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Interview with Lynn and Gijs from pop-up gallery De Nieuwe Editie (+ their 5 tips for starting your own art collection!)

Collecting art is often considered something for connoisseurs or those with a lot of money. Gijs Geertzen and Lynn Zwartsenburg from Groningen prove there's another way. From their colorful "home museum" in the Oosterparkwijk, they devised an accessible way to promote art, complete with music and delicious food.

One of the first times Gijs Geertzen (30) and Lynn Zwartsenburg (30) bought a piece of art for their home together, it wasn't exactly like in a movie. There was no fancy gallery with pristine, stark white walls, no expensive champagne, and the piece they purchased—a colorful, embroidered, cartoon-style tapestry of a mask-like head, created by Mădălina Mihuțoiu—went home in a plastic bag. "It was all a bit awkward," Gijs says, laughing. The purchase took place at the former strawboard factory De Toekomst in Scheemda, where he and Lynn had just attended a graduation show by students from the Minerva Academy. “We were looking for the artist, Mădălina Mihuțoiu, because we wanted to thank her, but we couldn't find her anywhere. Then someone approached us. She looked in the bag and asked: why is my art in that bag?” The realization that someone had bought her art to hang on their wall at home moved her deeply. Gijs: “She had never sold anything before and was so happy. And now we sell a huge amount of her work.”

Gijs and Lynn have made it their business: promoting art by talented northern artists. Besides being enthusiasts and avid art collectors, they are, you could say, a kind of “art-facilitation brokers.” Under the name De Nieuwe Editie, they organize pop-up galleries where work by a wide range of artists can be seen and purchased. Galleries with easy access, in surprising locations. Think of exhibitions at the Museum aan de A during the WinterWelVaart festival or in a vacant shop during ESNS. Moreover, the duo always combines their exhibitions with a café or restaurant and live music performances.

Pop-up galleries

"We really like to create a kind of springboard," says Lynn. "Also because there aren't enough platforms to showcase art and music by emerging artists. We enjoy it when different things come together and reinforce each other." Such as art and buyers, and art, music, and good food. But also: the best of Lynn and Gijs. Lynn has extensive marketing experience and works part-time as an independent program maker in the Groningen cultural sector. She is involved with the Groninger Museum, Noorderzon, and Museum Night in Groningen, among others. Gijs completed art school and a degree in educational sciences. After working for several years as an educational developer at the University of Groningen's medical faculty, he bluffed his way into a restaurant as an experienced kitchen assistant; a long-dormant dream that turned him into a skilled chef.

The most important thing for us is to present art in a place and way you wouldn't expect.
Gijs

The only thing they still lacked was a place to make it all come together. Until, at the end of 2023, about three weeks before ESNS kicked off, they suddenly found themselves with a building right next to the police station on Rademarkt. Lynn pulls a comical, disgusted face. "It was really filthy there, because it had been empty for a while." Previously, the restaurant Isla Bonita was located there, which had been forced to close prematurely, partly due to the coronavirus pandemic. In just a few weeks, Gijs, Lynn, and a few good friends transformed the space into what would later become the first edition of De Nieuwe Editie (The New Edition). Inspiring art on the wall, Gijs in the kitchen, and voilà, a vibrant gallery was born. Gijs: “The most important thing for us is that we present art in a place and way you don't expect, so that the threshold for entering is perhaps a little lower and people get inspired.”

“Why on earth would you choose everything beige with steel doors?”
Lynn

Because the idea that art collecting is only for the wealthy or true connoisseurs is persistent. “We want to show that for the same amount of money you would spend on a ‘work of art’ at a major corporation, you can also buy something really cool from someone still at Minerva or who has just graduated,” says Lynn. They themselves are living proof. Besides the Mihuțoiu tapestry, they also bought a life-size canvas by Jhonie van Boeijen, in her final year at the Frank Mohr Institute in Groningen, which has hung above the dining table ever since. Gijs: "This is a shopping bag. She takes photos of it and then paints them hyper-realistically. She specializes in shiny, plastic objects, very cool. She now sells all over the world."

An eclectic home museum

Besides graduation exhibitions, Lynn and Gijs find their acquisitions at Kunstpunt Groningen's Art Library and while traveling. "You don't just take home art, but all sorts of stories," Lynn explains. "That's what makes it so wonderful. Whether it's a small piece or a large painting, there's always a memory attached." Gijs adds: "This way, you not only encourage artists, but you can also turn your entire house into a museum. Lynn: "Yeah, how cool is that? Because why on earth would you choose everything beige with steel doors?" Over the years, their own terraced house in Oosterpark slowly transformed into an eclectic home museum. "We do like colorful, flashy things," Lynn explains, referring to the eye-catching golden penis (Jurjen Galema) and golden boar (Ottmar Hörl), glazed tompouce (Micky Philips), and large, luminous red lips (Studio Job) on the walls. And although their tastes are quite similar, Lynn still had to get used to the large Congolese voodoo doll, made by an unknown artist. The wooden sculpture with nails, named Knondi, ended up on a cabinet in the bedroom by the bed. When Lynn wakes up, the first thing she sees isn't the tranquil painting of De Papiermolen swimming pool (Otto Krol) adorning the wall at the head of the bed, but the doll on the cabinet at the foot of the bed. "I thought it was a bit creepy," she says. "So I put a hat on it; it looks a bit friendlier."

Tips for the aspiring collector

How and where do you start building a beautiful art collection? Five tips from Lynn and Gijs:

  1. Feel free to pop into a nearby gallery, museum, or art fair (online) and take a look around. Gijs: "This way you can discover your taste and what suits you."

  2. It doesn't matter what kind of work you buy first: expensive, cheap, somewhere in between, by a well-known artist or an emerging artist. As long as you like it or are touched by it.

  3. Explore your own neighborhood to see what else is available, beyond galleries. Consider an art library—almost every city has one—or a graduation exhibition.

  4. If you see something you like, ask the artist how much it costs and discuss the price if you'd like (but keep it reasonable). That's exciting, but not crazy. Plus, it's a great way to break the ice.

  5. Don't look for the perfect piece of art. Lynn: "Art can also be: the Ketelbinkie kettle from HEMA or a lava lamp from a thrift store. We have both, and I love them."

🌐 Follow De Nieuwe Editie via www.denieuweeditie.com or Instagram


This article previously appeared in KUNST. magazine #3 (p. 16)


✍️ Lieke van den Krommenacker
📸 Siese Veenstra