The floor of Anouk van Zwieten’s studio is covered in colorful paint spots. Painting is an ‘enjoyable’ struggle to her: in her own words, “Painting is essentially the creation of problems that you’re then forced to resolve.” The art of painting is the subject of her work, and she is imbued with the medium’s history and the endless possibilities it offers. She likes painters who liberate themselves, who don’t hold back, who create works in which anything is allowed and possible. Nothing is fixed, the painting determines its own outcome. Through her associative and experimental method, Anouk van Zwieten creates room to let that freedom take its course.
Anouk van Zwieten was born in Amsterdam (1991, NL) and lives and works in Utrecht (NL). After her graduation from the Hogeschool van de Kunsten in Utrecht in 2017, she was nominated for several awards and stipends, like the Royal Prize for Painting, in 2017, the Buning Brongers Prize and the K.F Hein Stipend in 2020. Her work was exhibited at a.o. W139, Amsterdam (2022, NL); Omstand, space for contemporary art, Arnhem (2022, NL); Prospects and Concepts, Van Nelle fabriek, Rotterdam, (2021, NL); PADA studio’s, Barreiro (2021, PT); Centraal Museum, Utrecht (2020, NL); Unfair Temporary Museum, Zuiveringshal, Amsterdam (2020, NL); Whitehouse Gallery, Lovenjoel (2019, BE); de Pastoe Factory, Utrecht (2017, NL); Kunstruimte De Nederlandsche Bank, Amsterdam (2017, NL); Paleis op de Dam, Amsterdam (2017, NL); WATCHAMACALLIT, Utrecht (2017, NL), and several group shows at tegenboschvanvreden. The work of Anouk van Zwieten is part of several private and corporate collections.