Vincent de Boer and Jonas Wijtenburg
During each evening office of the Sisters Norbertinesses of St. Catharinadal in Oosterhout, all the sisters who ever died on that particular day are remembered. Because this oldest convent of women in the Netherlands has existed since 1271, this is a meaningful ritual. When the sisters talk about themselves as a group, they also mean all the deceased sisters.
On a wide, tens of meters long roll of paper, Vincent de Boer calligraphs the names, birth and death dates of all the sisters of this community. During the biennial, he continues to work on this. As in monastic life, repetition, order, rhythm, regularity and devotion are central to this artist’s drawing practice. Vincent de Boer is one of the artists who delves into the customs and history of the three religious communities and connects them to the present.
Vincent de Boer: ‘By performing a repetitive action for hours, I come close to splitting matter and non-matter. It offers me relief.’ The desktop being worked on also acts as a monumental sculpture through which the drawing runs. This “workstation” is a work of art by Jonas Wijtenburg.
Portrait Vincent de Boer, 2024. (photo by Fred Sonnega)
Vincent de Boer and Jonas Wijtenburg, 2022, Workstation 3 (photo Robin Meyer).
Details works Vincent de Boer, 2022.