20 january 2026, Flor Linckens
Marie Reintjes at Galerie Vriend van Bavink: memories that remain open
Until 14 February, Galerie Vriend van Bavink in Amsterdam presents the solo exhibition ‘Temporary Terrain’ by Marie Reintjes. Visually, her painting practice recalls the editing of a film, a cinematic way of looking in which selecting, framing, fragmenting, reducing and, above all, careful attention matter more than telling a story.
Her work speaks about time and the various ways in which we remember and perceive. To that end, Reintjes draws on a personal visual archive that she built in a span of thirty years. This multifaceted archive consists of photo albums, quick snapshots on her phone, diaries and physical remnants of memory, such as a child's drawing, a feather, a concert ticket or a zoo leaflet. Rather than producing a linear narrative, this material results in a universe in which layers of time seem to overlap, in a world that feels at once personal and universal. Occasionally, the metal rings of a ring binder, pieces of tape or push pins remain contextually visible in her paintings, as active elements within the composition. At the same time, Reintjes work is informed by art history, the fleeting nature of the everyday and the landscapes she encounters along the way.
Within this framework, the artist varies her degree of abstraction, like a memory that is sharp in the middle yet diffuse at the edges. The images remain legible and charged, but are always filtered through the material of painting. A dusky landscape with a solitary tree and two bands of light, for instance, feels like a moment caught from a moving car, too fleeting to grasp, yet slow enough to linger. Rather than offering answers, her paintings provide direction, an impression, a feeling that continues to resonate.
In an interview with Gabrielle de Nijs Bik, curator for the Province of Gelderland, Reintjes says: “I want to offer people a different view of reality. A fresh look at the everyday. I quite like it when viewers have to put in a bit of effort. The action of me as a painter, the process of making, is clearly visible in the work. With as few precise strokes as possible, I want to make as much visible as I can. I abstract and focus more on colour, line and composition than on the subject or the meaning of what I paint. When I first started painting, I fussed and got lost in carefully reproducing details. Until I discovered the power of leaving things out. That way, I allow the viewer to complete the image.”
This approach translates into a dynamic painting style in which Reintjes often works quickly, starting from a rough, open idea of what needs to happen on the canvas. She searches for the essence of the image and uses materials such as acrylic paint, acrylic markers, spray paint, oil pastel and charcoal. At Galerie Vriend van Bavink, both new and earlier works are on view, offering the viewer a clear sense of the development within her practice.
Marie Reintjes was born in 1990 and lives and works in Arnhem. She studied at ArtEZ and at HKU University of the Arts Utrecht. Reintjes completed various residency programmes and her work was previously shown at Museum Singer Laren, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, Kunstenfestival Watou and Collectie DE.GROEN. In 2022, she received the Van Vlissingen Art Foundation Prize. Her work has been included in the art collection of the Province of Gelderland. At the opening of her exhibition at Galerie Vriend van Bavink, Reintjes also presented her latest publication ‘Temporary Terrain’, published by Jap Sam Books with an essay by Inge Pollet. This publication came about following her receipt of the Sieger White Award in 2024.
