Discover No Man’s Art Gallery, a hidden artifact

Nov 1, 2012 | by Frederike | Art, Spots

About the author

As a twenty-five year old writer, hummusaddict, night decorator, Master student, secret girlfriend of James Franco and lover of thick books, I totally agree with the saying that wolves don't lose sleep over the opinion of sheep.

Once in a while you have high expectations of something and then it even outdoes it. That’s what happened to me last Sunday evening when I went to the opening of the No Man’s Art Gallery in the east of the city. This pop-up art gallery finished off its first headquarters in the form of an impressive pledge at the Plantage Muidergracht; an invite-only event with a solid DJ line-up and a hot rooftop barbecue. Sounds pretentious, but this creative nest is interesting for both art adorers and the inexperienced ones, something you will be thrilled to visit.

Forget about stiff galleries where women in taupe pencil skirts tell you what art is and what not. NMAG is young, movable and –let’s use this somewhat vague description– urban. This collective literally travelled around the world, they’ve popped up in Paris, Mumbai, Hamburg and Copenhagen. Hanging on to the ‘out of the box’ mentality, visiting this building means a broader experience than gazing at some paintings. The industrial setting has an interesting vibe, together with the open studios and diverse forms of art (besides paintings also photography, sculptures, film) you could call this guerilla concept pretty unique.

At the moment three artists hold their studio in the building: Olivier Schimmel, Merijn Kavelaars and Kyra Sacks. Kavelaars seems to be inspired by the ‘drip’-technique, definitely worth taking a look at. In the basement is their India-slum exhibition from 2011 and there are a lot of other (small) ones. You can visit Fridays to Saturdays from 12pm till 7pm or make an appointment. If you’re an artist yourself don’t be shy and send in your own work, they’re always looking for new talents. Get inspired.