World Fine Art Professionals and their Key-Pieces, 477 - Maikel Baas

World Fine Art Professionals and their Key-Pieces, 477 – Maikel Baas
At Castlemania, a joint project by Galerie Fleur & Wouter and No Limits! Art castle, I saw special ceramic work by Maikel Baas. Including a church à la Van Gogh with devilish tridents on it, the Red Square with a man with a rocket on his head and Islamic domes with the arm and hand of God that looks a lot like a claw.
I visited Maikel in Ateliers De Wijde Doelen in Utrecht. Ateliers De Wijde Doelen is an art studio where approximately 30 talented artists with intellectual disabilities work. The artists make ceramics, drawings, paintings and graphics of high quality.

A rich fantasy
Maikel has already put some works of art on the table in a consultation room. I also see the catalog of the exhibition ‘Pioneers in Ceramics’ at the Prinsenhof museum in Delft, where work by Maikel is currently on display. Tamara, one of the supervisors from Ateliers De Wijde Doelen, is also at the table.
Before me I see a number of works in ceramics: a mask reminiscent of African and Papuan art, a raised middle finger, the Red Square in Moscow and the arm and hand of God – in the shape of a claw – around some domes.

Maikel – wearing a black T-shirt with a Smiley on it – talks about how the works came about.
“I have seen something, usually in reality, sometimes also online. Then an idea arises in my head. I have a rich imagination. I made the Women’s Temple after my visit with my parents in Antwerp, September 2023. We visited the Cathedral of Our Lady there. I bawled my eyes out. I thought it was impressive. We walked there for three hours. So big. “I can work that out nicely in clay,” I think at that moment. But when I’m busy, the image takes on its own dynamics. I get ideas that I will work out.”

Dubious little chapel
He saw an image of the Russian chapel, which resulted in Dubious chapel, on the internet. “I wanted to work on that. But I immediately put away the picture I saw. I’m going to work according to my own imagination. I think churches are beautiful, but I have no interest in religion.”
In the same way the Church of Satan was created, a church with devilish tridents on it. “The church has a baroque style. You see such churches in southern Germany, Austria and Hungary. These are churches from the period 1700 – 1800.”

For Red Square he initially only had the man with a rocket on his head. But that was a bit boring, something had to be added. He started building buildings around it. “Then you get a town around the statue.” He points to the haunting expression of the male’s face. “He gets short of breath. Do not press the red button! The threat from Russia is also there.”
Maikel finds the creation process fantastic every time. “That you see how it comes about. How it comes to life. I work in 3D, which I enjoy doing. When I work I have no end picture. I discover surprising things as I make them.”

Clay
He makes his work in clay. Before it goes into the oven it must dry for at least a week. The work then goes into the oven twice: the first time it is ‘biscuit fired’ at 1000 degrees Celsius. After three days in the kiln, the work is glazed. And then, together with the glaze, the stoneware is fired at 1240 degrees. The work is completed after two and a half days.

The atelier
We’re going to see the atelier. A beautiful large space with light from above. Paintings and graphics hang on the wall, and there are ceramic dishes, pots and vases on tables. Maikel works at a table with three others who also work with clay. A total of 9 to 11 people work in the space. “A steady club. That’s nice. I like to see what they make, but it has no influence on me in terms of content, I stick to my own style.”

I see some of Maikel’s works that have just been ‘biscuit baked’. One work is a kind of monster with a dome and a cross. The monster is a devil and he has a lady in his belly, says Maikel. Different colors can be seen on an information board that eventually emerge after baking twice. Maikel often does ‘inwashing’. “Then you get depth in the details.” He shows it through the work Wild Coffee, with a woman in the coffee foam, and coffee beans and a crooked spoon on the saucer. Tamara says that this work has been submitted for a Special Award from the Special Arts organization. I also see his signature on the saucer: M. B. and D.E.,

 

He says he is proud that his works, including Red Devil (Rode Duivel), are part of the exhibition ‘Pioneers in Ceramics’ in the Prinsenhof in Delft. Work by his colleague Chris Weijers can also be seen there, including Wolf Castle (Wolvenkasteel). “Then you will be taken seriously.”
In addition to Amsterdam and Delft, Maikel exhibits in Museum Ons’ Lieve Heer op Solder in Amsterdam (the official opening has yet to take place, but the work can already be seen). In the spring his work was also on display in Galerie Atelier Herenplaats in Rotterdam.

Finally, how does Maikel see the future?
“I will continue with this. But the future is uncertain. You don’t know in these crazy times.”

https://www.wijdedoelen.nl/keramiek-kunstenaars/maikel-baas/
https://www.instagram.com/p/Ci-ZalBo2jB/?hl=en
https://www.galeriefleurenwouter.com/exhibitions/2024/3/18/castlemania
https://inzaken.eu/2024/06/11/maikel-baas-al-makende-ontdek-ik-verrassende-dingen/