MASCOLORI X LAAN IRODJOJO ENG

COLLABORATION:

LAAN IRODJOJO X MASCOLORI

Mascolori designs a shoe and sock with outsider artist Laan Irodjojo

Mascolori collaborated with Outsider Artist Laan Irodjojo from the Arelier Herenplaats Gallery to design a shoe and sock based on the painting “De Rotterdam”. This special design is now available.

Atelier Herenplaats Gallery is a studio that is a part of the Pameijer foundation and its main specialty is Outsider Art. Outsider Art is not just an art movement, but it is an umbrella term for art that is made by people who are extremely visually talented and have intellectual disabilities or a mental illness.

Artist Laan Irodojojo (1969) paints what he sees and particularly focuses on the buildings, ships, airplanes, trains and bridges of Rotterdam.

As a Rotterdam based company, Raymond Landegent (29) and Jochem Grund (35), the founders of Mascolori, were very eager to work with him, “Not only do we admire Laan, but also the Herenplaats, whose goal - just like ours - is to stimulate everyone’s creativity and talent.” That’s why they portrayed their personal favorite from Laan’s works on a shoe and sock: ‘The Rotterdam’. “This is a Rotterdam collaboration in it’s purest form, of which we are very proud”, according to Landegent & Grund.

De Herenplaats
Atelier Herenplaats Gallery is the only studio in Rotterdam that is specialises in Outsider Art. The artists are offered studio spaces as well as art academies.

From the cultural heart of Rotterdam they bring forward understandable and accessible art for a wide audience. They do this by offering workshops in addition to a private gallery and an art library. They also organize art exhibitions in The Netherlands and abroad, where they combine the talent of those from the Herenplaats with contemporary artists from all over the world.

You can visit the gallery Monday - Friday from 13:00 to 17:00 at Schiedamse Vest 56-58 in Rotterdam.

Laan Irodjojo

Born in 1969 in Paramaribo, Suriname, he moved to the Netherlands in 1979. During a trip to the port of Rotterdam his drawing talents were discovered. He paints what he sees and particularly focuses on the buildings, ships, airplanes, trains and bridges of Rotterdam.

In 1995 Laan was offered a place at Atelier Herenplaats after an exhibit showing pieces that depicted big cruise ships and city portraits of places like New York, Tokyo and St. Petersburg. This was the perfect fit for Laan, as Atelier Herenplaats acts as a stage for Outsider Art that is created by individuals with intellectual disabilities or mental illness.

Laan is autistic, which mean he has a mental disorder that affects his social and communicative behaviours. He cannot have a conversation because when you ask him something, he repeats the question to himself rather than giving an answer. He uses art as his outlet to communicate to others, as he explains his view of the world through his paintings.

Laan has never used as eraser, he draws quickly and accurately without the use of a ruler. His photogenic memory as well as his natural sense of proportion and perspective aids him in recreating the buildings of Rotterdam. The exact perspective may not always be accurate, but every detail of every building is always there. Sometimes you have to zoom in with a telephoto lens and other times it takes two canvases, regardless of the manner Laan cares for the details and it shows with his inspiring work.

His style is quiet, yet it can be instantly recognized. The paintings are in perspective, flat, and without shadows. From edge to edge the surfaces are filled with the same colour tones. His palette consists mainly of cold and grey tones with a preference for blue. He effortlessly knows how to mix the same colour time and time again.

A work of Laan consists of different shades that are closely related to one another. With complementary colours, he places accents such as a window on a building or a container on the wharf. Everything in his work follows a fixed, orderly pattern. Each level of a building receives more opaque layers and he finishes by accentuating dividing lines between figures with black ink.