Artists: 54 realists and figuratives Technique: various Date of exhibition: August 18 - October 7, 2002

Visit the 5th IRE "yourself" in Museum Møhlmann

From August 18th till October 7th the fifth Independent Realists Exibition is to be held in Museum Møhlmann in the small village of Venhuizen. Fiftyfour renowned artists are participating, all working in a realistic or a figurative manner. Some 200 works will be on show. This yearly event gives a good impression of the "state of the art" in Holland today. On the occassion of this fifth exhibition the fifth volume in the series Realisten (Realists) will be published.

Hendrik Elings, Girl, 2002, o/c, 40x40cm.

Beginning The First Independent started in 1998. For a number of years the highly realistic painter Rob Møhlmann had been holding his own, working independently from the official art-circuit. In order to achieve this, he (with his own hands) converted a former cowshed into a fully professional exhibition-space. Meanwhile, the painter had been annoyed for some time by the fact that precious little "representational art" was to be seen in art-circles. True, the interest in this kind of art was slowly increasing, but art-lovers who wanted to keep abreast of things were forced to constantly search high and low, as all of these artists found shelter at different galleries all over the country. Only rarely did one see more than a handful together. The painter and his wife felt it was time for change and so they organized the First IRE. And although this event was not taking place in a big city, but right in the middle of the polder, some two thousand visitors found their way to the exhibition, some even coming from Belgium. Continuation It was clear that this initiative was begging for continuation, and continue it did. In the meantime Rob en Laura Møhlmann had moved within the village of Venhuizen to a new location, and in a more spacious accommodation they went on as Museum Møhlmann. As such the tried to offer a more structured platform to the realistic and figurative art of well-respected colleagues.

Dick Oostra, Morvan, La Dragne, 2002, acryl on panel, 57x73cm. Janhendrik Dolsma, Cummilating clouds, 2001, o/c, 90x115cm. René Jansen, Still life on floor with some flowers, 2002, o/p, 40x60cm.

Realists Until now each IRE was accompanied by the punlication of a book in the series "Realisten" in which a brief biography of each participant was to be found, as well as three works in full colour. A small miracle this, as many of these kind of art-series are often cut off prematurely. Meanwhile the five books give a rather historical and well documented survey of this strain of contemporary art.

Rob Møhlmann, The remains of Granny, 2002, o/p, 30x30cm.

Participating artists Robin d'Arcy Shillcock Tobias Baanders Dina Belga Paul Boswijk Dinie Boogaart Wilfried van den Boorn Roger Braun Epko Cordèl Piet Deunhouwer Hans Deuss Janhendrik Dolsma Joost Doornik Ralph Douglas Ger Eikendal Douwe Elias Hendrik Elings Magda Francot Flip Gaasendam Han van Hagen Henk Helmantel Chris Herenius Aad Hofman Reinder Homan Herman van Hoogdalem René Jansen Gert Kemper Bert Kinderdijk Jannes Kleiker Diederik Kraaijpoel Clary Mastenbroek Rob Møhlmann Dick Oostra Hans Parlevliet Rein Pol Jasper van Putten Quirhijn Ben Rikken Roelof de Roo Maria de Ruiter de Witt Michiel Schrijver Ruud Spil Janine Starke Herman Tulp Ed Ubels Van der Vegt Con van Velsen Gerrit de Vries Cas Waterman Maarten Welbergen Frances Wohl and sculptures by: Piets Althuis Margreet Bech Romee Kanis Ed Schouten

Maria de Ruiter de Witt, A brake, 2002, pastel on canvas, 90x83cm. Chris Herenius, Still life with pieces and feathers, 2002, gouache, 23x24cm. Bert Kinderdijk, The mask, o/p, 80x60cm.