About ladders and stairs

Both ladders and stairs are designed with a clear functional mission: to bridge physical heights. Their simple lines and geometric shapes contribute to their aesthetic appeal. They help us literally up and down, but also figuratively—through growth, change, and ambition. Sometimes we climb steadily, sometimes we stumble, and sometimes we feel the urge to find a way out.

But ladders are more than a tool or a metaphor for success; they tell the story of transformation, of the human journey between the earthly and the higher. They appear in myths and stories, such as Jacob’s heavenly ladder, which reflects the connection between man and the divine.

The social ladder shows how people strive for progress, sometimes facing obstacles, sometimes encountering opportunities. The escalation and de-escalation ladders show how small steps in the right or wrong direction can be decisive in relationships and conflicts. The escape ladder may indicate danger, but it also symbolizes hope and a new beginning.

Reason for the exhibition Stairway to..? is the monument The Ladder by Armando, the war memorial that stands near the entrance road to Amersfoort-South.

This exhibition has an annex in the Elleboogkerk, Langegracht 36 in Amersfoort. From January 31, 2026, through August 30, 2026, work by Stephen Dean, which displays large-scale ladder sculptures made of dichroic, two-color glass. This glass has a transmitted color and a completely different reflective color; these two colors change depending on the viewing angle.

The exhibition Stairway to…? is a brief exploration of the many faces of ladders and stairs through the eyes of visual artists and designers.

The ladder is ultimately a symbol of escape and transformation. Sometimes a struggle, sometimes a fluid movement, but always a journey—whether that be to a higher consciousness, a new opportunity, or a personal victory.

Where does your ladder lead?

TEFAF 

14-19 March 2026, MECC Maastricht
Borzo Gallery stand 447/449] will have a unique premiere this Tefaf: the iconic painting Ode à l’Odéon [see at the head of this newsletter], which has been on view at Kunstmuseum since 1974.

This major New Babylon painting was one of the first after a temporary painting stop, where Constant only worked on his architectural models. It’s inspired by the 1969 student uprising in Paris. 

This majestic work will be flanked by Two Towers [1959] and works by amongst others Charlotte Caspers, Rakuko Naito, Jan Schoonhoven, and herman de vries.

TEFAF 

14-19 March 2026, MECC Maastricht
Jaski Gallery [stand 510] shows a  painting from 1951 “Figure Against Purple Background” [1951] from the rarely available CoBrA period with the sculpture “Entangled Bird” [1947]. This last one is also a unique object since very few objects by Constant from that period remain. 

With the exhibition New Humans. Memories of the Future the New Museum in NYC opens its doors again on 21 March after an extensive period of building a new wing, which will double the museum’s exhibition space. 60,000-square-foot building expansion is designed by OMA / Shohei Shigematsu and Rem Koolhaas in collaboration with Cooper Robertson.

New Humans: Memories of the Future will inaugurate the New Museum’s expanded building with an exploration of artists’ enduring preoccupation with what it means to be human in the face of sweeping technological changes. New Humans will trace a diagonal history of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries through the work of more than 150 international artists, writers, scientists, architects, and filmmakers, highlighting key moments when dramatic technological and social changes spurred new conceptions of humanity and new visions for its possible futures. The exhibition includes six works of art by Constant. 

On April 11, Atelier Volten opens the very first exhibition dedicated to the postwar collective Liga Nieuw Beelden (1955–1969). Despite its well-known members such as Wim Crouwel, Aldo van Eyck, Frieda Hunziker, Kho Liang Ie, Constant Nieuwenhuys, Shinkichi Tajiri, André Volten, and Ans Wortel, the Liga has remained largely unknown until now.

Through collaborations between architects, artists, designers, and industrial designers, Liga Nieuw Beelden sought to make the city more beautiful and more human. Their chosen means was the merging of different artistic disciplines. After the Second World War, the Liga built on the ideals of De Stijl and the Bauhaus, whom they considered their avant-garde predecessors.

Wilde rokken. Cobra art as textile presents textile designs by artists from the Cobra movement, created in collaboration with Dutch textile printers. In the years after World War II, manufacturers translated the radical visual language of these artists into repeatable patterns for fashion and interiors. First met with criticism, later with admiration. At the same time, the exhibition tells a story of emancipation: of women who shaped their own identity through fashion and interior design.

Against the background of social change, Wilde rokken. Cobra art as textile shows how these once controversial fabrics became icons of modern life.