Untitled, Unnumbered

2024

Since the late 1990s, Dutch artist Jan Van der Pleug has made yearly pilgrimages to the subalpine confines between Italy and Slovenia. Over the years, and thanks to the Stazione di Topolò/Postaja Topolove festival, this painter left many traces of his presence over the village’s walls, in both indoor and outdoor spaces. On the occasion of his 65th birthday, Jan gifted Topolò with the restoration of two exterior works: a mural in the “dutch embassy” (Wall Painting No.551, previously No.62 and no.xx) and a painting over the public fountain (Wall Painting No.98). I followed him through this process and recorded his work with my video camera.

During one of the morning painting sessions, Jan told me about second thoughts he had when he was asked to paint the fountain piece for the first time, back in the 2000s. “Was it just decoration?” As a reverberation of that, this short-film features what may be described as the less autonomous, less visible, but perhaps more gathering work.

When the flush of a newborn sun fell first on Eden's green and gold,
Our father Adam sat under the Tree and scratched with a stick in the mold;
And the first rude sketch that the world had seen was joy to his mighty heart,
Till the Devil whispered behind the leaves: "It's pretty, but is it Art?"

-Joseph Kipling. The Conundrum of the Workshops (excerpt)

Untitled, Unnumbered (2024) features the painter Jan Van der Pleug at work, through the gradual appearance of shadows, brushes, hands, voices, faces and full bodies, which help build a sense of community around his work.

Video link coming soon.