september 2017
Over the recent years there has repeatedly been controversy about my work, and at times it has provoked violent reactions. On these occasions the curators and institutions involved capitulated at the first sign of dissensus and turned against the artwork instead of defending it.
This is not an uncommon response nowadays, and in all likelihood it will only get worse from here as the artworld, craving relevance and public approval, has embraced perspectives on art that have little to do with artistic value: A growing section of curators, critics and artists now believe that the arts are there to make the World a better place, and that an artist should therefore express a view of the World that is benificial to society.
Despite the good intentions; the idea that a healthy and positive view of the World should be imposed on everyone is patronising and hostile to the very nature of art. And maybe more important; these ‘public debates on art’ are not about art at all, but merely about socio-political issues. This, in my opinion, is a process of artistic self-annihilation.
My work is accessible and touches upon sensitive themes, so it will always be percieved as offensive by some. In the current climate this means being drawn into a repetitive debate on whether there should or shouldn’t be limits to artistic freedom of expression. The constraints are however mostly implemented by the arts institutions themselves.
I therefore decided to end my career, and to seek my freedom of expression outside the artworld.
TALKS AND WORKSHOPS
6 juli 2018 – ROOMjam, ArtEZ, Zwolle
19 Juni 2018 – CHUNCKTALK#2, SCHUNCK*, Heerlen
18 april 2018 – Lezing Symposium ’Identitijd’, ArtEZ, Zwolle
11 november 2017- Lezing in het kader van het project ‘identitijd’, Drents Archief, Assen
SELECTED ONE-PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2017- I Feel a Great Disturbance in the Force, duo exhibition with Hans van Bentem, KochXBos, Amsterdam. Show cancelled due to work considered ‘too offensive’ by gallery.
2014 – All is Fair in Love and War, KochXBos, Amsterdam
2013 – duo exhibition with Peter Pontiac, KochXBos, Amsterdam
2011 – Welcome to the Jungle, Witzenhausen Gallery Chelsea, New York City
2008 – Playground, Witzenhausen Gallery Chelsea, New York City
2008 – Death and the Maiden, NP3, Groningen, in collaboration with Peter van der Wal
2006 – All Good Children go to Heaven, Art Amsterdam
2005 – Wonderland, Artspace Witzenhausen, Amsterdam
2004 – Locked Room, Museum t Coopmanshus, Franeker
2003 – Toys Like Us, Artspace Witzenhausen, Amsterdam
1999 – Een kleine installatie om zelf te maken, Kleine Zaal, Vishal, Haarlem
1996 – Home Sweet Home, Stelling Gallery, Leiden
1996 – The End, Loerakker Gallery, Amsterdam, in collaboration with Peter van der Wal
1996 – Shut up and Eat, Major Art Fair, Amsterdam
1995 – Bloom Gallery, Amsterdam
1995 – New Dutch Art, Groninger Museum, Groningen
1993 – Bloom Gallery, Amsterdam
1991 – De La Tour Gallery, Groningen
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITONS
2017- LEKKER! WEP, Groningen, NL
2016 – Viva Pontiac- Nieuwe Vide, Haarlem, NL
2016 – Pontiac Forever – a tribute to Peter Pontiac (1951-2015) VERA, club for the international pop underground, Groningen, NL
2016 -The Art of Storytelling, SBK Breda, NL, with Netty van Osch and Marianne van Heeswijk
2015 – X-Years, 10th Anniversary of KochxBos, Amsterdam NL, various artists
2015 – Noorderzon Festival, Groningen, NL, curated by Sign
2015 – SPRING! Groupshow KochXBos Gallery, Amsterdam, NL artists of the gallery
2015- Rotterdam Contemporary Art Fair 015, Rotterdam, NL
2014 – Kunstrai ’14, Amsterdam, NL
2014 – I’m not doing anything until I feel the need, De Nederlandsche Bank, A’dam, NL,
door Joanneke Meester
2014 – Marimacha!, WEP, Groningen, NL
2013 – 12de Triennale van de Beeldhouwkunst, Antwerp, BE
2013 – Komplizen, Ostrale ‘013, Dresden, GE
2013 – Accomplices II&3, TETEM, Enschede, Kunstenlab Deventer, NL
2013 – AAF, Amsterdam, NL
2013 – Summerexhibition KochXBos, Amsterdam, NL
2013 – RAW Artfair, Rotterdam, NL
2013 – Harma en Dineke Plakken zich Wild, WEP, Groningen, NL
2012 – PAN Artfair, Amsterdam, NL
2012 – RAW Artfair, Rotterdam, NL
2012 – SCOPE BASEL, Basel, SW
2012 – SCULPTURE 2012, Anningahof, Zwolle, NL
2012 – SALON#2-0, Stichting WEP, Groningen, NL
2011 – Hi Fructose magazine-show, Roq la rue gallery, Seattle, U.S.A.
2011 – In the Nursery, Corey Helford Gallery, Los Angeles, U.S.A
2011 – Guilty by Association, pretty vacant project space, Groningen, NL
2010 – People, Passions, Places, The world of Hans van Bentem, de Ketelfactory, Schiedam, NL
2010 – SCOPE BASEL, Basel, SW
2010 – A love story, Two Heads Chicken Gallery, Evora, PT
2010 – Scope New York, NYC, U.S.A.
2010 – Mainly on Paper, Vous Etes Ici, Amsterdam, NL
2010 – Annual Hi-Fructose exhibit, Copro Gallery, Santa Monica, L.A, C.A., U.S.A.
2010 – Art Palm Beach, Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.A.
2010 – Art Rotterdam, Rotterdam, NL
2010 – Artists of the Gallery, Witzenhausen Gallery, Chelsea NYC, U.S.A.
2009 – Playground, Ruarts gallery, Moskow, RU
2009 – Pulse Miami, Miami, Florida, , U.S.A.
2009 – Dead End Hero, Deventer, NL
2009 – Summerexhibition Anningahof, Zwolle, NL
2008 – Art Jaén, Jaén, Spain
2008 – Scope Hamptons, Wainscott, NY, U.S.A.
2008 – FEMACO, Mexico City, Mexico
2008 – Scope New York, NYC, U.S.A.
2008 – Exporting Pop: A Western Fantasy, The Dean Project, Long Island City, NY, U.S.A.
2007 – Reading The Drawing, Sign,Groningen, NL
2007 – Art Rotterdam, Rotterdam, NL
2007 – Innocence Now, Witzenhausen Gallery, Amsterdam, NL
2007 – PEEP, Westwerk, Hamburg, GE
2007 – Scope Miami, Miami, Florida, U.S.A.
2006 – ART Rotterdam, Rotterdam, NL
2006 – Scope New York, NYC, U.S.A.
2006 – Floating in your Raibow Colored Eyes, Deiska, Amsterdam, NL
2006 – Scope Miami, Miami Florida, U.S.A.
2005 – Identity, Artspace Witzenhausen, Amsterdam, NL
2005 – Oracle of Truth, Aeroplastics, Bruxelles, BE
2004 – ART Rotterdam, Rotterdam, NL
2004 – Sculptors, Loerakker Gallery, Amsterdam / Anningahof, Zwolle, NL
2004 – EXIT, Museum ‘t Coopmanshus, Franeker, NL
2003 – You are always on my Mind, Loerakker Gallery, Amsterdam, NL
2003 – Meisje van Nes / Maiden of Nes, Ameland, NL
2001 – Centred, Loerakker Gallery, Amsterdam, NL
2001 – Strandhuisjes, Heemskerk aan Zee, NL
2001 – Home Made, VHDG, Leeuwarden, NL
1999 – Kunstrai ’99, Amsterdam, NL
1998 – Pop Art, Fries Museum, Leeuwarden, NL
1998 – Kunstrai ’98, Amsterdam, NL
1997 – Booster Up Dutch Courage, East Gallery, Claremont, Los Angeles, U.S.A.
1997 – Genuine Fiction, W139, Amsterdam, NL
1997 – Everything Bright and Beautiful, Loerakker Gallery, Amsterdam, NL
1997 – Voor Mijn Moeder, Stelling Projecten, Leiden, NL
1997 – From the Collection Almere, De Pavilioens, Almere, NL
1996 – Kunstrai ’96, Amsterdam, NL
1996 – ClairObscur, Deventer/Dalfsen, NL
1996 – Pet Shop, Stelling Gallery, Leiden, NL
1995 – Retrospective VOUS ETES ICI, Museum van Bommel van Dam, Venlo, NL
1994 – Babies and Bambies, Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterdam, NL
1994 – Artists of the gallery, Bloom Gallery, Amsterdam, NL
1994 – Kiss me Sailor, Vishal, Haarlem, NL
1994 – Kunstrai ’94, Amsterdam, NL
1993 – Gallery van den Crommenacker, Arnhem, NL
1993 – Kunstrai ’93 , Amsterdam, NL
1993 – Thing Makers, the Umbrella Factory, Nijmegen, NL
1992 – Bloom Gallery, Amsterdam, NL
1992 – Kunstrai ’92, Amsterdam, NL
1992 – Artists of the gallery, Bloom Gallery, Amsterdam, NL
1992 – Willink van Collen Contest, Arti et Amicitiae, NL
COMMISSIONED ART
1999 – Monument for The Beatles, Blokker, N.H. commissioned by The Beatles in Blokker Foundation