Veld met hoog onkruid 1974 - 1975

Editor: This is "Veld met hoog onkruid," or "Field with Tall Weeds," an etching by Kees Stoop, created between 1974 and 1975. The textures are so dense! How do you see this work? Curator: Immediately, I consider the labour embedded within this print. Etching is a meticulous process, involving the careful application of acid to a metal plate. We must ask, what kind of labour is Stoop choosing to represent? The answer here would be uncultivated nature, "weeds." Editor: Weeds, huh? I would never think to describe it that way. I saw it as a peaceful nature scene, almost idealized. Curator: Perhaps. But the choice of the etching medium, combined with the subject matter – these "weeds," plants that resist cultivation – suggests something more. This wasn't mass produced, yet depicts wild nature. Think about the societal context of 1970s Netherlands. What anxieties or interests might this subject and medium reflect? Editor: Maybe a commentary on industrialization, a yearning for something less processed, more… raw? Was printmaking considered low art then, compared to painting? Curator: Exactly! Stoop’s selection elevates the commonplace to fine art, using laborious techniques. But did he? What level of art did you come to consider this during your time analyzing the artwork? And is it high or low art? Does it challenge this boundary? Editor: It definitely makes me rethink what I value in art. I came in thinking "landscape," but now I'm considering the artist's choices, the materials, and what it all *means* in a broader context. Thank you. Curator: And I’m reminded to question what is seen as disposable versus valuable.