Jan Nicolaas van Munster (

Gorinchem Gorinchem ( ), pronunciation respelling, also spelled Gorkum, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water. It had a population of in . The munici ...

, 3 July 1939 – 28 May 2024) was a Dutch sculptor and installation artist whose work appears in many public places in the Netherlands and Germany.Jan van Munster (1939); male / Netherlandish; sculptor, installation artist, environmental artists, draftsman, conceptual artist, light artist, photographer
at rkd.nl, 2015.

Biography

Van Munster studied from 1955 to 1957 at the Academy of Fine Arts and Applied Sciences in Rotterdam, and from 1957 to 1960 at the Instituut voor Kunstnijverheidsonderwijs in Amsterdam. After graduation van Munster settled as independent artist in Gorinchem. In 1967 he moved to

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

, where he worked until 1985. From 1987 to 1991 he worked is

Noordwelle Noordwelle is a village in the Dutch province of Zeeland. It is a part of the municipality of Schouwen-Duiveland, and lies about 5 km southwest of Scharendijke. The village was first mentioned in 1109 as Willa, and means well. Noord (north) ...

, Schouwen-Duiveland, from 1989 to 2003 in

Renesse Renesse () is a village in the Dutch province of Zeeland. It is a part of the municipality of Schouwen-Duiveland, and lies about 28 km west of Hellevoetsluis. Renesse is a popular tourist resort with zero-fare bus services in the area (in ...

, Schouwen-Duiveland, and afterwards in

Vlissingen Vlissingen (; ) is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the island of Walcheren. With its strategic location between the Scheldt river and the North Sea, Vlissingen has been an importan ...

. In 1966 he received the A. Schwartz Prize, in 1971 the

Hendrik Chabot Prize The Hendrik Chabot Award (Dutch: ''Hendrik Chabot Prijs'') is an annual award for visual artists presented by the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, section South Holland. The prize ceremony is in the city hall of Rotterdam, where the prize is given by T ...

, and in 2002 the Wilhelmina-ring. From 1968 to 1970 he was a lecturer at the

Ateliers '63 De Ateliers (formerly Ateliers '63) is an independent art school in located in Amsterdam. It was founded in Haarlem in 1963, among others by Ger Lataster, Mari Andriessen, Nic Jonk, Theo Mulder and Wessel Couzijn. This "group of establish ...

in Haarlem, from 1974 to 1977 at the Rotterdam Art Academy and from 1978 to 1990 at the Academy of Art and Design St. Joost 's-Hertogenbosch. Van Munster was the initiator and founder of the IK foundation (Stichting IK; based on his "IK" works). Since 2011, this foundation has managed an artist residency and exhibition space located in a former water tower and adjacent buildings in the Dutch village

Oost-Souburg Oost-Souburg is a town in the municipality of Vlissingen in the province of Zeeland, Netherlands. History The village was first mentioned in 1162 as Sutburch, and used to mean "southern fortified place", because it was the most southern of thre ...

. Van Munster died on 28 May 2024, at the age of 84.Kunstenaar Jan van Munster overleden

Work

Van Munster’s work is

minimalist In visual arts, music, and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in the post-war era in western art. The movement is often interpreted as a reaction to abstract expressionism and modernism; it anticipated contemporary post-mi ...

in nature. He worked in wood, stone, bronze, glass, and other materials, and has also produced light sculptures and video art. The focus of his work was on all forms of

energy Energy () is the physical quantity, quantitative physical property, property that is transferred to a physical body, body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of Work (thermodynamics), work and in the form of heat and l ...

as a metaphor for life, with an emphasis on light and the energy with which it is loaded. Tensions and oppositions, for example, between light and dark or heat and cold, are often illustrated in his work. His notable projects include the Plus-Minus initiative, and the “IK” works. His works can be found in many cities in the Netherlands and Germany, in public spaces and museum and private collections. One of his works is part of the collection of the

Centre for International Light Art The Centre for International Light Art (CILA, German: ''Zentrum für Internationale Lichtkunst'') is an art museum in Unna, Germany. It is the world's only museum which is exclusively dedicated to the collection and presentation of light art. Col ...

(CILA) in

Unna Unna () is a city of around 59,000 people in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the seat of the Unna (district), Unna district. The newly refurbished Unna station has trains to all major cities in North Rhine Westphalia including Dortmund, Köln H ...

, Germany.

In popular culture

Van Munster's 1981 work ''Energie-Piek ijs'' was pictured on the inside cover of the 1988

Joy Division Joy Division were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Ian Curtis, guitarist and keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris (musici ...

compilation CD ''

Substance Substance may refer to: * Matter, anything that has mass and takes up space Chemistry * Chemical substance, a material with a definite chemical composition * Drug, a chemical agent affecting an organism Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ' ...

'', while his light sculpture ''Plus et Min'' featured on the inner sleeve art of the reissued single ''

Atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...

'' released from the same album. The latter in turn inspired the title and artwork of the band's compilation box set

+- Singles 1978-80 The discography of English post-punk band Joy Division consists of two studio albums, four live albums, twelve compilation albums, three extended plays, and five singles. The list does not include material performed by former members of Joy Div ...

. External links to the artwork
Energie-Piek ijs
an
Plus et Min
the alphabet used is designed by

Wim Crouwel Willem Hendrik "Wim" Crouwel (; 21 November 1928 – 19 September 2019) was a Dutch graphic designer, type designer, and typographer. Early life and education Between 1947 and 1949, he studied Fine Arts at Academie Minerva in Groningen, the ...

a graphic designer who is also Dutch.

Exhibitions

*1987: Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Ludwigshafen *2001: Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst, Antwerp *2004: ''Die Energie des Bildhauers'', Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Ludwigshafen *2005: Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie (ZKM), Karlsruhe

Sculptures Gallery

Sculptures in the Netherlands

File:Zwolle JvM 02.JPG, ''Energiesculptuur'' (1988), Zwolle File:2008-09 arnhem sabelspoort.JPG, ''Energiering'' (2002), Arnhem File:IK Jan van Munster Park Nieuwenoord Utrecht.JPG, ''IK voor Utrecht'' (2003), Utrecht File:IK - Jan van Munster (Apeldoorn).jpg, ''IK'' (2003), Apeldoorn File:20110412-022 Ede - Sculptuur 'Grasspriet met veel energie' van Jan van Munster op het knooppunt Maanderbroek.jpg, ''Grasspriet met veel energie'' (2004), Ede File:Gorinchem kunstwerk brainwave.jpg, ''Brainwave'' (2005), Gorinchem File:Gorinchem kunstwerk zwerfkei plusminus.jpg, ''Plusminus,'' Gorinchem

Sculptures in Germany

File:Heilbronn-wartbergturm-mit-lichtskulptur.JPG, ''Sonnenstrahl für Heilbronn,'' Heilbronn File:Lichtsaeule 3 Ludwigshafen.jpg, ''Lichtsäule,'' Ludwigshafen File:Ludwigshafen Sparkasse Lichtschlange.jpg, ''Brainwave,'' Ludwigshafen

References

External links

Official Jan van Munster website

TV documentary and interview with Jan van Munster
at

RTV N-H NH Media, officially Stichting RTV NH ('Radio Television North Holland'), is the regional public broadcaster for the Dutch province of North Holland. Its headquarters are located in Hilversum. NH was founded on 1 January 1989 as . Since 3 Jan ...

Jan Van Munster
at the Netherlands Media Art Institute {{DEFAULTSORT:Munster, Jan van 1939 births 2024 deaths Dutch contemporary artists Dutch abstract sculptors Dutch installation artists Dutch male sculptors Artists from Gorinchem 20th-century Dutch sculptors 21st-century Dutch sculptors 20th-century Dutch male artists 21st-century Dutch male artists