It is our pleasure to invite you to Art Rotterdam, which this year takes place from 18- 22 May. In the Solo/Duo Section (stand number 17) we show a presentation of photographs by Lonneke van der Palen and paintings by Mirjam Vreeswijk. We hope to see you at the fair. Buy your tickets via artrotterdam.com
Mirjam Vreeswijk's (NL, 1997) paintings explore the convergence of divergent realities produced in a space between mirror and mask, between revealing and hiding the subject. In doing so, she seeks to draw attention to the different layers of consciousness rippling through the painting’s surface and its subject. Narrative and continuity become illusory in this hybrid space, as each work contains new perspectives that combine opposites and defy easy coherency.
The work originates from collages of objects or images that appeal to her in one way or another. For example, shiny ribbons, designer shoes and pictures from books on decorative works from the 70s. From this archive of materials, she intuitively builds compositions, first in models, then on canvas. Step by step, Mirjam looks at what the image needs in order to eventually arrive at the perfect composition and perfect structures of paint.
This intuitive or subconscious approach gives the paintings a surrealistic feel that touches on elements of product photography, still life and landscape painting. In her latest series the fairy-tale world makes its entrance. This can be seen in ritual objects and in the approach to landscapes that some of the paintings provide a glimpse of.
After graduating in 2018 from the HKU Bachelor of Fine Art, Mirjam Vreeswijk was nominated for several awards such as the Buning Brongers Prize and the Kunst aan de dijk Prize, she won the Best of Graduates Ron Mandos Public Prize that year. She then participated in the the Master Fine Art at the Frank Mohr Institute. In 2019, she was named Art Talent of the Year by Stichting Kunstweek. She has exhibited in several galleries and at Kunstcollectie Rijnstate.
The work of Lonneke van der Palen (NL, 1985) is a growing visual investigation in which one theme prevails: the aesthetic pleasures of everyday life. She reminds us of the fact that everything around us is shaped, by both nature and man. How all these things take shape and meaning in our lives on this planet and the actions that go with them is the breeding ground for her work.
Van der Palen wants to amaze the viewer. She looks at everything with the same interest. It makes no difference to her whether her subject is a rusty oil bottle in the dusty rocky landscapes of Croatia or a Margiela handbag in a Parisian studio, and whether she shoots with a professional camera or simply a phone. Her aim is to capture a moment and make the viewer look at the world with the same admiration and love.
In recent years, she has built up a large collection of photographs on subjects ranging from plastic chairs, tablecloths, stray shopping bags and jerry cans to stones, tent cloths, exotic fruits and boys in swimming trunks having cocktails. Instead of simply recording these everyday subjects, she literally puts them in a different light. This leads to a sometimes visible, sometimes invisible shift in reality. She enlarges subjects and reduces the image to a cleaned-up essence, which results in compositions in which shape, colour and light relate to each other in a well-considered way.
About the Gallery
The aim of Galerie Fleur & Wouter is to bring young people into contact with art, to make them feel at home in the gallery and to motivate them to start collecting. This philosophy of an accessible and inclusive gallery is reflected in all our activities. We try to communicate in an accessible way and tell clear stories.
We present artists with a strong story, who create works of art that have an immediate appeal, but then turn out to have many other layers as well. Our artists work in different art forms and we are always looking for cross-links outside of the visual arts. For example by showing fashion designers like Lieselot Elzinga and Bas Kosters. The gallery gives them the opportunity to move in the direction of fine art. Artists who have been ignored by general art history, such as Outsider artists, are also given a platform in the gallery.
The majority of our artists are young and they will grow with the gallery in the coming years. But we also work together with mid-career artists like Jan Hoek and Mai van Oers. We see the gallery, its artists and supporters as a family that, in addition to making a profit, aims to help grow the artists' careers, and increase the appreciation of art in general.
Gallery owners: Fleur Feringa & Wouter van Herwaarden
Feel free to contact us for any questions.
e-mail: info@galeriefleurenwouter.com
telephone: +31 6 57748299
Van Ostadestraat 43A, Amsterdam
Thursday - Sunday 12.00 - 18.00 hrs