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In a corner under the window stands an old-fashioned heating radiator, made on a small scale. It looks very realistic, right down to the details, with its control knob and pipes running into the floor. The mini radiator is characteristic of Theo Konijnenburg's work. The radiator has been on permanent display in the De Groen collection for many years. Inconspicuous but present.
Konijnenburg is no stranger to choosing everyday objects as art. While we take the everyday things around us for granted, the artist sees them differently. The coffee cup, the chair, the Playmobil toys, a fire extinguisher, the stereo system, a loaf of bread, the refrigerator, a milk carton, and so on. Konijnenburg observes, assesses and considers. He lets his thoughts wander about the everyday nature of things. Existing and often functional objects inspire him and set his brain and hands to work. When we see the back of a broken refrigerator as a dirty and dusty thing, he gets to work with it. Konijnenburg is a gifted observer and creator. What he sees, he can make. Over the years, the artist has gained a wealth of experience. Virtually no material is foreign to him. Plastic, wood, metal, everything can be processed thanks to his inventiveness. His chair is made from a frame of tubes. Not steel tubes, but grey PVC electrical conduits. Deceptively real, but unusable due to their fragility. The unorthodox choice of material and the change of scale are characteristic of Konijnenburg's objects. With every object he makes, he deprives it of its original functionality. You cannot sit on his chair. His radiator does not give off heat. His record player does not play records. It is unlikely that Konijnenburg has a serious message with his work. His real drive lies in devising and creating things.
He wants to know what a workmate made entirely of MDF looks like. The same applies to the viewer. Konijnenburg presents you with an image of reality that deceptively resembles the real thing. Looking at ordinary things differently. Looking at everyday objects that look different in Konijnenburg's transformation. Surprising, banal, humorous and, due to their deceptiveness, sometimes also self-evident.
For this show at De Groen, Konijnenburg has combed through his own depot. He has opened just about every box in which his works are stored. Sometimes without knowing what was in the box in question. He has brought all of this together in the space at De Groen. Pile, an accumulation of works, autonomous works that are all recognisable as the work of Theo Konijnenburg. His work demands to be viewed from very close up. A pleasure for the eye and the brain.