The Unforgettable Fire - 25 Years TORCH Gallery

The jubilee exhibition called ‘The Unforgettable Fire’ at Kunsthal Rotterdam presents a survey of the stirring history of the Amsterdam art gallery TORCH. Adriaan van der Have, the charismatic owner of the gallery, selected works for the exhibition that are not obvious and made some rather unexpected choices. Twenty-six artists were selected - one artist per year — which together represent his vision on art and photography. With a clear eye for young and self-willed talent Van der Have provided a platform for both Dutch and international promising new talents. The unique collection of works — portraits, photo collages, trick and staged photography — can be characterized by a subtle escape from reality in which longing, beauty, eroticism and nature take up central position. The exhibition ‘The Unforgettable Fire’ is a tribute to Adriaan van der Have, who passed away in April this year.

Pioneering and Recalcitrant TORCH Gallery is known for its internationally oriented web of collectors, admirers and fans. Passionately and enthusiastically Adriaan van der Have dedicated himself to his artists. His taste in art can safely be called broad. On a regular basis he deliberately chose to select works of art that could hardly be considered representative of so-called ‘good taste’. Van der Have: ‘The fact that one never knows what to expect at TORCH Gallery is what keeps it interesting. I try to expose works that often go against all that has already been created’. Thus, he decided to break with traditional ways by presenting pornographic work by American artist Annie Sprinkle and photographs by German Leni Riefenstahl. At a very early stage in his career he participated in many international art fairs with his gallery, amongst which Art Basel, Paris Photo, Pulse and more recently the new Art Dubai, in order to present Dutch artists abroad. Van der Have clearly was an intractable figure within the Dutch art world, in which in his opinion there were abundant and obvious signs of tunnel vision. His recalcitrant character became clear in his participation in an episode of the Discount Show (1992), which showed TORCH changing into a supermarket, and by cooperating in the television series called ‘Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden’ (1999).

Adriaan van der Have In 1979, during the time he studied Art History at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Adriaan van der Have (1958) started the successful art postcards and poster shop called Art Unlimited, together with Jos Smit. In 1984 Van der Have opened TORCH Gallery, which was meant to become a platform for contemporary photography. Together with Milco Onrust, owner of Gallery Onrust, he ran a gallery in Cologne which was to be open for a short period of time. TORCH has been of major importance to the growing interest in photography within the Dutch museum world. The foundation of successful museums for photography, amongst which FOAM in Amsterdam, Fotomuseum Den Haag (at The Hague) and Het Nederlands Fotomuseum are clear evidence of this.

Artists participating The exhibition contains works by Blommers & Schumm, Eelco Brand, Sanchez Brothers, Carolus, Anton Corbijn, Alan David-Tu, Martin Denker, Wouter Deruytter, De Sirenen, Margi Geerlinks, Teun Hocks, Twan Janssen, Gerald van der Kaap, Ellen Kooi, Daniël Kramer, Daniëlle Kwaaitaal, Inez van Lamsweerde, Loretta Lux, Jochen Mülhenbrink, Charlemagne Palestine, Terry Rodgers, Servaas, Annie Sprinkle, Stepanek & Maslin, Starn Twins and Henk Tas.

Publication On the initiative of Margi Geerlinks a jubilee publication under the same name with visual contributions by various artists and essays by, amongst others, Wim van Sinderen, Hans den Hartog Jager, Kees van Twist, Sanneke van Hassel, Roel Bentz van den Berg, Rob Perrée and Pieter van Oudheusden is to appear at Art Unlimited. Design: Marnix Dees and Theo Ruys.

The Unforgettable Fire
25 Years TORCH Gallery

Künstler: Anuschka Blommers / Niels Schumm, Eelco Brand, Sanchez Brothers , Carolus , Anton Corbijn, Alan David-Tu, Martin Denker, Wouter Deruytter, De Sirenen , Margi Geerlinks, Teun Hocks, Twan Janssen, Gerald van der Kaap, Ellen Kooi, Daniel Kramer, Danielle Kwaaitaal, Inez van Lamsweerde, Loretta Lux, Jochen Mülhenbrink, Charlemagne Palestine, Terry Rodgers, Servaas , Annie Sprinkle, Alice Stepanek & Steven Maslin, Starn Twins , Henk Tas.