'De doka van Hercules'.
The collective known as "De Enschedese School" is one of the most obscure side notes in Dutch comic history. In fact, their sole comic book, 'De Doka van Hercules, door W.F. Bernards' (1981) was not even drawn by any of the members, but constructed from panels taken from pulp comic books. The comic was made by commission of CJP, a Dutch cultural foundation for youngsters, but the board of directors eventually ordered the entire print run destroyed because it shamelessly spoofed W.F. Hermans' classic novel 'De donkere kamer van Damokles'.
Nieuwsblad van het Noorden, 20 November 1981.
Background
The core of "De Enschedese School" ("The School of Enschede") consisted of Kees Maas (Eindhoven, b. 1953), Willem Wisselink, Johan Visser (Gorinchem, b. 1952) and Frans Oosterhof (Nijverdal, b. 20 August 1951). The foundations of the collective were layed during their education at the AKI Art Academy in Enschede in the first half of the 1970s. Together with fellow students Dingenus van de Vrie and Rose-Marie Gerritsen (Velp, b. 20 January 1950) and their teacher Geert Voskamp (Hengelo, 17 December 1934), they began their activities in 1975 in an old school building near the city borders of Enschede. Although they aimed at a different approach of art, they didn't consider themselves revolutionaries or a movement. The team tried to sell their art in circulation, while maintaining their exclusivity. They sometimes held art manifestations in local supermarkets, but most of their works reached their (modest) audience by mail. They jokingly called it "Modern art by PTT" (referring to the Dutch postal services). Four times a year, the group sent a piece of art to their subscribers, 250 at the top of their popularity.
Their first project in January 1977 was a silkscreen presenting 'The downfall of the house Escher' (a pun at Edgar Allan Poe's short story 'The Fall of the House of Usher' and Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher), which the subscribers could send back nine times, after which the print was provided with a dramatic addition. Other projects included a first-day cover envelope with a stamp featuring Utrecht mayor Henk Vonhoff, a set of postcards, a tabletop diorama and an "artist's breakfast set", as well as a a tin with a label saying "Four Oilballs on Heavy Syrup" ("oilballs" is the literal translation of a typical Dutch dumpling), a model kit to make yourself a famous Dutch person, or the mobile 'Oh, Winged Paintbrush', made entirely of painting materials.
Their productions often balanced between sophisticated kitsch and (self-)parody. For instance the group's punk label, De 1000 Idioten Records (later: Idiot Records), which derived its name from the idea that there would be at least a thousand idiots who would buy their products. Idiot Records released albums and singles by Fay Lovsky, Mathilde Santing, Paul Tornado and De Gigantjes, among other artists, as well as Kees Maas and Willem Wisselink's own musical project Kewi University of Swing. Under their imprint De Ark, the group published books like 'Im Herbst' (1979) by Frans Oosterhof, the art book 'Le Moment Suprême' (1981) and 'Fatale filatelie' (1984) by Roland Sips, as well as their own magazine De Enschedese School (1980-1982).
'De Doka van Hercules' comic strip
By 1981, the four remaining members Maas, Wisselink, Visser and Oosterhof had relocated their activities from Enschede to Amsterdam. Around that time, their work was picked up by Henri van Loenen, director of CJP (Cultureel Jongeren Paspoort/"Cultural Youth Passport"), a foundation aimed at creating cultural awareness among youngsters. Van Loenen assigned the "Enschedese School" to make a comic book that was to be sent to the "passport" owners. The team decided to spoof both literature and hard-boiled pulp comics by combining the two. Members Maas and Wisselink cut panels and sequences from existing war, crime and romance comic books, mainly of Italian origin. They pasted them into a new narrative, with new texts, parodying the 1958 Dutch literary classic 'De donkere kamer van Damokles' by Willem Frederik Hermans. In the original war novel, the main character Henri Osewoudt gets involved in the resistance through the mysterious Dorbeck, who is his spitting image. In the comic book, the names of the main characters are changed to Henk Osseworst (referring to a local raw beef sausage) and Droogbek ("Drymouth"). The comic further follows the story rather faithfully, but adds ironical dialogues and offbeat visual collages in different art styles. The cover was designed by Wisselink and Visser.
However, 'De Doka van Hercules' by "W.F. Bernards" never reached its target audience. The CJP distribution centers in Ermelo and Middelharnis objected against the work, and alerted the board of directors, headed by Han Lammers. The board members deemed a respected cultural foundation shouldn't release such an inferior piece of art, especially one that could offend one of the Netherlands' top novelists. With the exception of 500 already distributed copies, the entire print run was destroyed, much to the chagrin of CJP director Van Loenen and the authors. Luckily for them, the Amsterdam-based publisher Ger van Wulften didn't want to see this unique comic book destined for oblivion. Still in 1981, he published the book under his Espee imprint, and added newspaper clippings regarding the CJP censorship on the flyleafs.
'De doka van Hercules'
Legacy
The most fruitful period of "De Enschedese School" was between 1977 and 1985. In Amsterdam, other artists had joined, but different viewpoints gradually separated the original group. Some members wanted to make "highbrow" art, while others preferred a lighter touch, for instance Visser and Wisselink, who left in 1985. In 1997, the collective officially disbanded with the overview exhibition 'Zelfmoord op verjaardag!' ("Suicide on Birthday!") in the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. In the exhibition's catalog, some members were critical of their own achievements, especially because they never maintained a steady house style or vision.
Kees Maas continued to operate as an independent graphic artist, sculptor and performer. Johan Visser ran his own advertising agency, and Willem Wisselink has worked as a film director and graphic designer through his own company Mixed Media since 1989. The group's "ideologist" Frans Oosterhof has been active as an illustrator, graphic/collage artist and painter. Former member Rose Marie Gerritsen became a photographer and painter, while Dingenus van de Vrie has been assistant conservator of the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam. Senior member Geert Voskamp was also co-founder of the art group Instituut Houtappel, and has been successful with theater productions.
'De doka van Hercules'.