citylikeyou — Art In The Underground Stations — Amsterdam by Martijn Sandberg

Amsterdam / Place

Under the city, the extraordinary Gesamtkunstwerk by Louis van Gasteren, Jan Sierhuis and others is located in Nieuwmarkt underground. This is one of the public artworks of the Seventies and early Eighties endangered due to station renovation on the Underground Eastline. At present there is a notice hanging at different spots on the wall: ‘‘This artwork has been temporally removed due to renovations”.

Address
Art In The Underground Stations, Zuiderkerkhof, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Visual Artist

Current city: Amsterdam

msandberg.nl

The work of Amsterdam based visual artist Martijn Sandberg, constantly explores border areas, such as the tension between text and image, legibility and illegibility, the private and the public domain. “I make Image Messages, image is message is image.” The image hides the message. In the cut paintings „Sorry No Image Yet‟ and „Too Busy To Paint‟ there is a subtle play between the language of the image and the significance of the image, and this gives rise to questions. Here, the lack of image seems to be elevated to an image by the artist. The direct relationship between the image, the material bearing the image and the environment is also expressed in his site-specific works in public space and architecture. As in „If These Walls Could Speak‟ that can be viewed in the lifts at the OBA Public Library Amsterdam, and the artwork „I Will Survive’ located at the border of a burial ground in Hardenberg, The Netherlands. In 2010 „My Last Penny‟ by Martijn Sandberg is released as jaarpenning/ art medal 2010, issued by the Vereniging voor Penningkunst/ Dutch Art Medal Society in a multiple edition of 450 pieces.

More Places in Amsterdam 100

Amsterdam / School

Surrounded by the growing business area of Amsterdam Zuid, this modernist historic monument from the 60's oozes freedom. The clash of strict, grey, practical architecture of Gerrit Rietveld with the chaotic, colourful, anarchic bustle of art students working in these spaces is amazing. The 5 years I spend here as a student changed my life and shaped me to a great extend to who I am today. Now, temporarily walking these corridors again as a guest teacher, I realise how much I had missed this place since graduating 8 years ago. This is not a common art school. It's a family, a movement with a very personal and radical approach. Many students coming for a temporary exchange end up staying, because after wandering through this twisted Mondrian painting you will never be the same…

Amsterdam / Place

A few years ago I had a conversation with a staff member from Uytenhaak Architects about concealed texts in Amsterdam, relating to my own work ‘stoned forever’, which is integrated in brickwork in the Olympic Quarter. He said that there is a text in Morse code incorporated into the Droogbak (1989), a residential building by Uytenhaak: ‘Deze muur staat er niet’ (‘This wall isn’t here’). It is located close to the railway line. Rudy Uytenhaak later told me that this was his last opportunity to protest against the acoustic fence that had to be constructed for bureaucratic reasons.

Amsterdam / River

The Amstel river is the main river of Amsterdam. Around 1200 they build a dam in the river and that was the birth of Amsterdam (or Amstelredamme as it was called back then). This dam is now situated under the Dam square, the central square of the city. If you bike from the old city center to the south along the banks of the Amstel, as I do every day on my way to my studio, the city opens up and gives way to a lot of space. If you follow the river it will take you out of town more quickly then you'd expect since it is surrounded by a green corridor that get's larger and greener as you exit the city. In less then half an hour bike trip from the old city you can find yourself in juicy green pastures between grazing cows and sheep. Only the airplanes heading in and out of Schiphol Airport will remind you that the city is near.

Amsterdam / Bar

Hannekes Boom is one of the nicest waterfront café in Amsterdam to have a beer when it's sunny. Close to Central Station, the place isn't crowded by tourists, but you need to be there early to get a seat.

Amsterdam / Restaurant

We love having ramen here - it's a beautiful space, feels a bit like being back in NYC, and the food is incredible. There are two locations, the one in De Pijp is bigger, so easier to get a table, but the other location is very cosy, so get there early if you go to that location.