White Room: Berry van Boekel

White Columns is pleased to present the first New York solo exhibition by the Columbus, Ohio-based artist Berry van Boekel. Van Boekel’s immersive installation consists of hundreds of small paintings and drawings of popular musicians produced over the past two decades. Describing the genealogy of the ongoing project van Boekel has stated: “In February 1983, aged 18 years old—in the midst of exploring music, I made a chart of the 10 tracks that I’d enjoyed most. Then three days later I made another one and I’ve continued to do so every three or four days ever since. At the end of each year I collect all charts and compile a list of 100 songs from it. 2008 marked the 25th anniversary of such lists. In 1986 I started to illustrate the lists, first with the copy machine but soon I started to draw. The Top 100 of 1991 was the first in which all one hundred entries were drawn by hand. I have claimed many times that a particular year was going to be the last one but instead I continue with more zeal every year.” The White Columns’ installation includes the complete series of one hundred works on paper produced to accompany 2007’s Top 100, plus additional works from previous Top 100s produced since 1993.

Berry van Boekel lives and works in Columbus, Ohio. The first presentation of the Top 100 works was held at Skylab Gallery, Columbus in 1999 – where seven subsequent annual Top 100 shows have been staged. (White Columns was introduced to Berry van Boekel’s work by Mark Harris, a Cincinnati-based artist and curator who is the Director of the School of Art at the University of Cincinnati where van Boekel’s work was presented at The Dorothy W. and C. Lawson Reed, Jr. Gallery. We are grateful to Mark and everyone at the Reed Gallery for their enthusiasm and cooperation with the White Columns’ presentation of van Boekel’s work in New York.)