Anouk Kruithof Explained

Anouk Kruithof (born 1981 in Dordrecht, the Netherlands) is a transdisciplinary visual artist, who lives and works between Brussels, Belgium; Berlin, Germany; and Botopasi, Suriname.[1]

Her practice engages with social themes and their relation to digital visual culture, drawing on the surplus of online images and their impact on human connectivity, mental health, and geopolitical awareness. Her work encompasses various media, including photography, sculpture, collage, video and animation, artist books, installation, websites, text, performance, and social, community-based projects.[2]

Kruithof's work has been widely recognised and exhibited internationally, including at MoMA in New York as part of “Ocean of Images” (2015), as well as through solo exhibitions at Museum Tinguely in Basel, Centro de la Imagen in Mexico City, Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, Kunsthal Rotterdam, FOAM in Amsterdam, and Viernulvier (formerly Vooruit) in Ghent, Belgium. Her works are included in the public collections of institutions such as SF MoMA in San Francisco, Aperture Foundation in New York, Fotomuseum Winterthur in Switzerland, Museum Folkwang in Essen, Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, Centraal Museum in Utrecht, and Museum Voorlinden in Wassenaar.[3] [4]

Early life and education

Kruithof was born in Dordrecht, the Netherlands. She received her early education at Johan De Witt Gymnasium in Dordrecht. In 1999, she moved to Breda and pursued studies in Fine Arts at the Academy of Art and Design St. Joost, focusing on photography and sculpture. In 2003, she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in photography.[5]

In 2008, she became a resident at Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin. Since then, she has lived in Berlin, New York City, Mexico City, Botopasi, and Brussels for extended periods, and has traveled to over 40 countries worldwide. The recognition and experience of different cultural contexts have been influential factors in her artistic work.

Art practice

Kruithof's body of work focuses at large on the representation of the acute global social matters reflecting on post-internet human condition linked to excessive image production, post production and circulation. She works through observation and a large collection of images, including online viral contents, which depict urgent global phenomena, such as the consequences of climate change, the impacts of globalization, the environmental pollution, the government surveillance, the privacy and social inequality. Her works emanate colorful visuality, empathy, and, at times, humor, often linked to human relations, dialogue, and storytelling. The themes in her work frequently activate tension between the natural, the artificial, and the technological. Her multifaceted projects are often created in the spirit of positive reflection and engagement with the affective impact of digital culture on the contemporary human psyche, addressing issues like alienation, anxiety, exhaustion, discomfort, shame, or self-validation.

In her practice, Kruithof reflects the complexity of globalization through the use of various media, the reuse of found images and materials, as well as through the abundance and quantity of these elements met in specific forms of her projects.A substantial role in Kruithof's practice plays the transformation of the image through sculptures, videos, and large scale immersive installations, expanding the understanding of photography and visual culture through its translation into a physical object.[6]

Tracing the paradoxes of visual language and global ethical dilemmas, Kruithof's work often operates through mechanisms inscribed in the problems she critically and playfully addresses. The creation of her works entails an ecological process by means of recycling, re-use, as well as references to the capitalist culture through accumulation, image appropriation and excess. Her work talks about juxtaposed qualities of physical and digital, and converses with motives of universality, individualism, liberation, spiritual and natural wisdom, oppressiveness, embodiment and technology, dystopia, and joy, approached both critically and openly. [7]

Many of Kruithof's projects revolve through collective engagement and relationship with temporary or local communities, as well as research-oriented teamwork. Highlighting the technological mediation of the world, her work remains close to the human sensibility of its understanding, feeling, living and transforming, as well as to the notions of natural resources and their potentiality.[8] [9] [10]

Notable work

Universal Tongue (2018–2021) is the most notable work by Anouk Kruithof. It has been presented at over 35 international exhibitions, including solo shows at Museum Tinguely in Basel, Switzerland, and Kunsthal Rotterdam in the Netherlands. It was also part of the WHOLE United Queer Festival at Orangerie Ferropolis in Germany and belongs to several museum collections, such as Frac Alsace in France, Museum Het Nieuwe Domein in Sittard, Museum Folkwang in Essen, Germany, and Museum Voorlinden in Wassenaar, the Netherlands.

Universal Tongue is a multifaceted project that reflects on the phenomenon of dance as a universal global expression—drawing from online found footage of viral movement trends, animated videos, and traditional and social dances. The project is based on a database of 1,000 categorized dance styles created by the artist together with a team of 52 researchers, leading to the creation of an 8-channel video installation, a book publication, and a single-channel video edition. Universal Tongue highlights the friction between the universal and particular connectedness of human expression in the digital era.

Many of Kruithof's works revolve around collective engagement and relationships with temporary or local communities, as well as research oriented on teamwork and collaboration, as seen in projects like Universal Tongue, El Camino Abierto, Niet Meer Normaal, and Happy Birthday to You.

In Happy Birthday to You, Anouk Kruithof engaged with 10 patients of the Altrecht psychiatric unit in Den Dolder, The Netherlands during her artistic residency at Het Vijfde Seizoen in 2011.[11] Kruithof interviewed the 10 patients about their birthday wishes and then celebrated it with and for them according to these wishes. The project resulted in an artist book publication.

El Camino Abierto (2018) was developed as part of Kruithof's residency at Fundación Casa Wabi, in collaboration with a group of children in the village of Cacalote, Oaxaca, Mexico. The artist created a massive temporary arch-like sculpture at Casa Wabi, made from all the piñatas collectively created by the children.

In 2022, Anouk Kruithof created Niet Meer Normaal (Eng. No Longer Normal), which invited over 300 participants of all ages to creatively respond to the notions of “common sense” and default social norms, as well as rare natural phenomena. Niet Meer Normaal was a monumental immersive artwork with scenography and a soundscape based on the diverse contributions of participants. It was created for the Kunstkerk art center in Dordrecht, the Netherlands.

Among other recognized works by Anouk Kruithof is the installation Enclosed Content Chatting Away in the Colour Invisibility (2009), an early photography series Becoming Blue (2006–2009), the art project #Evidence (2015), and the video work Ice Cry Baby (2017).

Enclosed Content Chatting Away in the Colour Invisibility consists of an installation of approximately 3,500 found books, a video loop with sound, and a photograph. The installation, resembling a wall or an illusory, colorful landscape, was constructed from 20th-century second-hand publications. Most of the books, published during the era of the German Democratic Republic and Eastern Europe, were collected and bought by the artist in Berlin. Referencing a specific historical period, Enclosed Content Chatting Away in the Colour Invisibility reflects on the status of neglected cultural goods in the age of advancing digitalization. It was first presented at Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin and has been exhibited over 10 times at venues such as Musée des Beaux-Arts du Locle, Capitain Petzel gallery in Berlin, Museum Het Nieuwe Domein in Sittard, and Stedelijk Museum Schiedam. In 2021, it was acquired by Museum Voorlinden in Wassenaar for its permanent collection.

Becoming Blue features 21 portraits and three spatial stills. The project juxtaposes the blue color associated with calmness against the distorted expressions of the photographed individuals. The artwork highlights the representation of the mental state of contemporary Western European society, largely influenced by stress and the pressure to perform.[12] Three portraits from the Becoming Blue series are part of the permanent collection at SF MoMA.

  1. Evidence, a series of different works, such as sculpture and collages, was created while the artist lived in New York City, and was inspired by Larry Sultan and Mike Mandel's book “Evidence”. Using a large collection of screenshots from Instagram accounts of corporations, government agencies and institutions, Kruithof appropriated and recontextualised the meaning of their promotional materials into new messages and intentions, provoking a conversation around digital futures.[13]

Ice Cry Baby is a compilation of found YouTube videos of melting ice and collapsing glaciers. It addresses the human-nature relationship in a technologically mediated world and explores the tendency towards spectacular aesthetics within a global dystopian perspective.[14]

In 2023, the Centre Photographique d'Île-de-France in Paris opened a solo exhibition titled Tentacle Togetherness of Anouk Kruithof, showcasing works produced between 2013 and 2022. The exhibition focused on the artist's multimedia approach, presenting a collection of her photo sculptures and video collages created over a decade of artistic practice.[15]

Publications

The medium of the artist book plays an important role in Kruithof's practice. She has published 15 art books, including publications linked to her most notable works, such as Becoming Blue, Universal Tongue, and Niet Meer Normaal. She has also published standalone art books, such as A Head with Wings, Automagic and Happy Birthday to You.

In 2023, Be Like Water was published by Mousse in Milan, Italy. It is a retrospective book that gathers a large selection of Kruithof's works created over 20 years of her artistic career, spanning from 2002 to 2023.

Anouk Kruithof has received multiple awards and nominations for her publications. Her work has been recognized at the Rencontres Arles Book Award, where Universal Tongue received a nomination for Best Author in 202. Automagic was nominated for PhotoEye Best Books in 2016, and A Head with Wings was nominated for the Paris Photo Aperture Photobook Award in 2012. Additionally, The Bungalow won The Best Dutch Book Designs award from the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam in 2015, and Het Zwarte Gat / The Black Hole received the Unique Photography Book Award in 2005, among other accolades.[16] [17] [18] [19] [20]

Publications by Kruithof

Publications with contributions by Kruithof

Pedagogy & Other Professional Engagements

In addition to her art practice, Anouk Kruithof also writes, lectures, educates, curates, and participates in socially engaged projects.

She has conducted workshops at ECAL - University of Art and Design in Lausanne, Switzerland; the International Summer School of Photography in Kuldiga, Latvia; Wesleyan University in Middletown, USA; and Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. She has given lectures at Columbia University, Pratt Institute, and the International Center of Photography in New York City; Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC) in Mexico City; Tate in London; and Deichtorhallen in Hamburg, Germany. She has written for Metropolis M, Aperture Photobook Review, and 1000 Words magazine, among others.[22] [23] [24] [25]

In 2024, Anouk was a jury member and curator for the Limburg Biennale at Marres in Maastricht, the Netherlands. In 2016, she curated the 6th Annual Zine and Self-Published Photo Book Fair at CCNY in New York City.[26] [27]

Between 2015 and 2018, she was a co-creator, director, and jury member of The Anamorphosis Prize, which awarded $10,000, no strings attached, to the creator of the best self-published photobook from the previous year. The prize was launched for the first time in spring 2015 and celebrated three editions.[28]

Life and work in Botopasi, Suriname

Since 2019, Anouk Kruithof has periodically lived and worked in Botopasi, a small village in the Amazon rainforest in Suriname. Connected to the local community, the artist pursues part of her artistic projects in Botopasi and engages in restorative and charity work for the village.

In 2023, she collected necessary funds through a private campaign to support the renovation of the building of the only primary school in Botopasi. The campaign raised over 15,000 euros, which allowed for the purchase and transportation of construction materials and covered the salaries of many workers, painters, and others. In 2022, she helped organize a new water pump for the village, which provides water to all houses in Botopasi from the river.

One of her artistic projects conducted in the region is Trans-Human Nature (2021), a series of photographic works that portray the relationship between the natural symbiosis of the rainforest and the use of high technology. In 2024, she began hosting Dutch creatives of Surinamese descent at her home for short stays.[29] This initiative was intended to deepen the understanding of Saramacca culture, the ecologies of the Amazon rainforest, and the Botopasi community. Her first guest was the painter, Iris Kensmil.[30] [31]

Exhibitions, Awards, Collections

Selected Solo Exhibitions

Selected Group Exhibitions

Awards

Selected Collections

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: From the publication Anouk Kruithof: Be Like Water: Down the Rabbit Hole — Mousse Magazine and Publishing . 2024-08-27 . www.moussemagazine.it . en-US.
  2. Book: Francesco, Zanot . Abecedarius; Be Like Water . Mousse . 2023 . 978-88-67495-71-9 . Milan, Italy . 257-281.
  3. Web site: Ocean of Images: New Photography 2015 at MoMA New York . 27 August 2024.
  4. Web site: Cultura . Secretaría de . El Centro de la Imagen prepara la segunda edición del Festival FotoMéxico . 2024-08-27 . gob.mx . es.
  5. Web site: Anouk Kruithof . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20141223011226/http://momaps1.org/studio-visit/artist/anouk-kruithof . 23 December 2014 . 24 December 2014 . MoMA PS1.
  6. Book: Be Like Water . Mousse . 2023 . 978-88-67495-71-9.
  7. Web site: ABOUT – Anouk Kruithof . 2024-08-28 . en-US.
  8. Web site: Anouk Kruithof – casawabi . 2024-08-28 . en-US.
  9. Web site: Universal Tongue - Kunsthal . 2024-08-28 . www.kunsthal.nl . nl.
  10. News: Unwin . Rozzy . 1 July 2011 . Cultural Life: Martin Parr, photographer . 24 December 2014 . . My big obsession is photobooks, and because of this interest, a book arrives nearly every day. 'Happy Birthday to You' by Anouk Kruithof really stands out..
  11. Web site: Het Vijfde Seizoen . 2024-08-28 . www.vijfde-seizoen.nl . nl.
  12. Web site: KB Anouk Kruithof . 2024-08-28 . en-US.
  13. Web site: Anouk Kruithof #Evidence . 2024-08-28 . Artsy . en.
  14. Web site: Anouk Kruithof – Kunst Haus Wien. Museum Hundertwasser . 2024-08-28 . www.kunsthauswien.com.
  15. Web site: d'Ile-de-France . Centre Photographique . Anouk Kruithof Tentacle Togetherness - Programme . 2024-08-28 . Centre Photographique d'Ile-de-France.
  16. Web site: Kunstenpunt . 2021-06-30 . Belgische fotografie in de kijker in Arles . 2024-08-28 . Kunstenpunt . nl.
  17. Web site: The Bungalow (OMP) by Anouk Kruithof .
  18. Web site: The Paris Photo-Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards Shortlist . 2024-08-28 . Aperture . en-US.
  19. Web site: CPNB . 2015-02-24 . The Best Dutch Book Designs 2014 . 2024-08-28 . De Best Verzorgde Boeken . en-US.
  20. Web site: Cornet . Laurence . 2014-12-19 . Special Books : Untitled by Anouk Kruithof . 2024-08-28 . The Eye of Photography Magazine . en-US.
  21. Web site: Colberg . Jörg . Jörg Colberg . 21 October 2011 . Review: A Head with Wings by Anouk Kruithof . 24 December 2014.
  22. Web site: Non-Profit New York Cleopatra's, Interstate Projects, Participant INC . 2024-08-28 . Metropolis M . nl-NL.
  23. Web site: Anouk Kruithof . 2024-08-28 . ECAL - École cantonale d'art de Lausanne . en.
  24. Web site: Picture/Thing . 28 August 2024.
  25. Web site: Visiting Artist Anouk Kruithof Lecture Wednesday September 21st, 11AM . TCNJ Art Gallery . 2024-08-28 . en-US.
  26. Web site: Limburg Biënnale 2024 . 2024-08-28 . Marres . nl-NL.
  27. Web site: The 6th Annual Zine and Self-Published Photo Book Fair . 2024-08-28 . www.baxterst.org.
  28. Web site: AllWell . Peter Haynes- . 2015-03-23 . Jury . 2024-08-28 . The Anamorphosis Prize . en-GB.
  29. Web site: Instagram . 2024-09-07 . www.instagram.com.
  30. Web site: Trans Human Nature Anouk Kruithof . 2024-08-28 . Yogurt Magazine . en-US.
  31. Web site: Botopasi School Renovation – Anouk Kruithof . 2024-08-28 . en-US.
  32. Web site: Raamwerk Anouk Kruithof - Whirlwind . 2024-08-28 . www.centraalmuseum.nl . nl.
  33. Web site: GmbH . Bastian Allgeier . Vivre vite – Grégory Cuquel et Anouk Kruithof . 2024-08-28 . image/imatge . fr.
  34. Web site: Universal Tongue – Galerie Valeria Cetraro . 2024-08-28 . fr-FR.
  35. Web site: Twee . Willem . Anouk Kruithof: the toes you step on today might be connected to the ass you're kissing tomorrow . 2024-08-28 . Willem Twee . nl.
  36. Web site: 2024-07-06 . Expo Melkweg Amsterdam . 2024-08-28 . Melkweg . nl.
  37. Web site: Anouk Kruithof - Universal Tongue . 2024-08-28 . Voorlinden . nl-NL.
  38. Web site: NIET MEER NORMAAL . 2024-08-28 . www.nietmeernormaal.online.
  39. Web site: Anouk Kruithof Universal Tongue .
  40. Web site: Perpetual Endless Flow – FuturDome – Milano Arte e Design contemporanei . 2024-08-28 . en-GB.
  41. Web site: Projects . 2024-08-28 . 254Forest . en-US.
  42. Web site: Next Level: Anouk Kruithof - ¡Aguas! Geweest . 2024-08-28 . www.foam.org . nl.
  43. Web site: The Hub for Contemporary Photography in Croatia - PhMuseum . 2024-08-28 . phmuseum.com . en.
  44. Web site: Imagen . Comunicación Centro de la . 2017-04-06 . AHEAD . 2024-08-28 . CI . es.
  45. Web site: Connection by Anouk Kruithof at Stedelijk Museum . 2024-08-28 . Self Publish, Be Happy.
  46. Web site: Anouk Kruithof . 2024-08-28 . Green Is Gold . en.
  47. Web site: Grrr.nl . Paulien Oltheten & Anouk Kruithof . 2024-08-28 . www.stedelijk.nl . en.
  48. Web site: Ruhe – Autocenter Contemporary Art Berlin . 2024-08-28 . autocenter-art.de.
  49. News: Moakley . Paul . 25 May 2012 . Analog Interactivity and the Photography of Anouk Kruithof . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120528041304/http://lightbox.time.com/2012/05/25/anouk-kruithof/#1 . 28 May 2012 . 24 December 2014 . Time.
  50. Web site: Anouk Kruithof . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20161023165551/http://www.villanoailles-hyeres.com/hyeres2012/index_en.php?cat_id=5&id=50 . 23 October 2016 . 24 December 2014 . Hyères International Fashion and Photography Festival.
  51. Web site: Burgoyne . Patrick . 28 April 2011 . Hyeres 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20141224132149/http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2011/april/hyeres-2011 . 24 December 2014 . 24 December 2014 . Creative Review.
  52. Web site: Becoming Blue 4 August - 1 September 2018 - Overview . 2024-08-28 . Casemore Gallery . en.
  53. "Anouk Kruithof: Becoming Blue", Künstlerhaus Bethanien. Accessed 8 January 2015.
  54. Web site: Anouk Kruithof & Jaap Scheeren at Foam Amsterdam - Artmap.com . 2024-08-28 . artmap.com.
  55. Web site: 2024-06-20 . Grow it, Show it! – From 13 September, a major photography exhibition at Museum Folkwang highlights the cultural significance of hairstyles . 2024-08-28 . www.museum-folkwang.de . en.
  56. Web site: Orta . Studio . Art with Salt and Water⎟Bad Ischl — Studio Orta . 2024-08-28 . www.studio-orta.com . en.
  57. Web site: Resilient Rebels . 2024-08-28 . Museum Helmond . nl-NL.
  58. Web site: Tentoonstellingen . 2024-08-28 . www.hetnieuwedomein.nl . nl.
  59. Web site: schrit_tmacher – just dance! – Tanzfestival in der Euregio Maas Rhein . 2024-08-28 . schrittmacherfestival.de.
  60. Web site: Sightlines . 2024-08-28 . SFMOMA . en-US.
  61. Web site: Home Page . 2024-08-28 . Kikk Festival . en-US.
  62. Web site: States of Disruption . 2024-08-28 . Centre for Contemporary Photography . en-AU.
  63. Web site: 2022-03-19 . Biennale für Aktuelle Fotografie . 2024-08-28 . www.kuma.art . de.
  64. Web site: Focus . redactie . 2022-06-23 . Coda: Inside the outside . 2024-08-28 . Focus Magazine . nl-NL.
  65. Web site: 2022-05-21 . Folkwang and the City . 2024-08-28 . www.museum-folkwang.de . en.
  66. Web site: Global Groove . 2024-08-28 . www.museum-folkwang.de . en.
  67. Web site: Bye Bye His-Story, chapter 5050 - Announcements - e-flux . 2024-08-28 . www.e-flux.com . en.
  68. Web site: Exposition À Fleur de monde au Centre photographique Rouen Normandie . 2024-08-28 . Centre photographique Rouen Normandie . fr-FR.
  69. Web site: Eén en Eén is Drie . 2024-08-28 . Voorlinden . nl-NL.
  70. Web site: 2022-02-10 . Aankopen Nederlands Fotomuseum concentreren zich in 2021 rondom de Eregalerij van de Nederlandse fotografie . 2024-08-28 . Nederlands Fotomuseum newsroom . nl.
  71. Web site: On Earth Now at Foam . 2024-08-28 . www.foam.org . en.
  72. Web site: After Us, the Flood – Kunst Haus Wien. Museum Hundertwasser . 2024-08-28 . www.kunsthauswien.com.
  73. Web site: La Photographie à l'épreuve de l'abstraction .
  74. Web site: On Earth . 2024-08-28 . www.foam.org . en.
  75. Web site: On Earth Rencontres d'Arles 2019 - Past exhibition . 2024-08-28 . www.foam.org . en.
  76. Web site: Momenta Biennale de l'image: The Life of Things - Announcements - e-flux . 2024-08-28 . www.e-flux.com . en.
  77. Web site: Trouble in Paradise - Kunsthal . 2024-08-28 . www.kunsthal.nl . en.
  78. Web site: Loading… Works from the Foam Collection - Exhibition at Foam Fotografiemuseum in Amsterdam . 2024-08-28 . ArtRabbit . en.
  79. Web site: 2024-08-12 . Museum Dr. Guislain . 2024-08-28 . Museum Dr. Guislain . nl-BE.
  80. Web site: Façade2017 – contemporary art festival middelburg . 2024-08-28 . nl-NL.
  81. Web site: Bosch . Jeroen . 2016-10-10 . Volkskrant Beeldende Kunstprijs 2016 . 2024-08-28 . trendbeheer.com . en-US.
  82. Web site: L'art se livre . 2024-08-28 . MBAL . fr-FR.
  83. Web site: Undercover. Exhibition. Saint Petersburg 2013 . 2024-08-28 . www.erarta.com . en.
  84. Web site: WIT . 2024-08-28 . Fotoexpositie.nl . nl.
  85. Web site: Exhibitions: Still / Life – Contemporary Dutch Photography (Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow) . 2024-08-28 . Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow.
  86. Web site: Anouk Kruithof . 2024-08-28 . iscp-nyc.org . en-US.
  87. News: Weeks . Jonny . 29 October 2012 . Red wine and doughnuts at the Daegu Photo Biennale, South Korea . 24 December 2014 . The Guardian.
  88. Web site: https://www.foam.org/nl/events/undefined/events/still-life . 2024-08-28 . www.foam.org . nl.
  89. Web site: 2010-07-22 . Quickscan NL – New Photography from The Netherlands @ Dutch Culture Centre, Shanghai . 2024-08-28 . trendbeheer.com . en-US.
  90. Web site: Charlotte Köhler Prijzen naar Anouk Kruithof en Via Berlin . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20170527011048/http://www.cultuurfonds.nl/nieuws/nieuwsberichten/charlotte-kohler-prijzen-naar-anouk-kruithof-en-via-berlin . 27 May 2017 . 24 December 2014 . Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds.
  91. Web site: Dutch Doc - Anouk Kruithof . 2024-08-28 . dutch-doc.nl.