Inval in Nederland, 1940 1940 - 1945

These photographs were put together in an album in 1940 by an anonymous artist. It’s interesting to consider the act of compiling an album as an artmaking practice. The monochrome images are like notes, a collection of moments, but their arrangement is where the meaning really emerges. The juxtaposition of images – a soldier on horseback, a horse-drawn cart, the devastation of war – creates a visual rhythm that speaks to the upheaval of the time. Each image has a textural quality, though it’s hard to know how much of that is due to the printing process. The tonal range is limited, creating a stark contrast between light and shadow, like memory itself: fragmented and incomplete. Think of Gerhard Richter’s ‘Atlas’, another collection of found images, a reference library for his paintings. Both projects remind us that art is an ongoing conversation, a way of processing the world through the act of seeing and collecting. Ultimately, meaning remains open, inviting us to reflect on the complexities of history and memory.