About:
My work is based on the seascape genre, and in particular the voyages of discovery in the Golden Age. It’s a theme that I became interested in at a young age and it continues to fascinate me to this day. I create a world that takes place in some distant past, a twilight zone where there are no rules. Waging war at sea and discovering new worlds is the prevailing human impulse there. The flush of victory andthe urge to expand, humankind bent on glory. My work is not about glorification or heroic status but about confronting our own insignificance. In the world that I evoke, I want to expose the human tragedy: the primal force of nature ultimately always wins. In the face of such a force, all human efforts are in vain. In my world,man is reduced to a mere shadow of himself, at the mercy of a frightening and sometimes hallucinatory worldfull of natural disasters and unreal elements like sea snakes and other monsters. Moreover, there is the solitude with which man is confronted, roaming through a world overrun by nature. Is there a place on earth for human conquest, or do we only celebrate victories on a stage of our own making? Will we survive or ultimately perish? Aware of the time in which we live, I am continuously and intensively working on what we human beings seem to be at the mercy of: a growing ‘Terra Incognita’.
Selected Exhibitions:
15-06 – 22-09-2024 ‘Hello darkness my old friend’ groupshow @ Kunsthal Rotterdam
24-02 – 05-03-2023 ‘De duvel en z’n ouwe moer’ solo presentation @galerie Waterbolk, Utrecht
15-07 – 17-07-2022 Unfair Editions, groupshow @ Westergasfabriek, Amsterdam
04-09 – 16-10-2021 ‘Van een gek, voor een gek’ groupshow, Philip Akkerman & friends groupshow
@ Torch gallery, Amsterdam
25-09 – 21-09-2021 ‘Sea de Zee’ groupshow @ Villa Zebra, Rotterdam
05-09 – 10-10-2020 ‘Haagse Heritage’ groupshow @ HEDEN, The Hague
17-04 – 22-04-2019 Kunst Rai, Art Amsterdam, groupshow, represented by Patty Morgan gallery.
28-01 – 11-03-2018 Nothing but good art, groupshow @ Park, Tilburg
24-03 – 24-04-2017 Familiekamer Kunstprijs, Family Chamber Art Award, Leiden.
With: Sebastiaan Schlicher, Rik Smits, Stephan van den Burg, Rens Krikhaar/Winner
20-11 – 27-11-2016 Pan Amsterdam, groupshow, represented by Bart gallery @ Rai Amsterdam
08-10 – 31-01-2017 Van Bommel Van Dam prijs @ Museum Van Bommel van Dam, Venlo, Winner Audience Award
10-06 – 26-08-2016 Solo presentation at Stibbe office, Amsterdam with Patty Morgan gallery.
02-04 – 14-05-2016 Daniela Schwabe & Rens Krikhaar @ Bart gallery, Amsterdam
19-03 – 05-06-2016 ‘Drawing Front’ groupshow curated by Arno Kramer & Nanette Kraaikamp
@ Drawing Centre Diepenheim
11-03 – 27-03-2016 ‘Drawing Front & Back’ groupshow @ Quartair, The Hague
22-11 – 29-11-2015 ‘Pan Amsterdam’ represented by Bart gallery, Rai Amsterdam
20-06 – 22-08-2015 The Ebony Tower’ groupshow @ Nouvelles Images gallery, The Hague
31-01 – 14-03-2015 ‘Historia’ duo exhibition Rik Buter & Rens Krikhaar @ Bart gallery, Amsterdam
19-10 – 31-01-2015 ‘Daar komen de Putters’ homage to Carel Fabritius @ Keukenhof castle, Lisse
18-09 – 21-09-2014 ‘Unfair’ groupshow @ NDSM Werf, Amsterdam
28-08 – 20-09-2014 ‘Exchange The Hague/Dublin’ groupshow @ Cross gallery, Dublin
13-02 – 02-03-2014 ‘Drawings’ groupshow curated by Rosemin Hendriks, @ Circa…dit, Arnhem
19-09 – 22-09-2013 Drawing Amsterdam, represented by Maurits van de Laar gallery, The Hague
02-06 – 02-07-2013 ‘Fly your Colours’ Solo @ Maurits van de Laar gallery, The Hague
31-05 – 01-09-2013 ‘Dutch Settlement’ Quartair Groupshow, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
16-05 – 30-06-2013 ‘Seismology of Time’ @ Annie Gentils Gallery, Antwerp
04-05 – 14-06-2013 ‘Beyond Tradition’ @ ‘Garage Rotterdam’ groupshow with Rinus van de Velde,
Saskia Olde Wolbers, Paul de Reus, Marijn Akkermans, Alex Verhaest, Csilla Klenyanski,
Pere Llobera, Maria Roosen & Folkert de Jong
12-10 – 04-11 2012 Royal Award for Painting, nominated @ Royal Palace, Dam Square, Amsterdam
07-10 – 26-10 2012 ‘Erik Pape, Philip Akkerman, Rens Krikhaar’ @ Maurits van de Laar gallery, The Hague
01-09 – 07-10 2012 Marcel van Eeden, Thijs Zweers, Rens Krikhaar @ Horizon Verticaal, Haarlem
29-03 – 01-04 2012 ‘Le salon du dessin contemporain’ represented by Maurits van de Laar gallery
@carrousel du louvre, Paris
Works in Collections:
Teylers Museum Haarlem
Centraal Museum Utrecht
Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Prentenkabinet Universiteit Leiden
CBK Groningen & SBK Amsterdam
Heden
Work in international private collections