28 june 2024, Flor Linckens
Jannie Regnerus: a cross-pollination of language and visual arts
Until 6 July, Ellen de Bruijne Projects in Amsterdam presents a solo exhibition by Jannie Regnerus, marking her first solo show in ten years. In addition to her visual art practice, Regnerus is also an acclaimed author, with novels such as De ent (The Graft), Nachtschrijver (Night writer), and Het lam (The lamb). The latter was longlisted for the Libris Literature Prize and nominated for the Opzij Literature Prize. Regnerus has previously created video works but recently decided to refocus on painting, the discipline that started her career as an artist.
Born in 1971 in Oudebildtzijl, Jannie Regnerus studied at the Maastricht Academy of Fine Arts and the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam. The artist and author spent several year broad, including an exchange to Salamanca during her art academy years and a year-long artist-in-residence program at CCA Kitakyushu in southern Japan (2000-2001), supported by the Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture. There, she developed a deep fascination for Japanese culture and rituals, as well as the country's technology. She wrote about this period in her autobiographical book Het geluid van vallende sneeuw: Herinnering aan Japan (The Sound of Falling Snow: A Memory of Japan) (2007), for which she received the Bob den Uyl Prize. Regnerus also spent two years in Mongolia, resulting in the book De volle maan als beste vriend – Twee jaar in Mongolië (The Full Moon as Best Friend – Two Years in Mongolia) (2005). Besides the autobiographical element in Het geluid van vallende sneeuw, her books are sometimes more explicitly inspired by the art world. For instance, Nachtschrijver is about a restorer at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
Regnerus: “Some of my paintings appear to be immaterial, as if they have no weight at all, as if a ‘breeze of wind’ has blown over the canvas. But when one looks more close, you see the ‘skin’, consisting out of many thin layers of paint’. You will recognise the movement of the hand and brush, and probably some imperfections as drips of paint, hairs of the brush.”
Regnerus’ work has been exhibited at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, Kunstmuseum Den Haag, Fries Museum, De Vishal, Marres, M HKA Antwerp, PARCO MUSEUM TOKYO and Art Basel. In 1996, she received the Buning Brongers Prize.
