Ron van der Ende | Markers

The Rotterdam-based sculptor Ron Van der Ende has been creating perspective wall sculptures from salvaged wood for over twenty years. In his new exhibition, entitled Markers, the artist presents new bas-reliefs of a truck, a lamb chop, old vases, mountain landscapes and an African mask. For these newest works, Van der Ende pushed the boundaries of his working process. By opening up to the possibilities of found wood and producing them from a single source, ten new works with a strong coherence and individuality have come into existence.

Van der Ende’s large oeuvre of bas-reliefs comprises American cars and airplanes, iconic structures such as the Euromast Tower in Rotterdam, and other icons of technical prowess, like the first personal computer and the space capsule of the Apollo 11. Most of Van der Ende’s works are emblems of progress, which appear like relics from our past. While being framed as outdated and forgotten, these objects tell us something about the limits to growth.

All new works in the Markers exhibition critically engage with images of Western affluence and prosperity. The bas-relief of the Grindelwald glacier is based on a postcard that was sent during the early days of modern tourism. The other landscape shows the Grand Canyon in 1938, just after the Hoover Dam was completed and Lake Mead was created. The vases and bowls once played an important role in someone’s household but were thrown away at some point because they were damaged or out of fashion. The lamb chop stands for abundance but also for unsustainability, as is the artist’s new bas-relief of a truck.