Artist Marenne Welten’s family lived on the Pasbaan in Breda for generations. Her aunt – now in her nineties – still remembers men sitting out in front of what was then the Oudemannenhuis (‘Old Men’s House’). In this exhibition Welten delves into the history of this building, which is now part of Stedelijk Museum Breda, and its inhabitants. This brought her the inspiration for new paintings, drawings and collages.
In addition, Welten selected objects from the city archives and the museum collection, including the regulations of the Oudemannenhuis and several relics. These objects from the past are given a place among Welten's visual work. As in a novel, memory and imagination intertwine and the men come back to life.
Marenne Welten (1959) is a prominent visual artist with roots in the city: she grew up in Ulvenhout, went to secondary school in Breda and later to the St. Joost School of Art & Design. Her work has previously been shown in gallery Albada Jelgersma (Play Yesterday - 2018/2019), museum De Pont in Tilburg (It is not all right - 2014) and Museum Kurhaus Kleve in Germany (Expedition - 2006).
“The elaboration of the project is a subtle process in which all knowledge about the subject lies dormant in me indefinitely. Then I start working and I do research into points of contact with which I can connect. The subject is explained and unraveled like a piece of clothing. Subconsciously I layer a story I read about as a layer over the silhouette of my own life. Where some points make contact and show similarity through their symbolism, I am touched and the imagining begins.” – Marenne Welten
Image credit: double take Marenne Welten, gouache collage on paper, 2021
