold the painting Cupid's Delight (2009) by Terry Rodgers, which should be sold for eighty thousand U.S. dollars, the slats are in one tube and the painted canvas in the other. "I had them send over with Fed-Ex", says Van der Have. "But I got them delivered at a friend’s hotel, because mine is a little too cheap. The tubes barely fit in the elevator. And I had to cram them into a taxi just before. "

He rolled into the art world, says Van der Have. As a small child he already went to international art fairs with his father. "Our vacations were always combined with visits to artists and meetings with museum directors." In recent years Van der Have accompanied his father to places like New York, Dubai and Miami. Last year they got drunk together with the artist Takashi Murakami at a party of the Pulse Fair. His father, already seriously ill, still sat behind his desk at the fair every day and handled business himself. "Although he used to head back to his hotel a little earlier."

His father has never explicitly asked whether he wanted to take over the gallery, says Van der Have. "But I felt I had to do. I've known some artists, such as Teun Hocks, my whole life. They belong to my family. I sent all of them a letter asking what they’d think about me taking over the gallery. They all stayed." He is not planning to adopt a different direction. "What art is concerned, I have similar tastes as my father: transverse, a little kitsch, a little glam."

This year Van der Have made his first own selection for Miami. He chose especially for American work due to transportation costs: a portrait of Loretta Lux, word art from the Canadian Eldon Garnet. A big corner of the stand is reserved for the black and white photographs by New York-based Belgian photographer Wouter Deruytter, that were conveniently piggybacked from Manhattan with a friendly gallery.

The rent of the booth on the Pulse is the largest expense, about fifteen thousand U.S. dollars (at Art Basel the rent is up to sixty thousand Euros). But Van der Have doesn’t worry about recovering this cost in these recession years. "You don’t do it just for the money. I am here mainly to promote my artists. You meet people here that you can only meet in Miami. It is important to show your face at such fairs year after year and that you attend the dinner parties. People remember whether you have or not. It's like advertising. If you get exposed to a product for twenty times, you'll be tempted to buy it. I hope that also applies to the artwork that I sell."

Thursday, December 3. Suddenly it’s all limousines at the entrance of The Ice Palace and sponsored Audi SUV's driving through the deserted streets of Wynwood. The undeveloped areas are temporarily converted into paid parking space for the luxury fleet of the art fair visitors. On the street corners cars from the Miami Police squad keep guard. The beggars and junkies are nowhere to be seen.

For the VIP preview of the Pulse fair Mo der Have has swapped his jeans and T-shirt for a black shirt and gray suit. The painting of Terry Rodgers, neatly stretched by the artist himself, is now hung pontifical to the left wall of the gallery. The painting’s glamorous and half naked people have to lure the public in from the main path. And with the few square meters of exhibition space packed with people that seems to be working nicely.

"It's going great," beams Van der Have. He just sold the Rodgers for its asking price to a French Russian who has a company in Luxembourg. "He was already on the waiting list for a while," says Van der Have, "and before the show we’ve been exchanging e-mails." One of the chrome text works from Eldon Garnet went out the door for $1500. And Wouter Deruytter sold a picture to a board member of the Art Institute in Chicago for $5000. "This is really good, because she will probably introduce his work to someone from the museum."

Van der Have is assisted by Pearl Albino during the fair week, a young woman who has worked in the gallery of Mary Boone and knows the American market like no other. Since she met Adriaan van der Have in 1997 in New York she has a soft spot for ‘this funny Dutch gallery’ Torch and she’s been helping out each year on the U.S. art fairs circuit. She describes the style of Torch as ‘lots of tits’ and ‘a great combination of humor and sex’.

Smiling widely, Pearl Albino tells about the first time she and Adriaan met, twelve years ago, during the Armory Show. "I was working late on my stand and Adriaan and I were the only ones left in the building and walked out together. In the booths of the rich galleries, who could afford a fixed line, one of the phones rang. Nobody had cell phones back then. Adriaan answered at Pace Wildenstein and said: "Club Satyricon, how may I help you?" And at another: "We’re sold out! Don’t call back!" We ran out laughing and were best friends from that day on."

Adriaan possessed the rare combination of eccentricity and reliability, says Albino. "He always paid his artists on time." Mo is more modest than his father, she says. "But he got the artistic instinct spoon-fed. Two years ago I saw him sell a work of his mother, the artist Mitsy Groenendijk, during the exhibition in Miami. It was a sculpture she had made from one of his old teddy bears and could really talk well about it. I knew then that he had it in him." She whispers: “Did you know that Mo is named after Moe Greene from The Godfather? That was the man who was shot through his eye. Who makes up such things?"

Torch is like a family, agrees Albino. The artists that are on show this week have all come over to the Pulse and hang around the exhibition booth all week. Terry Rodgers and Wouter Deruytter are making pictures of each other, tittering with Tinkebell's rabbit. There are anecdotes about Adriaan exchanged. "When I talk about him, the tears shoot back in my eyes," Eldon Garnet says emotionally. "We are all friends," says Rodgers. "So we hang out with each other as much as we can."

Friday, December 4. The long line of party people who are cueing up in the lobby of the posh Gansevoort South Hotel look like they stepped right out of a painting by Terry Rodgers. Clad in fishnet stockings, platform shoes and silver hot pants they crowd up in the express elevator that leads straight to the Plunge rooftop bar on the eighteenth floor. In this luxurious, ‘adult-only’ tropical playground, with lounge beds lined all along a thirty meter swimming pool and a fabulous view over the beach and downtown Miami, the Pulse Prize is awarded this evening. ‘In memory of Adriaan van der Have’ says the VIP invitation. At nine o’clock Wendy Olsoff from New York’s PPOW Gallery does the honors. She has worked with Torch for years, because both galleries represent artists Ellen Kooi and Teun Hocks. "This award is in memory of my dear friend Adriaan", Olsoff shouts above the din. "A man we can all learn from. A man who truly loved art. A man without any frills.” The Pulse Prize, a check of $2500, goes this year to the Austin, Texas based art collective Okay Mountain. They have transformed the stand of their gallery into a funky little shop full of homemade souvenirs. "This is a winner that Adriaan could have appreciated", Olsoff says. "Nice and strange, the way he liked it.” Mo van der Have is standing a little farther at the bar and surrounded by his gallery family. Terry, Eldon, Wouter, Pearl - they're all present. Van der Have says that he sold a work of Loretta Lux that morning at breakfast. "To an Italian collector who stays in my hotel. He tapped me on the shoulder and said he wanted to buy the Lux. He is going to put it in his house in Brazil."

Then Van der Have apologizes. He spots a collector he has not spoken yet and heads off into the festivities.

Saturday, December 5. On this second to last day of the Pulse fair it is still hectic in the Torch stand. Wouter Deruytter signs his book for a fan, Eldon Garnet checks his e-mails on Wouter's i-Book and Pearl Albino explains the work of Terry Rodgers to a visitor. “We sold a lot more than expected," says Van der Have. "Although it was less crowded than last year. Many of the collectors did not come."

Even Tinkebell’s bunny has found a new owner. Van der Have: "It was bought by a Dutchman. Americans often don’t understand the irony of her work. Miami is the scene of extravagance and Tinkebell takes a proper laugh at that."

Tomorrow is the final day. "That one can still turn out really exciting," says Van der Have. "The visitors have seen everything on the fair and come back to buy that one work." Meanwhile he already started what he calls ‘aftercare’. Catalogs are sent to new customers, pictures of the sold artworks are e-mailed. "You can lose your buyers if you don’t offer them proper aftercare," says Van der Have. "There are always people who back out of a deal." He doesn’t give contracts. "I shake hands with buyers and give them a business card. And they have my word. Sold is sold. Every gallery has its own style. Mine is my handshake and my word."

We are interrupted by a gallery owner from Paris, who flings herself at Van der Have’s neck. "We loved Adriaan so much," she says. "He is so missed." Van der Have later says that this touches him deeply. "Sometimes people in the gallery spontaneously start to cry when they see me. That is quite intense."

http://www.torchgallery.com/

Wouter Deruytter started a weblog in memory of Adriaan van der Have: www.adriaanisalive.blogspot.com

=================================================

Very special thanks for the translation by

Mr Stijn (stijn@sysmans.com)

Pussy Wagon

Pearl just emailed me this picture of a wild HUMMER. Her message was: "The Torch Car".

Indeed: this was Adriaan's taste and I am sure he is driving with this right now (or being driven!).

It reminds me when I made Adriaan a fun keychain in 2004/2005 with his favorite character Paris Hilton:

Adriaan was so happy with this. He admitted a similar item was his most treasured possession: The Pussy Wagon Key Chain:

It came from the movie KILL BILL where Adriaan's dream car was shown:

DE SIRENEN

I've been waiting for the right alibi to show the work of SIRENEN.
The article below (former post on this blog) of Eva van Berne mentions this work.
Note Adriaan laying on the floor and the lady in the middle is his wife Mitsy!

From the book "The unforgettable fire":
Founded 1991, DE SIRENEN ("The Sirens") was a Dutch female artists' collective initiated by Tjarda Sixma, Anya Janssen and Mitsy Groenendijk. The collaboration dawned spontaneously in 1989 when Sixma, Janssen and Groenendijk saw their work presented together in Amsterdam at the Stedelijk Museum's Barok & Roll.
This group show, curated by Adrian van der Have, was a revelation for the trio. Unbeknownst to each other, all three had been making use of similar visual strategies. ... Each had been seekingto convey an urgent need for self-affirmation and emancipation via depictions of women as (sexually) empowered beings. ...

Catherine Somze

Van stout tot verstild (Eva van Berne)

Van stout tot verstild

diverse kunstenaars - The Unforgettable Fire, 25 jaar TORCH Gallery

door Eva van Berne 12 augustus 2009

Fotografe Margi Geerlinks wilde het 25-jarig bestaan van haar galerie TORCH niet onopgemerkt voorbij laten gaan. Ze nam het initiatief voor een publicatie en een tentoonstelling in de Kunsthal Rotterdam. Beide dragen de titel The Unforgettable Fire en vormen een dubbel eerbetoon aan de galerie en vooral haar eigenzinnige galeriehouder Adriaan van der Have (1958-2009).

Van der Have was zelf nog nauw betrokken was bij de totstandkoming van de tentoonstelling en catalogus. Hij selecteerde de 26 kunstenaars, een voor elk jaar uit het bestaan van de galerie, die op de tentoonstelling te zien zijn en leverde input voor de vorm en inhoud van de catalogus. De opening heeft hij net niet meer mee kunnen maken. Hij overleed op 3 april na een tijd ernstig ziek te zijn geweest. The Unforgettable Fire toont vooral hoe veelzijdig zijn belangstelling was.

Adriaan van der Have & TORCH
Adriaan van der Have staat vooral bekend als de galeriehouder die als een van de eersten in Nederland de potentie van fotografie als kunstvorm zag. Hoewel het aanvankelijk lastig was om met dit medium genoeg brood op de plank te krijgen bleek Van der Have een vooruitziende blik te hebben. De fotografie werd steeds populairder en is tegenwoordig niet meer weg te denken uit de kunstwereld. Nederland kent verschillende musea die zich richten op (kunst)fotografie en ook in de handel doet het medium het goed. In plaats van de prominente positie van TORCH als fotogalerie te gelde te maken heeft Van der Have heeft zich nooit tot een medium of stijl beperkt. Juist toen de fotografie een succes bleek en mensen het in zijn galerie gingen verwachten keek hij uit naar andere zaken. Hij vond dat juist het feit dat het onverwachte TORCH interessant maakte.

Eind jaren zeventig studeerde Van der Have kunstgeschiedenis aan de Vrije Universiteit. Hij maakte deze studie niet af maar begon samen met studievriend Jos Smit een bedrijfje. In het voorpand van de galerie van Wim van Krimpen vestigden zij Art Unlimited, een (kunst)kaarten- en posterwinkel. Later richtte hij zich ook op lijstenmakerij en kunsthandel. In 1984 startte hij TORCH Gallery in Amsterdam. Op de eerste tentoonstelling toonde Van der Have werk van Alan David-Tu, een Britse modefotograaf die mysterieuze portretten creëerde. Daarna volgden onder meer de curieuze stillevens van Henk Tas, de digitaal gemanipuleerde foto's van Inez van Lamsweerde en de feeërieke onderwater films van Danielle Kwaaitaal. Hij maakte naam als eigenzinnige en tegendraadse promotor van de geënsceneerde fotografie. Daarbij ging hij, met een volgens eigen zeggen 'intuïtieve benadering', op zoek naar de grenzen van wat als kunst en fotografie beschouwd werd.

Zowel qua kunstenaars als qua afzetmarkt beperkte Van der Have zich niet tot Nederland. In zijn stal bevinden zich bijvoorbeeld veel Amerikanen, waaronder Terry Rogers, Anthony Goicolea en voormalig pornoactrice Annie Sprinkle. Voor veel van zijn buitenlandse kunstenaars bleek in Nederland een markt te vinden. Anderzijds zocht Van der Have ook de internationale markt op voor zijn Nederlandse kunstenaars. Eind jaren tachtig had hij samen met galeriehouder Milco Onrust een vestiging in Keulen. Ook nam hij regelmatig deel aan internationale beurzen. In het begin deelde hij vaak een stand met Cokkie Snoei. Later wierp hij zich ook op als promotor van verschillende beurzen. De PULSE Contemporary Art Fair in Miami en New York zal in december dit jaar de PULSE prize ter ere van Van der Have uitreiken.

The Unforgettable Fire
Als dank voor zijn jarenlange inzet voor haar en de andere kunstenaars uit zijn stal nam Margi Geerlinks het initiatief om iets te doen met het naderende jubileum van TORCH. In haar geëmotioneerde openingsspeech in de Kunsthal memoreert ze vooral zijn tomeloze inzet om 'zijn' kunstenaars op de kaart te zetten. ‘Keep de fire burning' staat te lezen op de speciaal voor deze gelegenheid gedrukte t-shirts die veel van de kunstenaars dragen. Wim van Krimpen noemt in zijn toespraak Van der Have's keuze voor fotografie ‘dapper en uitdagend' en ziet de tentoonstelling als een hommage aan het werk van galeriehouders.

De foto op de uitnodiging is gemaakt door Anton Corbijn en toont Van der Have als cowboy in de polder. De prachtige titel van de tentoonstelling en publicatie verwijst niet alleen naar de naam van de galerie, maar ook naar het album van U2 dat uitkwam in hetzelfde jaar dat TORCH Gallery opende en waarvoor Corbijn de foto's maakte. Op de tentoonstelling hangt een foto van U2 met hun vaders en een curieus zelfportret van Corbijn in blackface. Dit laatste is niet het enige werk op de tentoonstelling dat vanwege een vervreemdend of opmerkelijk karakter de aandacht trekt. Van der Have hield wel van een beetje fout en stout. Bijvoorbeeld de geënsceneerde foto van een klein meisje in een miss-verkiezing van de Sanchez Brothers, de 'tit prints' van Annie Sprinkle of de foto's van De Sirenen, waaronder ook Van der Haves vrouw Mitsy. Op een van de foto's zien we de galeriehouder liggend onder de voeten van zijn vrouw en twee collega sirenen. Aan de andere kant had hij ook veel kunstenaars in zijn stal die juist rustig en verfijnd werk maken, zoals het werk van Ellen Kooi, de zwart-wit fotografie van Wouter Deruytter en de verfijnde kinderportretjes van Loretta Lux.

In TORCH Gallery waren de werken van deze kunstenaars doorgaans in solo-exposities te bezichtigen. Op de tentoonstelling in de Kunsthal Rotterdam zijn zesentwintig van hen met een of enkele werken vertegenwoordigd. Dit levert nogal een allegaartje op waarvan de indeling hoofdzakelijk door de tentoonstellingsruimte bepaald is en minder door de chronologie op basis waarvan de kunstenaars zijn uitgekozen. De jaren, een voor elk jaar van het bestaan van de galerie, waaraan de kunstenaars gekoppeld zijn hangen door elkaar heen. Er is niet duidelijk een ontwikkeling zichtbaar, maar vooral veelzijdigheid. In de catalogus die is uitgegeven door Art Unlimited komen meer kunstenaars aan bod en zijn beschouwende en anekdotische teksten van verschillende auteurs opgenomen. De kunst staat centraal en krijgt de ruimte. De korte introductie gewijd aan Van der Have is bescheiden en informeel. De laatste tentoonstelling samengesteld door Van der Have in zijn galerie is die van Terry Rodgers, nog te zien tot 28 augustus 2009. Het is daarna aan zijn zoon Mo die hij het afgelopen jaar heeft ingewerkt om de stoute schoenen aan te trekken en de fakkel brandend te houden. Van der Have zelf leeft voorlopig voort in het door Wouter Deruytter opgerichte weblog 'Adriaan is Alive', waar zijn kunstenaars en vrienden foto's en herinneringen plaatsen.

http://www.8weekly.nl/artikel/7616/van-stout-tot-verstild.html

THE BOOK: The Unforgettable Fire

25 years TORCH Gallery.

This wonderful book was presented on the opening at the Kunsthal Museum in Rotterdam.

192 pages of interviews, anecdotes, emails & pictures with Adriaan.
Ofcourse also many reproductions of most artists that Torch has shown
with new essays on the artists.
Adriaan would say "Een dikke boterham!"

Most we have to thank Margi Geerlinks who started this whole project and made this book.

The book is smartly designed by Marnix Dees & Theo Ruys.

You can order the book at the website from Artunlimited. Or e-mail Gino. gino@artunlimited.com

Designers of the book: Marnix & Theo

Margi Geerlinks did the impossible to pull this all off.

The Unforgettable Fire -Rotterdam- 29May2009 (part 5)

The amazing architecture of Rem Koolhaas

The Unforgettable Fire -Rotterdam- 29May2009 (part 4)

Margi and Mitsy

Susan A. Zadeh (EyeMazing Magazine)

The Rodgers and The Wilcovaks

Mo and 1/2 of PPOW,NY

Estelle and Terry Rodgers

In front of Anton Corbijn's portrait of Adriaan

The Unforgettable Fire -Rotterdam- 29May2009 (part 3)

The Exhibition

click the picture to see it big enough to read

Adriaan would have approved ;-)

The Unforgettable Fire -Rotterdam- 29May2009 (part 2)

Opening of The Opening.
Some speeches in a packed auditorium.

The Unforgettable Fire -Rotterdam- 29May2009 (part 1)

Finally here some pictures of the bittersweet afternoon in Rotterdam. May 29, 2009: Opening of THE UNFORGETTABLE FIRE. 25 years of TORCH Gallery. A Tribute Exhibition to Adriaan.

Outside the museum. An early get together for close friends and those that came from far.

Ellen, Mitsy, Margy, Teun

Margi, Teun, Ellen, Mitsy

Ellen Kooi

PPOW (NY), Ellen

Mo and Eva

Mo, Eva, Tinkebell

Teun, Philppe, Ellen

Terry and Estelle Rodgers

Margi Geerlinks, Gerald vdKaap

Steven Lowy

Teun Hocks

Mo, Steven

Adriaan's favorite snack: PIG's EARS

Jerome, Steven

Philippe Akkerman

Jos Smith

From Rodney Dickson

I met Adriaan in 1983 when he had his gallery called Kunst Handel Van Der Have.We immediately got on well and he showed some of my paintings in his gallery that year. It was his Christmas show and he had asked all of his artists to do a portrait of him. I worked with Adriaan for a while longer until I moved back to live in England and somehow over the years we lost touch with each other.Many years later, I met him again in the Armory Show, New York and immediately we recognized eachother.Adriaan was my first dealer and I have always had good memories of him.

Rodney Dickson, New York, 2009

==============

Comment by Adriaanisalive:
It would be wonderful if we could see all those 1983 self portraits and portraits of Adriaan by all those artists.
Unfortunately Rodney does not have a picture of his 2 paintings, so he is sharing with us a painting he made in the same year.
I will keep this on my checklist and hope to get pictures from TorchGallery later on.
QUEEN by Rodney Dickson, 1983, acrylic on canvas, 4 feet x 2 feet
This painting was done in my Amsterdam studio and was one of those Adriaan liked. The two portraits in his collection are similar.

PULSE Prize in honor of Adriaan Van der Have

PULSE Miami Announces Relocation to The Ice Palace for its Fifth Edition
.
NEW YORK, NY.- Helen Allen, Director of PULSE Contemporary Art Fair announced today that PULSE Miami is taking over The Ice Palace in downtown Miami. The large venue offers PULSE a more dynamic space for the exhibition of art and is conveniently located within minutes of the Venetian and MacArthur Causeways to Miami Beach. The layout in the former ice factory, built in the early 1920’s, will be designed to utilize the vast outdoor area to enhance visitors’ experience and additional cultural programming. In just five years, PULSE Miami has grown into a major international exhibition, which has frequently been hailed as the most significant art fair in Miami after Art Basel Miami Beach.
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“We are thrilled to be moving to The Ice Palace”, said Helen Allen. We are planning to work on the space to maximize its full potential by implementing a series of improvements such as the layout, lighting, and wider aisles. The caliber of exhibitors we are bringing will undoubtedly allow us to produce an incredible fair. We are also pleased to remain the anchor of the Miami/Wynwood area”.
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The Ice Palace Film Studios, typically referred to as The Ice Palace, is a former ice factory centrally located in Miami’s Media and Entertainment District. It stands at the heart of the new cultural center, neighboring the Miami Art Museum, CIFO, the Symphony Theatre and The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami Dade County. Boasting over 145,000 square feet, Art Deco architecture and verdant lawns, it will constitute an exceptional and easily accessible setting for PULSE Miami.
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PULSE Miami 2009 will feature over 75 exhibitors in its main section, with an additional 10 galleries in its IMPULSE section. The Fair will also present its signature programs: the installations and large-scale sculpture program, PULSE Performance, PULSE Play, and, on Saturday, December 5, 2009, it will award the PULSE Prize in honor of Adriaan Van der Have of TORCH GALLERY who passed away this spring.

Reflections on Torch - from Steven Lowy (1)

First Meeting

I first met Adriaan at the ArtCologne of 1989. He was hard to miss.

He was exhibiting three artists, as I remember it. Servaas Kunsthandel was showing stacked cans of FishAir. Ingold Airlines featured a mock up of their airplane hangar, complete with windsock, and the Banco di Oklahoma was selling securities in a manner not unlike that which recently brought down the American economy. Basically, the gallery was exhibiting three conceptual art corporations, artwork indebted to my hero, Marcel Duchamp.

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Then there was Adriaan, a giant of a man, whose shoes were immense and whose shirt , fastened with a bolo tie adorned with an image of Jesus Christ, was always soiled at the solar plexus from fast food eaten too quickly at the fair between sales. My assistant that year, my best friend Bill Rogers, who I had invited to join me because of his impeccable German, agreed that we had to get to know this guy. Of course, Adriaan also had a gorgeous assistant. Bill’s mission - to meet the assistant and arrange a gallerist dinner.

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So began what would be an amazing twenty year adventure with the man we lovingly called El Torcho, his rat pack and an unofficial posse20that we dubbed the A-Team.. This November would have been our twentieth anniversary as friends and conspirators. This is the first of a series of reminiscences.

Kunsthal opening night

A quick and temporary posting with some images of the Kunsthal opening of Adriaan's memorial exhibition.
When I'm done travelling (in 2 weeks): i will post more pictures.
Find here some for the impatient Americans that couldn't be there.

Margie, Teun, Ellen, Mitsy

An emotional opening where we were all happy to see each other, but so unfair that the person we were celebrating, the person that gave us so many great friends, was not amongst us.

The amazing and very functional architecture of Rem Koolhaas added to the Torch "Spectacularness"

The publication was still wet. After 3000 kilometers and many long nights (amongst 11 with no sleep): Margie Geerlinks was able to pull off the book, which ArtUnlimited published. More later!

Adriaan my Art-Father - from Colien Langerwerf

For Annie Sprinkle, Adriaan was her Art-Pimp!, for me was Adriaan my Art-Father!
From day one, back in the early ninetees, He was my: Big-Art-Daddy.
Beside a painter, I'm an performer,and at the first PORN Fair at the Markanti Plaza, and Adriaan was there to support me!
Together we fixed the set of GTST ( the first Dutch soap on national tv) with my paintings and we played a little role too!
On Camp-Art Adriaan had a Adult Road Movie-show, and a harem!, with me and my crazy friends! they loved him all! and we took the front page with a huge photo at a big daily newspaper!!!
Adriaan brought my paintings into the film : COOL, one of the movies of Theo van Gogh, and Daddy and I had popcorn at the premiere, together! with all the young deliguentes/actors of that movie.

Of course, these are just a few memories and there where also the regular shows, and Adriaan was always caring about his artist!

I loved him! for his big heart, the strange, the crazy, the high and unexspectable way of living the Art!
Where Adriaan was, there was something going on!

I ll miss you my Big-Art-Daddy!
I ll keep the TORCH burning!

Colien Langerwerf

fotos made by: Eduard bezembinder at Camp Art Amsterdam 1996

From MITSY, MO & EVA

Dear People,

Thank you for all the beautiful stories and memories about Adriaan.
We feel supported by the warmth & love.

Warm Regards,
Mitsy, Mo & Eva

Adriaan the Love Machine - from Annie Sprinkle

Adriaan the Love Machine
When I first met Adriaan in 1989 I immediately fell in love with this darling, wonderful, sexy man. Since that fateful day I have always affectionately called him my ‘art pimp.’ He plucked me from the sex industry where I had been working for years as a prostitute and porn star. He put me in several exhibitions at Torch, plus produced and published my first, and still best, book. I enjoyed the sex industry but had a big, juicy fantasy of being an artist. Adriaan helped make my fantasy into a very juicy reality.
Mitsy was of course Adriaan’s #1 gal. Rightly so! She was always delightfully warm and welcoming toward me, and I have so much respect for her. Adriaan of course had lots of women artist in his stable. I was a little jealous, and very happy, when he started to work with the fabulous Italian blonde porn star Cicciolina. Adriaan was very good to us sex worker artists. Bless his heart. We would give him our art works and he would give us back money to keep us in new high heels, sexy lingerie and big wigs. Plus we got to spread our political messages around the globe.
Adriaan will live on in my heart, and I’ll always be eternally grateful that he took me, and my work to all the best art places. Every minute being with him was sheer ecstasy. He was a love machine! And no, we never had sex. The artistic collaborations were completely satisfying.
Annie Sprinkle, Ph.D.

The Love Machine with his #1 Girl.
Here are some photos from last summer (2008). Fortunately I canceled a gig and jumped on a plane to Amsterdam to go pay my respects to Adriaan, who helped me so much over the years. Mitsy was absolutely radiant, and so in love with her man.

Adriaan always encouraged me to find a live partner-mate. He had met one or two hundred of my lovers over the years. But when I introduced him to my gal of the last seven years, artist Elizabeth Stephens, he said she was "a real keeper."

This coming August Elizabeth and I will be doing a performance art wedding in blue at the Venice Bienale. We will dedicate the entire wedding to our angel Adriaan Van Der Have.
I wouldn't be going to the Venice Bienale if it weren't for Adriaan.

Breast wishes dear Andriaan. I will always keep you in my heart next to my big boobies. You were one fine art pimp.

From Richard Goodall - Uuunbelievable

It is hard to write this. Adriaan was my mentor, my inspiration when I opened my gallery in 2000. From the earliest moments, he was generous with advice and contacts. He introduced me to wonderful people like Margi and Anton and Eelco, not to mention Mitsy and Mo.
The first photo was taken in Amsterdam in April 2000. Adriaan explaining to me the finer points of white beer with a slice of orange..'Uuunbelievable', as only he could say.
We had an ongoing competition of who could make the most sales. Whoever was ahead was crowned 'Uno'. He made me the packet of pills based on the Dana Wyse series. Ah, but Adriaan, you will always be 'Uno'. Sharon and I will look forward to meeting old friends in Rotterdam next month.
Richard Goodall

Rotterdam : T-shirt (Tinkebell)

TINKEBELL WRITES: "Last week Catherine Somze, Rowena Dring and I, discussed with Eva (Mo's pretty girlfriend) about making a gesture at the opening of the 25 year Torch exhibition in de kunsthal on may 29th. At first we were thinking about printing t-shirts for everyone, but because a lot of Adriaan's friends are too creative to wear a 'prefab' t-shirt and Adriaan would love us all to use our creativity, we considered to sent everyone the same jpeg image, which can be used to design your own tshirt with.
It would be fantastic if everyone at the opening would wear his or her own -keep your torch burning- shirt!
Looove TINKEBELL."

.

Note from Adriaanisalive:

Click on the picture above (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zgU1-i_U0to/SezrfzT1orI/AAAAAAAAAWw/IgS1mzT5O3Y/s1600-h/keepyourtorchburning.jpg) to see and download the bigger jpg.

But for those (like me) who are not so creative in making our own t-shirts:

Tinkebell will make you one, which she will bring to the opening at Kunsthal on May 29.

..

Simply email Tinkebell at: tinkebell@tinkebell.com

Let her know:

- black or white

- male or female

- color of text (can be anything)

- size (s, m, l, xl)

one t-shirt costs 25 euro's and Tinkebell has a paypal account, which is the easiest to use for payment: katinka@tinkebell.com when you make a payment, bu sure to mention your name.

Then I'll make sure everyone get his or her t-shirt on may 29th at de kunsthal.
thats it! :), Looove TINKEBELL.

PS: Of course people can order the shirts after the opening as well, but when you want to wear your t-shirt at the opening i need to know it before may 8th.
i will bring them all to the kunsthal so everyone can pick up his or her t-shirt at the entrance.

Rotterdam - Hotels

For those that want to stay at a hotel in Rotterdam for the May 29 Torch exhibition at the Kunsthal: simply google hotels Rotterdam:
http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en-us&q=Hotels+near+Kunsthal+Rotterdam&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

Margi who lives in Rotterdam recommends the beautiful Hotel New York (accross the water) and Hotel Bazar (funky, but probably the type Adriaan would stay at).

This is what Kunsthal mailed me:
.
Hotel van Walsum
Mathernesserlaan 199-201 , 3014 HC Rotterdam
T.; +31 10 436 32 75 , F.: +31 10 436 44 10
E.: info@hotelvanwalsum.nl , W.; http://www.hotelvanwalsum.nl/
.
Hotel Breitner
Breitnerstraat 23 , 3015 XA Rotterdam
T.: + 31 10 436 02 62 , F.: +31 10 436 40 91
E.: info@hotelbreitner.nl , W.: http://www.hotelbreitner.nl/
.
Sometimes people stay at the Grand Hotel Philadelphia, also walking distance of the Kunsthal:
Grand Hotel Philadelphia
Van Vollenhovenstraat 48-50 , 3016 BJ Rotterdam
T.: +31 10 240 04 25 , F.: +31 10 270 97 35
E.: grandhotel@philadelphia.nl , W.: http://www.grandhotelphiladelphia.nl/
.
A little more expensive, beautiful located, but a little further away from the Kunsthal:
Hotel New York
Koninginnenhoofd 1 , 3072 AD Rotterdam
T.: +31 10 439 05 55 , F.: +31 10 484 27 01
E.: info@hotelnewyork.nl , W.: http://www.hotelnewyork.nl/
.
And near by, but most luxury of all these hotels:
Bilderberg Parkhotel
Westersingel 70 , 3015 LB Rotterdam
T.: +31 10 436 36 11 , F.: +31 10 436 42 12
E.: parkhotel@bilderberg.nl , W.: www.bilderberg.nl

Rotterdam - INVITATION - Friday May 29, 2009 (8:00 PM)

The Director of the Kunsthal Rotterdam has the pleasure
of inviting you to the opening of the exhibition
The Unforgettable Fire
25 year TORCH Gallery
. .
Friday May 29, 2009 in the evening at 8.00 PM
Wim van Krimpen will open the exhibition
The exhibition is on view from May 30th to September 6th, 2009
.

Since 1984 TORCH Gallery has been of major importance to photography in both the Netherlands and abroad. With great enthusiasm and passion gallery owner Adriaan van der Have provided a platform for talented and today well-known artists within his gallery. With a clear eye for young talent he managed to present trendsetting and sometimes controversial art. The jubilee exhibition offers work by 26 artists – one artist per year – and thus presents a varied survey of the stirring history of the gallery
.

With works by Anton Corbijn, Gerald van der Kaap, Inez van Lamsweerde,
Blommers & Schumm, Terry Rodgers, Loretta Lux, Starn Twins, Margi Geerlinks,
Sanchez Brothers, Daniëlle Kwaaitaal, Henk Tas, Twan Janssen, De Sirenen,
Alan David Tu, Annie Sprinkle, Teun Hocks, Ellen Kooi, Jochen Mülhenbrink,
Stepanek & Maslin, Martin Denker, Carolus, Daniël Kramer,
Charlemagne Palestine, Servaas, Eelco Brand and Wouter Deruytter

..
The exhibition pays homage to Adriaan van der Have
At Art Unlimited a jubilee publication is to appear, initiated by Margi Geerlinks

.

Museumpark, Westzeedijk 341, 3015 AA Rotterdam
phone +31-(0)10-4400300
fax +31-(0)10-4367152
communicatie@kunsthal.nl
www.kunsthal.nl
open:
Tuesday to Saturday 10 AM to 5 PM
Sundays and public holidays 11 AM to 5 PM
..

This invitation admits two persons
Please present this invitation at the entrance

Photo: Adriaan van der Have © Anton Corbijn

Murakami - Adriaan was first (again)

A folow up on Nico's Murakami post on April 11:

http://adriaanisalive.blogspot.com/2009/04/two-buddies-take-takashi-murakami.html

Murakami and Adriaan, Spiegelgracht, Amsterdam, 2007 (photo: Nico Delaive)

Sent to us by Nico Delaive:
In 1997: Adriaan showed Takashi Murakami as one of the first galleries outside Japan.

Murakami and Adriaan, Spiegelgracht, Amsterdam, 2007 (photo: Nico Delaive)

==================
Comment by Adriaanisalive:
Note again Adriaan's clear plastic Maastricht bag.
No: not the same one as in some former pictures. He had 100s of them ;-)

Here's the story:
Adriaan at one point organized a rather successfull side-fair when the Tefaf Maastricht artfair was on. (These are the plastic bags from his fair. Just like he did in 1984 (with Nico) outside the Amsterdam Artfair. See the post of April 13).
Tefaf was powerful enough to convince the city of Maastricht not to let such a side-fair happen again ...Can you imagine this in Miami or NewYork ...

=====================

COMMENTS:

Pearl said...
Oh! Now I know the full story of the bags! I admit that I felt a little guilty for not having bought him a more chic tote, but now I know that bag was a trophy from the rebellion!
April 17, 2009 6:21 PM

Zorgvlied

Last week Wednesday, April 8, 2009:
Adriaan was put to rest in the beautiful cemetery Zorgvlied.
According to Adriaan's wishes: it was done with his close family only.

Zorgvlied is a beautiful 138 years old cemetery at the river Amstel, just outside Amsterdam in the village Amstelveen.

Adriaan is now surrounded by many famous artists and characters like Annie MG Schmidt (writer), Herman Brood (musician and painter), Manfred Langer (former owner of the iT), Peter Gielen (former owner of The Roxy), Greet Hofmans (healer), Frank Govers (fashion), and so many more.

There are more than 2000 trees in the cemetery and lots of animals live there... Adriaan will go crazy, as much as he did when deer ate the pears off the trees at his summerhouse garden ;-)

It is a custom there that the family drinks champagne at the grave, but in the middle of the service it started pouring rain, so that was kept for the afternoon at the home of Grandma (Adriaan's mother).

Next time we drink a glass of champagne: it will be in Adriaan's name. Many times.

Prague Revolution

A folow up on Wednesday's post "Prague 1984"
http://adriaanisalive.blogspot.com/2009/04/prague-1984.html :
and of Thursday's post "From Some Secret Archives"
http://adriaanisalive.blogspot.com/2009/04/from-some-secret-archives.html
.
Jacques van de Vall has sent us these blasts from the past.
All pictures were taken by Stanislav Tuma (1950-2005) a.k.a. Standa
.
After an openings act at Mitsy's exhibition 1983
(Adriaan + Jacques + Mitsy)

In Prague, 1984

(Jacques and Adriaan)

The first location of the gallery (Van der Have) 1984.

from left to right: Mitsy, Jacques, Adriaan and Standa (Stanislav Tuma).

Adriaan at the wedding of Stanislav Tuma in Prague 1985

(Adriaan is thrith from the left)

Two buddies take Takashi Murakami

Nico writes: "twee oude maatjes pakken Takashi Murakami volta 2006
adriaan en ik nico delaive al meer dan 27 jaar maatjes speciaal in teveel eten
nico delaive"
.
Translation: "Two old buddies take Takashi Murakami at Volta 2006 (Miami).
Adriaan and I have been buddies for more than 27 years; especially into eating too much
Nico Delaive"

Rebel Rebel: 1982: Adriaan and Nico protesting

Nico Delaive writes: "Ik en adriaan in protest voor de eerste kunst beurs zelfs de politie kreeg ons niet weg zo rond 1982 ?1983 adriaan en ik zij aan zij "
.
Translation: "Me and Adriaan protesting in front of the first Art Fair. Even the police couldn't get us to leave. About 1982 or 1983. Adriaan and me; side by side."

Nico explains more: "was een kunst beurs in amsterdam een van de eerste wij ik en adriaan mochten er niet op staan dus uit protest deden we dit we hadden ook plastic tassen laten maken met mijn gallery toen nog G I N heette en adriaan zijn winkel maar nog niet de naam torch.

de beurs mensen vonden het niet leuk en stuurde de politie op ons af maar slim dat we waren hadden een vergunning gekregen . plus de tasjes dat was het mooiste iedere bezoeker had er een en liep in de beurs met onze naam niet slecht nico "

.

Translation: "It was one of the first art fairs in Amsterdam. We (Adriaan and me) were not allowed to participate. Out of protest: we had a tent outside the artfair (at the entry). We had also made plastic bags with my gallery name on it (which was then called GIN and Adriaan had his shop which was not named Torch yet.)

The artfair people did not like what we did and they sent the police at us. But we were smarter and had obtained a permit. With the plastic bags: the most satisfying was that every visitor on the fair was running around with our names. Not bad. Nico "

====================

COMMENTS:

Helen said...
Nico, That is a wonderful story. Thank you for sharing.
April 13, 2009 4:09 PM

Uncertain 2008

2008 was a very stressful year. No one knew which road Adriaan's health would take. Their New Year's card perfectly symbolizes that to me. Allow yourself a giggle and notice the sticky fly trap hanging from the ceiling.

(The card reads "Just a Happy 2008...")

-- click the picture to see it bigger - or rightclick it and then leftclick "open link in new window" --

October 2007 (Zeeland / Amsterdam)

Wouter writes: After years of not really knowing what was deteriorating Adriaans health, it is my understanding that the cancer was discovered in June 2007. When the treatment (a very advanced way of stem cell transplant) was proposed as the only way out, Adriaan very bravely did all the necessary treatments. In July he wrote me "Kahler is inderdaad erg heftig....helaas.... We doen ons best to kill the motherfucker ! (Kahler is very heavy indeed. Unfortunately. We do our best to kill the mf)".

It was all much harder than expected. Radiation, medicines, … But Adriaan kept organizing future ArtFairs and exhibitions. The right attitude. But the stemcell operation was planned around the time of ParisPhoto November 2007, so he canceled that one.

Early August he wrote "I hope I wasnt braver when I decided it than when I have to undergo it... I didnt really realize all I guess...perhaps good in the end I didnt...I need to become in a comateus situation first before getting the right cells...this means that I am technically spoken dead for a while. didnt realize either that I need 2 to 3 weeks hospital in complete isolation... (all happens oktober or early november....) So I hope when I resurrect ,that you , Ed ,Nicolas & Nathan are extra proud of me !"

In September Adriaan wrote: "Misschien lukt het niet..., Zou een medisch wonder zijn is me reeds verteld. Maar ja , dat is meteen ook een uitdaging voor me... 1 okt. 4e en laatste chemo kuur, 1/2 okt. Stamcellen inwinning, operatie hoop ik half November, dan moet 14 dagen in quarantaine...., daarna hoop ik ziekenhuis uit te mogen...misschien wishful thinking.. (Maybe it won't work ... it would be a medical miracle ... but then that's also a challenge for me ... Oct 1: 4th and last chemo treatment, mid Oct gathering stemcells , operation hopefully mid-November, have to be then 14 days in quarantine..., then hopefully leaving the hospital... maybe wishful thinking.. )

The fear kicked in and my friend and I decided to fly over to Amsterdam to try and cheer up Adriaan. That was October 2007. See pictures above.

November 2007: Treatment seems to go "well". Ofcourse Adriaan was a wreck, but he did the art fair Pulse in Miami. See pictures below (in my former posting). Upon return (Dec 12): Adriaan wrote: "Arrived few hours ago from Miami. Tomorrow early I will leave for hospital and hopefully they let me go again early january. If so that would be a good sign. No feastdays for uncle TORCH this year I am afraid.Very strange..Never was in these circumstances before...".

2008 was an unsure time for Adriaan. Not knowing which road the cancer would go. Sometimes it did seem to go quite well and doctors told him “you shouldn’t be alive now”. Many of us really thought he was a unique survivor. The treatments did give Adriaan another year. Doing several art fairs including ArtDubai, Pulse NewYork, Pulse Miami, … It all seemed to go better. We all thought that denying the cancer would trick his destiny. Then Adriaan told us maybe 1 more year. Then 5 more months. Then 2 months. And suddenly 5 days later he was gone.

December 2007 (Miami)

Mo and Adriaan on their booth at Pulse ArtFair (Miami, December 2007)

Mo, Adriaan and Pearl.

Adriaan and Estelle Rodgers.

.

(photos by Wouter)

Obituary page in newspaper

Obituary from Dutch Museums

The passing away of

ADRIAAN VAN DER HAVE
founder of TORCH Gallery

has moved us deeply.

With his sparkling personality and his brave choices, Adriaan took a special position within the art world.
We loose with him an inspiring, dynamic and a colleague full of life.

The directors and fellow-workers of
Fotomuseum Den Haag
Gemeentemuseum Den Haag
Gemeentemuseum Helmond
Groninger Museum
Kunsthal Rotterdam

===========================

COMMENTS:

Pearl said...

That is beautiful. I can't think of the last time US museums honored the passing of a gallerist.

April 11, 2009 2:45 PM

Obituary from Adriaan's family

Published in the Dutch newspaper HRC Handelsblad on April 9, 2009:

K e e p . y o u r . t o r c h . b u r n i n g

Adriaan enjoyed his life and work

to the fullest extend.
. . .

According to his wish Adriaan has been

buried amongst his immediate family only.

From Danielle Kwaaitaal

“Dear Adriaan,
Looking at this picture takes me back to the start of our collaboration, HI&LO back in 2002. Not High not Low, but Hi and LO, remember? Since then we grew into a fruitful team with my show Whispering Waters at the Groninger Museum being the heart of the rose of our friendship and collaboration. Thank you for making me grow and sharing all your incredible ideas, joy and inspiration, you’ll be missed big time. Mo, Mitsy, my heart is with you guys!
Love
Danielle Kwaaitaal”

From Simon Henwood

Amsterdam, November 2008 (photo Simon Henwood)

.

Simon writes: " My funniest memory of Adriaan was when we were unpacking work for my show last year. The first painting came out of the crate and he said. “I hope the rest will be a little better” He always kept me on my toes with his sharp wit and kind heart. I dread to think what a bloody handful he was as a young man. "

A tribute to Torch by his artists

.

.

This was designed by Rick Vermeulen and published today in the Dutch newspapers "Het Parool" and "NRC Handelsblad".

.

With special thanks to Margi Geerlinks, Gerald Van Der Kaap, Teun Hocks and Henk Tas.

Wurggreep - Headlock

Adriaan loved these 2 brothers Jason and Carlos Sanchez. Always fantasizing they were Mexicans. Only to find out they were Canadian...

When The Bosso didn't get what he wanted, or in his words: "when the artist doesn't understand": he tried the headlock. It always worked. As seen here on Carlos in Miami 2008.

BOSSO has left the building (Sanchez Brothers)

http://thesanchezbrothers.com/

From Some Secret Archives

Who are these characters? Revolutionaries? Movie actors? Ollanders?

Visit the blog tomorrow!

(This is how Adriaan would tease me with e-mails....)

.

COMMENTS:

Pearl said...

Yes, I would get teaser e-mails too, like: "And then I did what he thought I would never dare do in a million years..." or "I ended up making him pay dearly for his stupidity, and he'll never forget what I did..."

I'd write back, "What? What did you do?" Sometimes he'd make me wait to see him in person to hear the good part of the story!

April 9, 2009 12:02 PM

Het Parool (Dutch newspaper)

Amsterdam, donderdag 9 april 2009

.

Ten slotte Adriaan van der Have 1958 - 2009

Hij was misschien wel de meest eigenzinnige galeriehouder van Amsterdam. Een Amerikaanse cowboy in het Hollandse riet, zoals Anton Corbijn hem portretteerde. Adriaan van der Have bracht in zijn galerie Torch aan de Lauriergracht een eigenzinnige keuze aan hedendaagse kunst. Vrijdag overleed Van der Have aan de ziekte van Kahler, een zeldzame vorm van botkanker.

Adriaan van der Have was medeoprichter van de kunstkaarten en posterwinkel Art Unlimited, waarna hij in 1984 een galerie voor hedendaagse kunst begon: Torch. In een tijd die werd gedomineerd door het wilde schilderen, presenteerde Torch fotografie nadrukkelijk als kunstvorm, met geënsceneerde foto's van kunstenaars als Teun Hocks en Henk Tas.

In de jaren negentig introduceerde Van der Have de gemanipuleerde computerfoto's van Inez van Lamsweerde en Micha Klein. Van der Have had geen boodschap aan bestaande disciplines in de kunstwereld en bracht een aanstekelijke mix van fotografie, schilderkunst, mode, popmuziek en showbizz in tentoonstellingen met Viktor & Rolf, Anton Corbijn, Gerald van der Kaap en Loretta Lux.

Van der Have was daarbij vanaf het begin opvallend internationaal georiënteerd.

''Hij stond al op de beurs van Bazel voordat iemand bij wijze van spreken wist dat daar een kunstbeurs was,'' zegt collega Diana Stigter. Zijn enorme netwerk strekte zich wereldwijd uit, maar Van der Have was vooral goed op de hoogte van de ontwikkelingen in de Verenigde Staten.

Zijn galerie presenteerde werk dat onconventioneel en recalcitrant was. Hij balanceerde vaak op het randje van de goede smaak. Van der Have bracht werk van ex-naziregisseur Leni Riefenstahl, maar net zo goed van ex-pornokoningin Annie Sprinkle.

Ook voor überkitsch was men bij Torch aan het juiste adres. Een van zijn laatste protagonisten was Terry Rodgers, schilder van hedonistische doeken met halfnaakte jonge mensen die verveeld op decadente champagnefeestjes rondhangen.

Fotografe Margi Geerlinks, sinds 1999 verbonden aan de stal van Adriaan van der Have, werkte de afgelopen maanden koortsachtig aan een publicatie over 25 jaar Torch. Geerlinks: ''Ik heb vooral bewondering voor de manier waarop Adriaan zijn kunstenaars steunde. Zelfs tijdens zijn ziekte ging hij onverminderd door om ons te promoten.''

De publicatie verschijnt tegelijk met een overzichtstentoonstelling met 25 jaar Torch in de Kunsthal in Rotterdam. De openingsdatum, eind mei, heeft Adriaan van der Have niet meer mogen meemaken.

Toen hij zijn dood zag aankomen, heeft de oprichter van Torch Adriaan van der Have zijn 23-jarige zoon Mo ingewerkt om de galerie over te nemen. (KEES KEIJER)

Luister naar een interview uit 2008 met Van der Have op de website van De Avonden (VPRO)

.

http://www.parool.nl/parool/nl/4/AMSTERDAM/article/detail/235831/2009/04/08/Ten-slotte-Adriaan-van-der-Have-1958---2009.dhtml

Adriaan in Zeeland

July 2007

Estelle and Terry Rodgers say:
We were emailing back and forth as usual, and we were teasing him about not working all summer. We were also talking about how he was spending his time in Zeeland.
So he sent us this photo of himself in his little ship.

The True Art Story

Estelle Rodgers talks about mailings with Adriaan in November 2007:
" We were discussing art and the establishment. And so, of course, this came in the next email from Adriaan. Don't know who made the photo. "

The Unforgettable Fire

http://www.kunsthal.nl/22-617-The_Unforgettable_Fire.html

KUNSTHAL ROTTERDAM, Museumpark, Westzeedijk 341, 3015 AA Rotterdam
dinsdag t/m zaterdag 10.00-17.00 uur, zon- en feestdagen 11.00-17.00 uur

The Unforgettable Fire
25 jaar TORCH Gallery
29 mei t/m 6 september 2009
.
eerbetoon Adriaan van der Have
_________________________
.

De tentoonstelling ‘The Unforgettable Fire' is een eerbetoon aan galeriehouder Adriaan van der Have, die begin april dit jaar is overleden. Sinds hij in 1984 TORCH Gallery oprichtte, is deze galerie beeldbepalend geweest voor de geënsceneerde fotografie in Nederland en buitenland. Met grote passie en bevlogenheid heeft Van der Have talentvolle en nu bekende kunstenaars een podium gegeven in zijn galerie. Hij presenteerde er in 25 jaar altijd smaakmakende en soms controversiële kunst.

.
Ieder jaar een kunstenaar
De jubileumtentoonstelling biedt met werk van 26 kunstenaars - ieder jaar een kunstenaar - een veelzijdig overzicht van de bewogen geschiedenis van de galerie. Met werk van Anton Corbijn, Gerald van der Kaap, Inez van Lamsweerde, Blommers & Schumm, Terry Rodgers, Loretta Lux, Starn Twins, Margi Geerlinks, Sanchez Brothers, Daniëlle Kwaaitaal, Henk Tas, Twan Janssen, De Sirenen, Alan David Tu, Annie Sprinkle, Teun Hocks, Ellen Kooi, Jochen Mülhenbrink, Stepanek & Maslin, Martin Denker, Carolus, Daniël Kramer, Charlemagne Palestine, Servaas, Eelco Brand en Wouter Deruytter.

Portret Adriaan van der Have © Anton Corbijn

Publicatie
Bij Art Unlimited verschijnt op initiatief van Margi Geerlinks de gelijknamige jubileumpublicatie.
Ontwerp: Marnix Dees en Theo Ruys

Voor meer informatie over de publicatie: contact@margigeerlinks.com

.

=============================================

.

http://www.kunsthal.nl/en-22-617-The_Unforgettable_Fire.html

.

KUNSTHAL Rotterdam, Museumpark, Westzeedijk 341, 3015 AA Rotterdam
Tuesday till Saturday 10am-5pm, Sundays and Holidays 11am-5pm

.

The Unforgettable Fire
25 Years TORCH Gallery
29 May to 6 September 2009

..

Homage Adriaan van der Have

________________________

.
Since 1984 TORCH Gallery has been of major importance to photography in both the Netherlands and abroad. With great enthusiasm and passion gallery owner Adriaan van der Have has provided a platform for talented and today well-known artists within his gallery. With a clear eye for young and self-willed talent he has managed to present trendsetting and sometimes controversial art. The jubilee exhibition offers work by 26 artists - one artist per year - and thus presents a varied survey of the stirring history of the gallery.

.
One artist per year
With works by Anton Corbijn, Gerald van der Kaap, Inez van Lamsweerde, Blommers & Schumm, Terry Rodgers, Loretta Lux, Starn Twins, Margi Geerlinks, Sanchez Brothers, Daniëlle Kwaaitaal, Henk Tas, Twan Janssen, De Sirenen, Alan David Tu, Annie Sprinkle, Teun Hocks, Ellen Kooi, Jochen Mülhenbrink, Stepanek & Maslin, Martin Denker, Carolus, Daniël Kramer, Charlemagne Palestine, Servaas, Eelco Brand and Wouter Deruytter.
The exhibition pays homage to Adriaan van der Have.

Portrait Adriaan van der Have © Anton Corbijn

Publication
Art Unlimited publishes the jubilee book of The Unforgettable Fire. 25 Years TORCH initiated by artist Margi Geerlinks.
Design: Marnix Dees en Theo Ruys. More information about the publication: contact@margigeerlinks.com

Museum Honors Adriaan

Kunsthal Rotterdam honors gallery owner:

(Opening May 29, 2009)

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http://www.limburger.nl/article/20090406/CULTUURENMEDIA01/904060380/1021

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Kunsthal Rotterdam eert galeriehouder

ROTTERDAM (ANP) - Kunsthal Rotterdam eert galeriehouder Adriaan van der Have, de vorige week vrijdag overleden eigenaar van Torch Gallery, met een tentoonstelling. Dat heeft de Kunsthal Rotterdam maandag bekendgemaakt.
Van der Have begon zijn gallerie in 1984. Torch richtte zich vooral op de geënsceneerde fotografie en was in binnen- en buitenland een begrip. Hij bood internationaal bekende mensen als Anton Corbijn en Loretta Lux een podium. Emily Ansenk, directeur van de Kunsthal, noemt het overlijden van Van der Have een groot verlies voor de Nederlandse kunstwereld.
Kunsthal Rotterdam werkte tot kort voor zijn overlijden nauw samen met Van der Have aan een jubileumtentoonstelling over Torch. De expositie wordt op 29 mei geopend.

Prague 1984

Prague, 1984. Jacques van de Val & Adriaan. Photo: Stanislav Tuma

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We gingen 25 jaar geleden ook weleens naar Praag waar Adriaan veel fotografen kende. Dat was nog een avontuur in die 'koude oorlog' tijd. Een van hen: Stanislav Tuma (1950-2005) maakte deze foto.
Jacques van de Vall (The Netherlands)

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TRANSLATION by Adriaanisalive:
Jacques van de Vall says: "25 years ago, we visited Prague a few times where Adriaan knew a lot of photographers. That was then still an adventure during the times of ‘The Cold War’. One of them: Stanislav Tuma (1950-2005) made this picture."

Adriaan's unieke email-taal

hier een mailtje van Adriaan aan ons, wat een hoop zegt over zijn karakteristieke energie!
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"Goeiemorgen daarzo,
Alles is duidelijk.
Zou dan 2x zwarte portretten OOK gaan printen.Te groot risico dat de andere
veel verschillen van de huidige.
Of zelfs in ergste geval exposeren ZONDER witte lijst.
Maar een kleurverschil is echt erg want de hele set lijkt verkocht.
Ik kan toveren maar tot een bepaalde graad ivm. transport.
Niet te lang wachten svp.
Ciara was : 122 x 100 cm
Groetjes
Adriaan"
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Wat gaan we jou missen lieve Adriaan.
Anuschka en Niels

From Yoshiko Matsumoto & Kariem Hamed (Seoul, Korea)

First time we walked in to TORCH was about 10 years ago; we were shocked with the pile of books in his office. At that time, we were shy to talk with him. So, we only started to talk together years later… He was so funny and had much interesting stories to tell. One time we were talking about one news article, and Adriaan said ‘ I must have the newspaper somewhere.’ and looking at the pile of books and newspapers.
We enjoyed talking with him very much. We wish we had more chance to talk together, but, now, we can follow this blog to listen to his stories!
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Adriaan has been so supportive to us. We have learned a lot and we will keep his tips in our mind! And, Adriaan is still supporting us with this lucky charm, Millionaire’s Starter Kit! He gave it to me before I left for Seoul. It is always with me in my wallet. Thank you, Adriaan!
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Yoshiko Matsumoto & Kariem Hamed from Seoul, Korea

Adriaan in Hollywood (story coming soon)

We love this photo of Adriaan
- Margi and Henk -

From Mona and Bernd (-Nuts-)

photo: May 2007, Germany. (by Martin Denker)

Nuts

Adriaan always got crazy for nuts and Spargel (asparagus - only in May and June) when he visited us in Germany. He imported three little nut-trees from our garden and planted them in the sandy ground of Zeeland where his family have a litte holiday-house. It seemed impossible that the little trees can stand the seaside climate it, but they did. Typicall Adriaan!

Mona and Bernd