ALEX VAN WARMERDAM

Van Warmerdam’s paintings are constructed like dream sequences, preparing the viewer for the ensuing moments of an unfolding narrative. The practice of embedding themes from Dutch intellectual and cultural history is manifest in van Warmerdam’s series Tronies. This body of work references the Dutch Golden Age genre, depicting anonymous individuals, accentuating their features to relay aspects of their personality, state of mind, and character. His latest paintings, part of the series Verschijningen (Apparitions), are based on a multitude of images, photographs and clippings that Van Warmerdam has collected throughout the years and which he subsequently combines. Colour combinations create captivating images that intrigue the viewer with their powerful presence and offer alternative ways of perceiving the ordinary. Selected collections: EYE Filmmuseum, Amsterdam (NL); Museum Voorlinden, Wassenaar (NL) and Stedelijk Museum, Schiedam (NL).

Van Warmerdam studied painting and printing at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam (NL). After graduating in 1974 he started his first theater company that later became the famed ‘Orkater’ and subsequently ‘De Mexicaanse Hond’. Van Warmerdam has won many awards for his work in literature, theater and film, including the Palme d’Or nomination for his film Borgman. In 2010 his multidisciplinary work was the subject of a solo exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum, Schiedam (NL) and in 2018 the EYE Filmmuseum, Amsterdam (NL) presented his retrospective exhibition titled l’Histoire Kaputt. Van Warmerdam was awarded the Prins Bernhard Cultuur Prize for Theatre as well as the Johannes Vermeer Prize for his entire oeuvre.

Courtesy GRIMM, Amsterdam/London/New York.