I am fascinated by landscape !
My landscapes are mystical moments in time. Each represents a desire to capture a specific moment. Light is my most important tool. In my earlier work people were the focus and I saw landscapes as merely the décor. I have evolved. The human element has become part of the backdrop, eventually disappeared, and the landscape has assumed more of the foreground, to feature as the actual subject.
In transparent layers I am exploring the intersection between form, abstract and romanticism. I want my paintings to reflect cinematic mood and shared memories. Everybody recognizes the images, without knowing why, where or when.
My choice of topics is axiomatic. I am fascinated by Industry because of its iconic appearance, its capacity to dominate natural landscape. Images with a forbidden beauty. This starkly contrasts whit nature with its dreamlike, meditative even trance- inducing quality. Two worlds that contrast and coalesc. An ambivalence, a merger of harshness and poetry.
I use photographs of specially selected landscapes, searching for the perfect light and composition in various times and places. The photographs are the foundation, the start of both my little “panels” as well as my bigger paintings. Through my self- invented technique, natural elements are materialized. Life forms and distorted reflections swirl like mist or ghosts. This technique is luminous yet firmly edited. An inviting palet, not pale but woad.
Marjolein Van Haasteren
Selected exhibitions
Exhibitions (Selection)
- 2016 Hello Darkness, Pulchri Studio, Den Haag (NL)
- 2016 KunstRAI 2016, Contemporary Art Fair, Amsterdam (NL)
- 2016 Rotterdam Contemporary, International Art Fair,, Rotterdam (NL)
- 2015 Art Fair DE, International Art Fair, Cologne, (Germany)
- 2015 Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague, Summerexhibition 'Woest'
- 2015 Galery Project 2.0, The Hague, 'After Fair'
- 2015 KunstRAI, Contemporary Art Fair, solo presentation by Project 2.0, Amsterdam
- 2015 Ann's Art, Groningen, solo exhibition 'The Fuse' (NL)
- 2014 Project2.0, The Hague, 'Proliferate' (NL)
- 2014 Galery Cafe Leidse Lente, Leiden, 'Synonym of Landscape'
- 2014 KunstRAI, Contemporary Art Fair, Amsterdam (NL)
- 2014 Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, Summerexhibition 'Light'
- 2014 Gallery Le Petit Port, Leiden, 'Bias', solo (NL)
- 2013 Art The Hague
- 2013 Leiden artists in The Millfactory, Leiden (NL)
- 2013 KunstRAI, Contemporary Art Fair, Amsterdam
- 2013 Gallery De Meerse, Hoofddorp, 'A Place Not Yet Left Behind'
- 2012 Galerie le 59, rue de Rivoli, Paris, (France) with Galerie Bertrand Gillig
- 2012 Un peu d'Espace(s) duo show with Patrick Cornillet, Galerie Bertrand Gillig, Strasbourg (France)
- 2012 Project 2.0, The Hague, 'Beacons', solo
- 2012 Galerie Le Petit Port, Leiden, ‘Unreminiscent of nature’
- 2011 St-Art, International Art Fair with Galerie Bertrand Gillig, Strasbourg (France)
- 2011 Scheltema Complex, Leiden, '´t Laatste Oordeel', in cooperation with Stedelijk Museum De Lakenhal
- 2011 Galerie le Petit Port, Leiden, ‘Pendragon’, solo
- 2010 Galerie Project 2.0, Den Haag, ‘Inclusus’ , solo
- 2009 AAF, Foire d'art contemporain, Battersea Park, London (UK)
- 2009 Galerie Smelik en Stokking, Rotterdam, 'Westelijk Handelsterrein' (NL)
- 2008 Galerie Mooi, Alkmaar, ‘Revisited’, solo (NL)
- 2008 Galerie De Meerse, Hoofddorp, 'City', solo (NL)
- 2007 Houses of Art, Amsterdam, 'Friends'
- 2007 Galerie Le Petit Port, Leiden, 'City City, Bang Bang', solo
- 2006 Houses of Art, Marbella, (Spain)
- 2004 Helsinki, 'Miniprint Trienale' (Finland)
- 2004 Denpasar museum, 'Portraits' (Indonesia)