Schutting met affiches (bouwput Bijenkorf, Dam) in Amsterdam 1910 - 1914

This is an old photograph taken in Amsterdam by J.J. Crouwel. It shows posters covering the fence around the building site of the Bijenkorf department store. I can only imagine the person who made this walking around the city, seeing how posters become little worlds—like a stage setting. It’s not about the grand view, but about what’s being built at that moment. The artist finds something that speaks of transformation. The posters themselves have different textures, probably different paper. These are the surfaces of everyday life. Look at how each layer creates a different kind of reality, like an archeological dig of the recent past. The figures on the street are dwarfed by the posters, but they bring the scene to life. This artist is looking with curiosity at the ephemeral stuff that makes up a city’s character. It reminds me that painting too, can be about finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. It's an ongoing conversation that artists have through time.