Chaim van LUIT

Chaim van Luit was born in 1985 in Heerlen, The Netherlands. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Maastricht in 2011 and held a residence at the Jan van Eyck Academy from 2013 to 2015.

Chaim van Luit’s work has a strong performative character. Everyday experiences and observations form the basis for a process in which intuition plays an important role. The use of unexpected materials and elements from his immediate environment links his work directly to the tradition that stretches from Duchamp, through Dada, to conceptual art. Van Luit’s work not only refers to modernist traditions and history, but is also strongly linked to the context of current events and his personal interpretation. His work always draws from the interrelationships between artistic production, a socio-political context and current events to create new meanings. Van Luit modestly evokes current issues. Without taking any particular moral stance, the artist seductively plays with relevant and sometimes controversial topics.

Presentation of the work exhibited in the winery
Acquisition date: January 2021
Exhibited at the distillery

A dime a Dozen, 2020
Cyanotype on cotton
Frame: 189.5 x 289.5 x 6 cm
Unique work

To create A dime a Dozen (an expression meaning “very common, no particular value”), his young Dutch artist used the cyanotype process. He placed coins from the Roman era found in the ground using a metal detector on a light-sensitive fabric.
Fascinated by what lies buried in the ground, he is constantly trying to uncover the history of man and the earth we inhabit.
In just a few hours, the sun slowly exposes the fabric. Then the artist removes the coins and dips the fabric in a bath to bring out this wonderful blue colour. The coins then take on the appearance of stars shining in a night sky.

Here, in a single gesture, he links the history of the cosmos, which he evokes through the visual proximity of a starry sky, with a decisive period in human history.