Musea and art in Eindhoven

Musea and art in Eindhoven

Due to Eindhoven’s historic connection with lightbulb and electronics producer Philips, truck-manufacturer DAF, and the city’s Design Academy, the High Tech Campus and the Eindhoven University of Technology, there are several musea and galleries linked to those institutions and fields.

I compiled the following list for you:

• The Philips Museum
• The DAF museum: historic cars and trucks
• TAC (Temporary Art Centre): breeding ground for cultural innovation
• Piet Hein Eek gallery: design and art
• Cartoon museum Ton Smits Huis: only open on wednesdays
• De Ontdekfabriek (=Discovery Factory): for kids
• Designhuis: temporary design exhibitions
• MU/Yksi Expo: Dutch design exhibitions

Note: this list is not exhaustive.

Van Abbemuseum

Eindhoven’s largest and world-famous museum is the Van Abbemuseum, filled with modern and contemporary art.

The building consists of two parts: an old part, by architect Kropholler, built in 1936, and a new wing, overlooking the river Dommel.

The museum has a museum restaurant and a nice museum shop, with jewelry, books, paper ware and small gifts.

As said, the museum focusses on modern and contemporary art.

One of the rooms I liked was this one, with painted faces by Marlene Dumas on the wall, and three ‘tumbling’ figurines.

This upside-down Beetle is cool too. You can climb in it and it is part of a DIY museum tour for the whole family.

This art installation is totally up my alley. The artist is the Turkish Huseyin Bahri Alptekin (who died some years ago at age 50) and it is titled: Self-Heterotopia, Catching Up With Self.

There was no additional information next to the artwork, so the title and how it moved me were the only things I could go by. When I returned home, I googled the artist and found out, that he saw and used global junk as artistic treasure trove. Someone said about him, that he found the global underbelly in cigarette packs, plastic bags, blankets and hotel signs. Main themes for him were amongst others: globalization, mobility and traveling. No wonder that this installation appealed to me!

Something totally different, but I have always been struck by the characteristic style of Charley Toorop, a Dutch painter from the first half of the previous century.

The Van Abbemuseum has quite a lot of conceptual art in it’s collection and in temporary exhibitions. Some conceptual art I can appreciate, like the ones below.

Some conceptual art I don’t care about, like this room, in which three actors?, artists?, took positions, changed positions and suddenly started reciting texts. Etcetera.

Special are these chocolate self-portraits of/by plantation workers in Congo; art with a political, emancipating aspect.

And what do you think of this swimmer in a ‘river’? Pretty cool, if you ask me.

The whole museum has a cool, modern and ‘now’ vibe, don’t you agree? And as often, the contrast between the old and the new architecture is exciting and works well. As does the interaction with the environment.

There are guided tours available, both with a headset, and lead by a ‘live’ guide.

Street Art in Eindhoven

Last but not least there are several locations for street art. There is the incidental street art, that you can run into while exploring the town. E.g. in and around De Bergen:

Funny, how you see the influence of Piet Hein Eek and his scrapwood back regularly in Eindhoven, like in the facade of this bar. The striped Mini comes from Paul Smith, I think.

This wall with street art is located at the back of the Van Abbemuseum:

In the following two locations you can spot more street art:

• Strijp-S

• De Berenkuil (aka Insulindeplein) is a traffic circle near the campus of the Eindhoven University of Technology. It has been designated a freezone for graffiti artists. The area has thus become something of an open air museum. Unfortunately I did not have enough time to visit this area, but it’s definitely on my list for a next visit to Eindhoven!

Eindhoven definitely is a great town to visit for (street-)art lovers and people who like design and technology! The Van Abbemuseum alone is worth a visit, if you are into contemporary art. As is Piet Hein Eek’s ‘imperium’ in Strijp-R for art, design and furniture lovers.

What kind of art do you like best? Which era, style and artist?