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Philip Akkerman

 
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Philip Akkerman
Self-Portrait No. 29, 2008
Oil on wooden panel
40 x 34 cm / 15 3/4 x 13 3/8 inch
Copyright the Artist / Courtesy Galerie Bob van Orsouw, Zurich


More images: www.artnews.org/philipakkerman

01 | 02 | 03
   
Philip Akkerman: Lost and Ambulous
19 November 2011 – 4 February 2012
Galerie Bob van Orsouw, Zurich

Press release

The Dutch painter Philip Akkerman encloses himself in a fascinating aura. Since the end of his art studies, Akkerman (born 1957), with few exceptions, has exclusively painted himself. And ever since, thousands of self-portraits have ensued. His own image he has, along the way, transformed—via various costumes, age situations, and different modifications to his physiognomy. Beyond these variations, he also alludes to the formal style of movements like Expressionism, Abstraction or Surrealism. His portraits take us on a stroll through art history.

In many aspects, the remarkable tenacity with which Akkerman spurs on his artistic labours also provides stimulus for a debate on painting. On the one hand, with his obstinacy he expounds what painting means to him—perhaps in general as well: namely a self-defined convention. To the artist, the presence of pictures, their presence in a room, represents an existential metaphor. Parallels can be drawn to icon painting, which grants the portrayed a presence. The theme of Akkerman’s work is interesting from another aspect. At the center of portrait painting the question remains as to how personal identity is to be construed. Especially in these times of digital image production, this question needs re-stating. Schooled poses and behavioural patterns are inscribed in our world of images as any glance at the global picture galleries on the Internet, Flickr or Facebook shows. Akkerman’s intense occupation with man’s image, which he reduces to his own person, is thus anything but anachronistic.

Galerie Bob van Orsouw is pleased to present a select work group of Philip Akkerman’s in the exhibition “Lost and Ambulous”. These works have never before been shown in such highly charged compactness and intensity. Instead of working out the portrait’s facial features in all their details, the artist magnifies their pictorial impact by partially painting over them. The brush applications are, in part, easily recognizable; the paint is sometimes applied impasto. As always, Akkerman’s eyes in the portrait are fastened on his opposite number. The direct face-to-face contact between the viewer and the portrayed artist, which is tangible behind the paint daubs and overpainting of the eyes, is intriguing. You can easily get lost in the almost hypnotic play between the gazes.

This loss of control is quite deliberate. In his exhibition title the painter speaks of “lost”, which implies the intimate moment when the two are absorbed in exchanging looks. On the other hand, the title hints at a playful ingredient with its use of the word “ambulous”. As the artist himself says: “’Ambulous’ has no meaning. It is something like a painting or a piece of music, meaning nothing, but existing because someone created it (me).” With this existential postulation, Akkerman highlights for us his artistic procedure of investigating one and the same motif in all its incisiveness and most manifold facets.

Stefan Wagner
From the German by Jeanne Haunschild
   

Philip Akkerman

1957 born in Vaassen, Netherlands

Lives and works in The Hague, Netherlands

Education

1976-78: Studies at the Royal Art Academy, The Hague
1979-81: Studies at Ateliers 63, Haarlem

Solo Exhibitions

2011
Lost and Ambulous, Galerie Bob van Orsouw, Zurich
Grey Paintings, Torch Gallery, Amsterdam
Akkermania, Kunsthal, Rotterdam (cat.)

2010
Am I A Person?, BravinLee programs, New York
I Have Become Paint, Galerie Polaris, Paris
Immer Ich, Kunstverein ArtHaus, Ahaus, Germany
Full Frontal, Mummery + Schnelle, London

2009
138x Philip Akkerman, Noordbrabants Museum, Den Bosch

2008
Mummery + Schnelle, London
Torch Gallery, Amsterdam

2007
Self-portraits, Guido Costa Projects, Turin
Self-portraits, Mireille Mosler Ltd., New York
Drawings, BravinLee, New York

2006
L'autoportrait, c'est moi. Galerie Bob van Orsouw, Zurich
Tweeduizendzes, De Hallen, Haarlem

2005
L.A.C., Sigean, France

2004
Andrew Mummery Gallery, London
De Zenhast, Middelburg & de Willem 3, Vlissengen
Simoens, Knokke, Belgium
Galerie Gorney, Bravin + Lee, (project room), New York
Studio Manuela Klerkx, Milan

2003
Galerie Torch, Amsterdam
Publication and presentation of a box with 50 screenprints, Hein Elferink, Staphorst

2001
Galerie Gorney, Bravin + Lee, New York

2000
Galerie Bob van Orsouw, Zurich
Andrew Mummery Gallery, London
Me Myself & I, Haags Historisch Museum, The Hague

1999
Baumgartner Galleries, New York
Philip Akkerman: The Mirror‘s Secret, Gemeentemuseum, The Hague (cat.)
Galerie Torch, Amsterdam
Museum de Wieger, Deurne/The Netherlands (with Elly Strik)

1998
Andrew Mummery Gallery, London

1997
Galerie De Lege Ruimte, Gent

1996
Baumgartner Galleries, Washington D.C.

1995
Galerie Johnen & Schöttle, Cologne (with Balkenhol)
Galerie Bob van Orsouw, Zurich
Stadsgalerij Heerlen (with Han Schuil) (cat.)

1993
Baumgartner Galleries, Washington D.C.

1992
Witte de With, center for contemporary art, Rotterdam (cat.)
Galerie De Lege Ruimte, Brügge
Galerie Johnen & Schöttle, Cologne

1991
Galerie Tanya Rumpff, Haarlem

1989
Galerie Tanya Rumpff, Haarlem

1988
Gemeentemuseum, Arnheim

1983
Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht

Group Exhibitions

2011
L'Altra faccia, Le Gallerie dei Gerosolimitani, Perugia (cat.)

2010
Portretten van de 21e eeuw, Gorcums Museum, Gorinchem
Kunstenaarsportretten, SMart, Brussels
Artikoos, The Hague
Een ander gezicht, Stedelijk Museum Kampen
Ecce Homo, Haagse Kunstkring, The Hague

2009
Met Eigen Ogen, Zelfportretten in de Nederlandse Moderne Kunst, Noordbrabants Museum, Den Bosch
Beeldspraak, Teylers Museum, The Hague
I love the Benelux (close encounters beyond the shadows), Virgil de Voldere Gallery, New York

2008
Something and Something Else, Museum van Bommel van Dam, Venlo,
 Netherlands
Philip Akkerman & Tony Matelli - Self-Portraits, Stephane Simoens Contemporary
Fine Art, Knokke-Zoute, Belgium
Realismo Olandese, Palazzo Leone da Perego, Milan
Faces, Eleni Koroneou Gallery, Athens
Biënnale van de Schilderkunst, Museum Dhondt Dhaenens, Deurle
BravinLee Programs, New York

2007
Painting Now! Back to the Figuration, Kunsthal Rotterdam
Contour – Continuïteit, Museum Het Prinsenhof, Museum Nusantara, Museum Lambert van Meerten, Delft
Welsprekende portretten, Th Gallery, The Hague
Francis Alys, Philip Akkerman, Stephen Bush, Goff+Rosenthal Gallery, New York
Under Control, Vrije Academie, The Hague
Gargouilles Criminal Serials, Studio D.V.O., Brussels

2006
Face to Face. Künstlerselbstportraits. Ausstellungshalle zeigenössische Kunst,
Münster
The Cartin Collection, contemporary portraiture, Lyman Allyn Museum, New London
The Kingston Turnpike, The Turnpike Gallery, Leigh; The Stanley Picker Gallery, Kingston University, London
Altijd Vandaag, Dordrechts Museum
Confusion is a beautiful state of mind, Centrum Beeldende Kunst Utrecht
Strange, the g fox building, Harford
Identity ; me, myself & I, de Willem 3, Vlissingen
De kunst van het oud worden, LUMC, Leiden
De magie van het Realisme, Gorcums Museum, Gorinchem
Darkness Visible, Ferens Art Gallery, Hull; Southampton City Art Gallery, Southampton
20 jaar Stadsgalerij Heerlen, Van Appel tot Zandvliet, Stadsgalerij Heerlen

2005
Title unknown, Le dix-neuf, Montbéliard, France

2004
Neue Ansichten vom Ich – Graphische Selbstbildnisse des 20. und 21. Jahrhunderts,
Herzog Anton U.rich Museum, Braunschweig
Pittura Olandee per definizione, Torre Avogadro di humazzane, Brescia
Contour, Prinseho, Welft
Me, Myself & I, Galerie Wouter van Leeuwen, Amsterdam
Other Aristocrats, Alexander and Bonin, New York
Self Portraits, James Hyman, London
Altered States, Leo König, New York

2003
Imago, Musée des Beaux Arts, Lons le Saunier
De ontmoeting, Museum voor Moderne Kunst, Arnheim
Schatten mit de collectie, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam

2002
The Embarkation for Cythera, Andrew Mummery Gallery, London
Imagine, you are standing here in front of me - Caldic Collectie, Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam
Selbstbildnisse, Tradition und neue Sicht, Kallmann-Museum in der Orangerie Ismaning, Ismaning

2001
To Be a Mirror: Portraits By Six Painters, Eugene Binder, New York
From the Low Countries, reality and art 1960-2001, Charlottenborg, Copenhagen
Face Off, Damasquine Aeroplastics Contemporary Gallery, Brussels
Sammlung Hauser und Wirth / part 2 / Alternating Current, Lokremise, St. Gallen
Blondies + Brownies, Action Forum Prater Insel, München
Self Made Man, D.C. Moore, New York
Looking With / Out, Courtauld Institute of Art, London

2000
Europa differenti prospettive nella pittura, Museo Michetti, Francavilla al Mare Chieti
Moving‘ on UP, Andrew Mummery Gallery, London
Face to Face, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
Das Gedächtnis der Malerei ein Rückblick auf das 20. Jahrhundert, Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau
Une histoire de genres, Musée Baron Martin, Gray
De Voorstelling, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
Salon, Delfina Project Space, London

1999
Me, myself & I: Self-images, 300 years after Rembrandt, Haags Historisch Museum, The Hague
Galerie Torch, Amsterdam

1998
It’s a Curse, It’s a Burden, The Approach, London
Self-Portraits, Galerie Tanja Rumpff, Haarlem, The Netherlands
From here to Eternity, Galerie Max Protech, New York
zelfportretten, Caldic Collectie, Rotterdam

1997
25 jaar Sandberg-Prijs, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
Künstler/innen, 50 Positionen zeitgenössischer internationaler Kunst
Videoporträts und Werke, Kunsthaus, Bregenz

1996
Ver na Vermeer, Hedendaagse schilders in Nederland en
Vlaanderen, De Beyerd, Breda/The Netherlands
small truths Repetition and the Obsessional in Contemporary Art, John Hansard Gallery, The University Southampton
L‘art et son concept, Château Beaumanoir, Le Leslay, France
Van Ouborg tot Akkerman, Gemeentemuseum, The Hague

1995
Inside Out, The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art,
Ridgefield, U.S.A. (cat.)
Works on paper, Baumgartner Galleries Inc, Washington

1994
Du Concept à l’Image, art Pays-Bas XXème Siècle,
Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris
Galerie Johnen & Schöttle, Cologne
Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London

1993
Here’s looking at me, Autoportraits Contemporains, Elac, Lyon
Der zerbrochene Spiegel, Positionen zur Malerei,
Messepalast & Kunsthalle Wien and Deichtertorhallen, Hamburg (cat.)
Look at the window, about representation in
contemporary art, Het Kruithuis, Den Bosch, The Netherlands
Jack Tilton Gallery, New York
Zonder Titel, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt
Any Given Day, John Post Lee Gallery, New York
Selbstdarstellungen - Vier Positionen, Städtische Ausstellungshalle, Münster, Germany
Medium Messages, Wooster Gardens, New York

1992
Negen, Provinciaal Museum, Hasselt, Belgium

1991
Negen, Witte de With, Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam
Nove artisti Olandesi contemporanei, Centro per l’arte contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Prato, Italy
Kunst, Europa, Kunstverein, Düsseldorf

1989
Het machtige beeld, de noodzaak van de dingen, Archipel, Apeldoorn und Stedelijk Museum, Het
Prinsenhof, Delft, The Netherlands

Collections

Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
Gemeentemuseum, Arnhem
Central Museum, Utrecht
Stadsgalerij, Heerlen, The Netherlands
Teylers Museum, Haarlem, The Netherlands
Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague
Hirshhorn Museum, Washington D.C.

Links

http://philipakkerman.com/
www.bobvanorsouw.ch

   

Philip Akkerman

Bob van Orsouw
Galerie Bob van Orsouw
Albisriederstrasse 199a
8047 Zurich
Switzerland

+41/44 - 273 11 00
+41/44 - 273 11 02
mail@bobvanorsouw.ch
www.bobvanorsouw.ch

   





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