31553580 (obsession) for numbers & schemes

Rest for the mind

When the world is chaotic and elusive, we as humans try to get a grip on reality by reducing it to a series of manageable lines and numbers. The exhibition 31553580 (obsession) for numbers & schemes shows a desire for structure and logic in the chaotic world of every human being. For this exhibition, artist Jan Hoek and curator Hanne Hagenaars are joining forces for the first time, together with exhibition designer Tariq Heijboer. Artworks by Doerte Weber, Eiko Ishizawa, George Widener and Lionel Plak bring peace to the mind. Something that connects us all.

Scheme

The exhibition is one structured whole, in which you can escape from the chaotic world outside. You step into a vast scheme, seeing the works in one large orderly grid pattern. The curators' handwritten exhibition texts connect the works logically.

mother & son

The shared fascination for numbers and diagrams inspired guest curators Hagenaars and Hoek - mother and son - to make a special issue for the art magazine Mister Motley in the past. Many artists, with outsider art as the frontrunner, use the strategy of creating order, devising and categorizing systems. Because even without a pandemic, the world is already so overwhelming for many people that they have to reduce it to order and abstraction. This resulted in many oeuvres with an unstoppable flow and ever-expanding schedules.

Order in the chaos

Artists from the regular circuit also make the most impressive schemes. The tendency to trap chaos in schedules belongs to everyone. From artists to managers with a fear of failure and family fathers with a midlife crisis. With 31553580 (obsession) for numbers & schemes, Hagenaars and Hoek merge the separate worlds of insider and outsider art and that of all people.