Marzee

ANNELIES PLANTEIJDT Untitled , Bracelet, 1982 ANNELIES PLANTEIJDT Untitled , Necklace, 1985/1991

Designing Marzee

Galerie Marzee has its own style, which can be seen throughout the gallery spaces and in the way the gallery promotes its activities. This is very much related to Marie-José herself. From the start, the display cases have been characterised by functionality and austere design, which allows the focus to be directed at the objects inside them. And Marie-José’s preference for drawers allows for the jewellers to be represented in an organised manner.

The graphic design for the gallery has changed over time. When she first opened in the old butcher’s shop on Lange Hezelstraat, Marie-José’s elegant handwriting was her trademark. She wrote the name of the gallery on the display window, the title of exhibitions on the posters, and information about the exhibited objects on labels. The original name, Heffels en Van den Hout, soon became Marzee, indicating a shift towards a personal, independent direction.

At first, the design of the exhibition poster was left to the artists themselves. That led to very diverse types of expression, in which typography predominated. Graphic designer Bertine Colsen came up with the idea of a red paper strip that could be pasted to the poster and inscribed with the exhibition dates. This element introduced a certain degree of uniformity.

After the move to the second gallery on Ganzenheuvel in 1986, exhibition announcements were standardised and brought under Marie-José’s control. The A5 card was introduced, with black-and-white photographs, dates and information on the front, and text (often written by critics in the field) on the back. Leon Mommersteeg, who had graduated from the Arnhem academy two years before, created the design. The logo on the front exterior wall, which is still being used by Marzee today, was designed by Henrik Barends. In 1990 Barends also took over the design of exhibition announcements. He opted for an A4-size sheet, with a bold division into four areas and the logo designed by him in the upper left corner. The elaborate texts disappeared. Announcements were numbered, so the public would be encouraged to collect them.

After the move to the third gallery on the Waalkade, announcements were given a new look by Montse Hernández í Sala. Earlier she had created a poster in honour of the Cornelia Weertsema-van Duin Pluim, a distinction that was awarded to Marie-José in 1990. Hernández í Sala went back to the A5 cards with extensive texts on the back. The numbering began anew. The cards were given ‘multomap’ holes, emphasising the idea of a collection. This series-like element became a regular feature and still exists in the form of Marzee Magazine, a booklet that has been accompanying exhibitions five times per year since 1998. Montse Hernández í Sala is still Marzee’s designer.

Invitation to the Kleding/Clothing exhibition at the second Galerie Marzee, October 1990. Galerie Marzee archive.

SCHOOLS PROJECT

Burg Giebichenstein Halle –Class Dorothea Prühl –Feldversuch [Field Trial]

For almost 50 years, Galerie Marzee has been involved in shaping the field of international contemporary jewellery from the city of Nijmegen in the Netherlands. This book tells the story of dealer Marie-José van den Hout, known as Marzee; Galerie Marzee, the institution with a rich backstory, an amazing building and enviable programmes; and the Marzee Collection, more than 2,500 objects representing five decades of contemporary jewellery and hollowware.