Rabo Art Collection

‘’To get attention one must be able to seduce’’, says Klein. ‘’Otherwise you stand powerless against the violence of other visual media. Therefore I make use of that same language used in advertising.’’

Micha Klein, Peace, 1993

Liet Heringa and Maarten van Kalsbeek have worked as a team since 1998 and wouldn’t want it any other way. ‘’It’s just like improvising in music. You have to dare to interrupt,’’ says Heringa. Their working method is closely linked to their source of inspiration: the unpredictability of nature. Nature is never static, but moves rather continuously in a pattern of growth, bloom and decay. The duo has embedded this cyclical process into their working method.

Heringa Van Kalsbeek, Tai-Chi, grootste bereik – tros torsend, 2002

‘’The combination of seeing and having seen, the window and the pupil of the eye come together,’’ says Adriaans. His attelier was where his ideas became reality. His attelier was his muse, and these two windows played an important role. In a lot of his work light is prominently present. Is this real light or maybe a devine inspiration?

Leon Adriaans, Lichtval, 1986

Her filmic series, Xteriors, seems to be a slowly developing story in which an array of figures play a role. Dolron's images are characterized by long shutter times, and evoke the atmosphere of paintings of the Flemish early masters such as Petrus Christus or Rogier van der Weyden.

Desiree Dolron, Study for Xteriors X, 2005

It's like trying to see in the dark: it takes a while before you start to see outlines and can identify individual objects. The pale, white-on-white paintings of Maaike Schoorel also require some patience. Foreground and background disappear into each other. But the longer you look, the less empty her paintings become… What can you discover?

Maaike Schoorel, Zelfportret met hond, (2011)

‘’Art sharply defines what cannot be captured in language or theory,’’ says Kraijer.

Juul Kraijer, Zonder titel, (1993)

‘’During my travels through Eastern Europe, I met an extreme diversity of people. I spent hours discussing, loitering, drinking booze with them, and we shared many adventures. Out of all these people, kids and youngsters affected me the most. It is this generation that I fancy most using in my photos.’’

Marco van Duyvendijk, Zweefmolen, Popas, Mamaia, Roemenië, (2002)

With her high tech 4" x 5" camera, Céline van Balen takes super sharp photos, recording every imperfection: every crevice in a dry lip, every birthmark, every speck of dust on a head scarf. However, Van Balen does not consider her photos to be reflections of reality. She shows her own vision; she is in control of the image. Making frame-filling close-ups in large scale format, she brings us face-to-face with the type of beauty that we sometimes are afraid to see, and sometimes are incapable of seeing.

Celine van Balen, Zonder titel, Bussum, (2004)

In his paintings, Verhoef focuses on painting in its purest form. He asks himself the question: How can one create a visual that intrigues, and begs a closer look? He explores the answer to this question in his use of composition, shape, color, space, surface, and the handwriting of the brushstrokes.

Toon Verhoef, Zonder titel, (1992)

Ikebana is from the Japanese ikeru (to keep alive, arrange flowers, living) and hana (flower). More than simply putting flowers in a container, Ikebana is a disciplined art form in which nature and humanity are brought together to create beauty and harmony. This uprooted tree has been fractured. A deliberate composition yet a dramatic picture. What happened here?

Fernando Sánchez Castillo, Ikebana, (2009)

Zandvliet mostly paints abstract landscapes, filled with color and movement. The paint itself becomes more important than the subject it’s representing. The texture is very important for Zandvliet, therefor he uses egg tempera. This dries quickly and shows all the brushstrokes very clearly. This makes his work rich in layers.

Robert Zandvliet, zonder titel, (2003)

Bianca Talking is a portrait of a blonde woman with the mouth half open and her hand in a rigid pose. She’s wearing a wool suit and looks classy. Van Lamsweerde photographs a lot for fashion brands, which is reflected in her independent work.

Inez van Lamsweerde, Bianca Talking, (1999)

Baerveldt is often inspired by remarkable women of history. One of those women is Lucretia Borgia. She was the daughter of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei. Her family arranged several marriages for her that advanced their own political position. There are rumors about Lucretia, concerning incest, poisoning and murder on her part. However, there’s no historical proof for those allegations.

Erzsébet Baerveldt, Lucretia Borgia, (1991)

Commissioned by the Rabo Art Collection, Charlotte Ebers and Stijn van der Loo produced the documentary “Where did the imago go?”. The documentary follows artist Ulay to his studio in Ljubljana, where he intrusive and openly looks back on his life and his work. He also visits the depot of the Rabo Art Collection. The documentary is shown during the exhibition Ulay|Polaroids in the Nederlands Fotomuseum Rotterdam, which you can visit till may 1.

Diederix photographs still life’s like you’ve never seen before. Not something she came across accidentally, but a composed image. The objects she uses seems to have no logical link at first sight. That way she creates a surreal and strange reality.

Elspeth Diederix, Computer, (2004)

The photos that Bremer uses are made by himself or came from the family archive. He often uses blurred pictures, because they shouldn’t be too outspoken. The picture only forms the background upon which he applies his ink. The ink, that he applies in little dots and thin lines, gives the picture a new look.

Sebastiaan Bremer, Lorinha, (2003)