Jan Rothuizen – Fantasio

For the exhibition Artificial Amsterdam, de Appel arts centre asked Jan Rothuizen to produce a monumental drawing for the central hall of de Appel arts centre. The work will be on display until the 13th of April.

For this drawing, Jan Rothuizen went back to the late 1960s. The present location of de Appel arts centre was then one of the first pop temples in The Netherlands, the renowned Fantasio. Together with Paradiso and the avant-garde Shaffy Theater, in the years 1968-69 Fantasio was the most important place in the underground and youth culture in the country, famed (and notorious) not only across Europe but also overseas. Popular bands like Pink Floyd performed here, and it was the cradle of the Dutch soft drug culture. Rothuizen takes you on a guided tour of this tumultuous period in the building’s history, drawing on popular myths, recollections of visitors, and factual sources.

Jan Rothuizen made a silkscreen print, signed edition of 100, of the drawing Fantasio. This silkscreen is for sale in the museum shop and the webshop.

The artist Jan Rothuizen (NL , 1968) is a storyteller on paper. He talks with people, observes them, does research, until he has made himself at home in a subject. Then he analyzes a place or a city in his drawings, in texts and images. He surveys the reality of his subject sharply, playfully, and with the requisite humour, never losing sight of its complexity. For more information, visit his website.

The legendary concert by Pink Floyd in Fantasio, May 31 1968, is available on YouTube.