Googliografi: Jan Yoors

Mar 13, 2005

Fˆrsta i serien: Viola IlmaDen fˆrsta gÂngen jag bodde i New York var mellan 1976 och 1982, som barn, och d gick jag p UNIS, den United Nations International School. D‰r fanns bara en till person som pratade flaml‰ndska som jagAllright already, I relent. Tough crowd. Here is the translation of my Swedish homework for the week:

The first time I lived in New York, between 1976 and 1982, as a child, I went to school at UNIS, the United Nations International School. There was only one other kid who spoke Flemish like me, or so I remember. His name was Kore, and his father was an artist. We weren't friends exactly, but our parents knew each other.

I thought Kore was a little wild, but I also felt a little jealous. His father died suddenly in 1977, and eventhough this was tragic, it seemed to me like he now had a very free life — that he could do as he pleased. And he lived in the exotic Greenwich Village, while my family and I lived in the boring upper east side.

In 1980 we were 11 years old, but while he knew about CBGBs and The Ramones, I still thought the B52s were a type of airplane. And when John Lennon was murdered in December of 1980 I did not know who he was, eventhough I had a favorite opera, Carmen, and a favorite conductor, Herbert von Karajan.

Kore's father, Jan Yoors, had had a very interesting life. When he was 12 he had run away from home to travel with the Roma. Later he would write a book about the Roma, and it is to this day one of the few books that describes their life from an insider's perspective.

During WWII he acted as a liaison between the Allies and Roma who were behind Nazi lines. In 1943 he was even arrested and condemned to death by the Gestapo, but managed to escape. After the war he went to London, where he learned the art of tapestry. In 1950 he went to New York, where he established himself as an artist. His life in Greenwich Village was bohemian, perhaps inspired by the Roma; he had two wives, for example. When Jan Yoors died in 1977 he left behind many full-scale tapestry patterns, which his wives continue to weave (interesting link, this one) to this day, in the studio in the Village that I visited in the 70s. Yoors' art is perhaps not as hot as it once was just now — massive tapestries were all the rage in the huge lobbies of the skyscrapers that sprouted in the 60s and 70s, so perhaps they might now remind some of corporate art, even if I think they are very calming, peaceful works.

It must have been strange to be 12 years old and know that at this age one's father had run away from home. Maybe that was why Kore acted wild, in my eyes. In the meantime, he too has become an artist. Like father like son, in the end.. Han hette Kore, och hans far var konstn‰r. Vi var inte kompisar, men vÂra fˆr‰ldrar k‰nde varandra.

Jag tyckte att Kore var lite vild, men jag k‰nde mig ocks lite avundsjuk p honom. Hans far dog plˆtsligt 1977, och ‰ven om det var tragiskt, verkade han vara mycket friare ‰n jag d‰refter. Han fick gˆra vad som helst. Och han bodde i exotiska Greenwich Village, medan jag och min familj var trygga p trÂkiga upper east side.

1980 var vi 11 Âr gamla, men medan han k‰nde till CBGBs och The Ramones, till exempel, trodde jag att B52:or var ett sorts flygplan. N‰r John Lennon mˆrdades i december 1980 visste jag inte vem han var, ‰ven om jag hade en favoritopera, Carmen, och en favoritdirigent, Herbert von Karajan.

Kores far, Jan Yoors, hade haft ett mycket intressant liv. N‰r han var 12 Âr gammal hade han rymt hemifrÂn fˆr att resa med romerna. Senare skulle han skriva en bok om romerna, och den ‰r fortfarande en av f bˆcker som beskriver deras liv inifrÂn.

Under andra v‰rldskriget var han kontaktperson mellan de allierade och de romer som fanns i nazi delen av Europa. 1943 blev han anhÂllen av Gestapo, och dˆmd till dˆden, men han lyckades fly. Efter kriget reste han till London, d‰r han l‰rde sig v‰va gobel‰nger. 1950 Âkte han till New York, och blev en k‰nd konstn‰r. Hans liv i Greenwich Village var bohemisk, som romernas; han hade, till exempel, tv fruar. N‰r Jan Yoors dog 1977 fanns mÂnga v‰vmˆnster kvar. Fruarna forts‰tter ‰n idag att v‰va dem i studion i Village, som jag besˆkte som barn i 70-talet. Hans konst ‰r dock inte s popul‰r som tidigare just nu. Stora v‰ggbonader var j‰ttepopul‰ra i de Amerikanska bankernas lobbies p 70-talet, s nu erinrar det lite om fˆretagskonst, ‰ven om jag tycker hans konst ‰r helt rogivande.

Det mÂste ha varit konstigt att bli 12 Âr gammal och att veta att ens far hade rymt hemifrÂn i samma Âlder. Kanske var det d‰rfˆr Kore var s vild. Jag hade ingen sÂdan fˆrebild. Under tiden har han ocks blivit konstn‰r. SÂdan far, sÂdan son.

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