Signed: Rotterdam!

You can visit the exhibition at Kunsthal Rotterdam from 12 September Signed: Rotterdam! The city in lockdown attend. In this exhibition, three Rotterdam city artists each give their own view on the impact of the corona virus on the city. CBK Rotterdam and the Rotterdam City Archives commissioned artists Frank Stoks, Pris Roos and Erico Smit. 

In mid-March, the government announces the intelligent lockdown: museums, schools and catering establishments close, events are canceled and public life almost comes to a standstill. From that moment on, the city artists start their series of sketches, drawings and animations that show the creativity, solidarity, vulnerability and resilience of Rotterdam. In the Kunsthal, Stoks, Roos and Smit pass the baton every seven weeks and successively show a selection of their drawings.

Frank Stocks
The work of artist Frank Stoks (1971) can be seen first, from Saturday, September 12 to Sunday, November 1, 2020. With a camping chair and an iPad under his arm, he travels through the city, looking for places where Rotterdam residents, despite the measures come together. The narrative drawings, presented chronologically and framed by solid black lines, provide a glimpse into the careful release of the measures. For example, Stoks draws sportsmen who enter the now flourishing parks, the enthusiastic visitors to the reopened market and the terraces where the people of Rotterdam are allowed to sit for the first time on Whit Monday.

Pris Rose
Artist Pris Roos (1984) initially does not dare to go outside because of her health. Roos observes the streets of the Afrikaanderwijk from home. Then she makes the daily crossing from South to North and records all her impressions. Since the Black Lives Matter protests, Roos feels even more urgent to be present herself and dives deep into the fabric of the city. With her colorful oil pastels she portrays the daily activities of Rotterdammers in a fragmentary way. The directness of the oil crayon ensures a pure rendering with intense colors. Pris Roos is not limited to her A4 sketchbook and expands it further by forming different paper sizes like a collage. The work of Pris Roos can be seen from Tuesday 3 November to Sunday 13 December 2020.

Eric Smith
Illustrator Erico Smit (1985) ends the row. Through the eye of his GoPro camera, he observes the different phases of the lockdown and the emotions that these evoke in the people of Rotterdam. From the first shock and the choreography of movements resulting from the spasmodic separation of each other, to the desire for freedom and the more relaxed posture that gradually develops. Smit's drawings are a mix of ink, acrylic paint and pencil that he then digitally edits. Smit has only an eye for his subject and omits all superfluous details, magnifying the emotions of the crisis. The work of Erico Smit can be seen from Tuesday December 15, 2020 to Sunday February 7, 2021.

Rotterdam city draftsmen
Even before the bombing of 14 May 1940, but especially during the reconstruction, draughtsmen recorded the changes in the city. Until the end of the eighties of the last century, the Rotterdam City Archives gave annual commissions to draftsmen. Rotterdam is an ideal source of inspiration due to the rapid changes. Since 80, this tradition has been restored, in collaboration with CBK Rotterdam, and city artists have continued to supplement the collection of the Rotterdam City Archives. The artists for the 2018 commission have been selected by a jury consisting of the Rotterdam writer - also art lover and collector - Hugo Borst, artist Hedy Tjin, Shehera Grot (curator Kunsthal), Ove Lucas (CBK Rotterdam) and Jantje Steenhuis and Wanda Waanders from the Rotterdam City Archives. The exhibition will be accompanied by a publication with the drawings of the city designers 2020.