‘Wat nu, Koetsier?’
When the artist Hans Koetsier passed away in 1991, the newspaper headline in Dutch newspaper Het Parool read “Wat nu, Koetsier…?” (Now what, Koetsier…?), lamenting his death and the end of his typographic invasions in the advertisement space of the paper.
“Now what?” was the question we asked 45 prominent graphic designers and artists, offering them their own advertisement space in the newspaper. The results were witty, touching, critical and lyrical, provoking thoughts on visual language, advertising, and togetherness in our present day. They were published in Het Parool and on watnukoetsier.nl.
The project was initiated by Chives Archives and René Put in collaboration with Het Parool, inspired by conceptual artist Hans Koetsier’s collection of advertisements, which were published mainly in Vrij Nederland and Het Parool between 1969 and 1981. The series proposes a research of contemporary graphic design and visual language, using the objectives of advertisements as an agency for ideas and ideals, investigating their connection with the daily news (printed and online) and, consequently, our society.