Four times Two: works from the collection 1965–2015

• Opening: Friday 7 November, 18.00-22.00
• On show: 8 November 2025 to 14 June 2026
• Curator: Paula van den Bosch

Interlinking and unravelling

This collection presentation of contemporary art covers half a century, and presents various generations of artists and art movements. The acquisition of Shinkichi Tajiri’s iconic artwork of four knots, Four times Two (1967), in 2024, formed the trigger and the starting point for this presentation.

Tajiri the inspirer

Four times Two by the Japanese-American-Dutch artist Shinkichi Tajiri (Los Angeles, 7 December 1923 - Baarlo, 15 March 2009) is both personal and fascinating. Tajiri’s exposure to racism and exclusion had a decisive influence on his life and work. As a young man, he experienced war and hatred, and he yearned for solidarity. Tajiri’s distinctive knot is a recognisable symbol of connection and unity all over the world. Bringing people together, however, is no easy task. It requires courage and an environment that does not recoil from things that are different or unfamiliar. And not everything can be solved just like that. Shinkichi Tajiri’s knot stands for that as well: the world is complex and confusing, and human relationships are often complicated.

Finding connections

Each room shows work by four artists: the number of knots in Four times Two. The works are all very diverse with regard to their subject, theme or appearance. So the question is: what do they have in common? To give a suggestion or clue, each room has a title, like: rhythm & transformation or time & gravity. But everyone looks at things differently and makes different connections. The exhibition is therefore mainly an invitation to go in personal search of the underlying ideas, emotions, messages or symbolism that connect these artworks, across time and cultural differences, both to each other and to us.

Partly disentangled

Four times Two brings together works by leading international artists in a surprising way. Under the heading engagement & desire, for example, you see work by Lydia Schouten, a pioneer in the field of performance, video and installation art, and an important figurehead of feminism. Her work enters into dialogue, as it were, with that of the Swiss artist Thomas Hirschhorn, who is known for his installations and collages made of disposable materials. Both Schouten and Hirschhorn are renowned for their engaged work, but they express their interaction with everyday social and political issues in totally different ways. In the abstraction & illusion room, the abstract ‘wave’ painting by Mary Heilmann is exhibited alongside Sanne Vaassen’s realistic video with highly illusionistic content.

Four times Two includes works by:

Francis Alÿs, Paul Chan, Peter Doig, Mary Heilmann,Thomas Hirschhorn, Suchan Kinoshita, Jos Kruit, Mario Merz, Charlotte Lagro, Sol LeWitt, Laura Owens, Roman Signer, Carol Rhodes, Lydia Schouten, Shinkichi Tajiri, Sanne Vaassen, Luciano Fabro, Paloma Varga Weisz and Richard Serra.

A pioneer in the spotlight again

In 2023, Lydia Schouten already held an impressive solo presentation at the Bonnefanten, in A Room of One’s Own. This prompted the museum to add five of her early videos to the collection. Lydia Schouten has also given the Bonnefanten two early script books that formed the basis for her controversial video installations. These books of sketches done in various techniques are very fragile, so they have never been exhibited before. But they are now on display in a room devoted to Lydia Schouten. The Bonnefanten, like Museum Arnhem, is thus celebrating fifty years of the artistry of Lydia Schouten, ‘the grande dame of Dutch contemporary art’.

This exhibition has received support from:

the Province of Limburg, the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, the VriendenLoterij and the Mondriaan Fund.

Note for the press:

For more information, please contact Kris Németh through pressoffice@bonnefanten.nl or on +31 (0)6-2736 4802