Marc Nagtzaam (1968, Helmond) has been producing a body of work that is based on one main subject throughout his career: the idea of pattern, repetition. His drawings are composed of rigid patterns of graphite grids, lines, and dots which typically cover the entire surface of the paper. He draws these lines, grids, circles, words, or sentences in an endless search for new combinations and structures. The repetition and the graphic structure of his works seem reminiscent of minimal and conceptual aesthetics. Most of Marc Nagtzaam's drawings consist of darkly filled graphite surfaces; his tendency is to use a reverse shading technique. The shaded and hatched areas serve merely as the background for the highlighted image.
Nagtzaam’s work can be categorized into several distinct themes. He has created, for example, a series of drawings of exhibition spaces, a series of floating shapes and objects, and other works that seem to focus on the image of starry skies. The recurrent use of words and text is another theme in his work. Starting points for each series of works are the abstracted elements from architecture, graphic design, details from found photographs, or portions from earlier drawings. Nagtzaam appears to seek to evoke a deeper meaning and understanding with his work. 'The drawings are like an empty space,' the artist says. 'I try to create a space that is isolated from the rest of life: a place free from judgment.'
Marc Nagtzaam consistently produces art books showcasing his pieces. His work is featured in the collections of various institutions, including the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, the Teylers Museum in Haarlem, and the Centraal Museum in Utrecht.
Nagtzaam’s work can be categorized into several distinct themes. He has created, for example, a series of drawings of exhibition spaces, a series of floating shapes and objects, and other works that seem to focus on the image of starry skies. The recurrent use of words and text is another theme in his work. Starting points for each series of works are the abstracted elements from architecture, graphic design, details from found photographs, or portions from earlier drawings. Nagtzaam appears to seek to evoke a deeper meaning and understanding with his work. 'The drawings are like an empty space,' the artist says. 'I try to create a space that is isolated from the rest of life: a place free from judgment.'
Marc Nagtzaam consistently produces art books showcasing his pieces. His work is featured in the collections of various institutions, including the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, the Teylers Museum in Haarlem, and the Centraal Museum in Utrecht.
Artworks
Articles
Media
Highlights
Recommendations
Collections
Shows
Market position
CV
Media
This short film on and by drawing artist Marc Nagtzaam in collaboration with Museum Jan Cunen (Oss) not only shows the artist at work in his studio and an exhibition room, but also gives the viewer an idea of his main inspirations. His drawings are made up of rigid patterns of graphite grey grids, lines and dots which usually cover the entire surface of the paper.
Market position
Marc Nagtzaam works primarily in black and white and in varying formats of paper, from small to middling, which are never smaller than a magazine page and rarely, if ever exceed the format of the human body (except for in the rare cases of wall drawings). The visual repertoire of the drawings ranges from a kind of hard-edge all-over abstraction to the reproduction of the written word. Seemingly idiosyncratic grids of differing modes and sizes abound, while exploded lattices of linear markings stream across surfaces of paper with an apparent randomness, and circular, all-over doodles are apotheosized into meticulous labors of graphic splendor. The language pieces generally consist of two types: one of which features the title of the work or a group of potential titles collaged together at random and drawn out on paper, and the other which features language culled from art magazines, copied and written on the paper in seemingly coherent columns. The art magazine language drawings are marked with all the imperfect and uneven personality of gesture which one normally expects from pencil on paper, and which is almost entirely absent from the much more controlled geometric drawings that comprised the rest of the artist's practice. This makes for a paradox, and consequently, the kind of tension that essentially animates Nagtzaam's output. Proceeding as such, he manages to render the highly impersonal language of art journalism manifestly personal-- a language moreover that could hardly be more codified; as codified, in fact, and therefore as ineluctably borrowed as abstraction-- while he to all intents and purposes, submits a rather personal process of abstraction t o the alienating anonymity of the grid.
Marc Nagtzaam's solo exhibitions include an upcoming show titled 'The Same and the Other' slated for 2024 at Umbrella in Denmark. Past solo shows include 'Texte und Bilder' at Alex51 Gallery in Maastricht in 2022, 'Various, Elsewhere, Ongoing' at Raum für Kunst in Berlin in 2020, 'Regular Features' at art3 in Valence (France) and Archiv in Zurich (Switzerland) in 2019, 'Not Available' at De Vleeshal in Middelburg, and 'Various Artists' at Barbara Seiler Galerie in Zurich. Additionally, Nagtzaam has participated in duo exhibitions such as 'Regular Features' with Mark Manders at Enter Enter, space for books in Amsterdam in 2019, and 'Borrowed Space' with Hans Demeulenaere at Emergent in Veurne (Belgium) in 2018.
Nagtzaam's work is part of renowned collections both nationally and internationally. His work is featured in institutions such as the Centraal Museum in Utrecht, S.M.A.K. in Ghent, Kadist Art Foundation in Paris, SBKM / De Vleeshal in Middelburg, MuZEE in Oostende, LiMAC in Lima, FRAC Bourgogne in Dijon, Museum Jan Cunen in Oss, Teylers Museum in Haarlem, the Collection of Contemporary Drawings Province Utrecht, Leids Universitair Medisch Centrum in Leiden, ABN Amro Art Collection, Oce Art Collection in Venlo, Rabobank Art Collection, Stedelijk Museum in Schiedam, Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem, and the Municipal Collection of Breda / Stedelijk Museum Breda.
Marc Nagtzaam's solo exhibitions include an upcoming show titled 'The Same and the Other' slated for 2024 at Umbrella in Denmark. Past solo shows include 'Texte und Bilder' at Alex51 Gallery in Maastricht in 2022, 'Various, Elsewhere, Ongoing' at Raum für Kunst in Berlin in 2020, 'Regular Features' at art3 in Valence (France) and Archiv in Zurich (Switzerland) in 2019, 'Not Available' at De Vleeshal in Middelburg, and 'Various Artists' at Barbara Seiler Galerie in Zurich. Additionally, Nagtzaam has participated in duo exhibitions such as 'Regular Features' with Mark Manders at Enter Enter, space for books in Amsterdam in 2019, and 'Borrowed Space' with Hans Demeulenaere at Emergent in Veurne (Belgium) in 2018.
Nagtzaam's work is part of renowned collections both nationally and internationally. His work is featured in institutions such as the Centraal Museum in Utrecht, S.M.A.K. in Ghent, Kadist Art Foundation in Paris, SBKM / De Vleeshal in Middelburg, MuZEE in Oostende, LiMAC in Lima, FRAC Bourgogne in Dijon, Museum Jan Cunen in Oss, Teylers Museum in Haarlem, the Collection of Contemporary Drawings Province Utrecht, Leids Universitair Medisch Centrum in Leiden, ABN Amro Art Collection, Oce Art Collection in Venlo, Rabobank Art Collection, Stedelijk Museum in Schiedam, Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem, and the Municipal Collection of Breda / Stedelijk Museum Breda.
CV
Solo Shows
2024 —Upcoming—The same and the Other. Umbrella, (DK)
2022 Texte und Bilder, Alex51 Gallery, Maastricht
2020 Various, Elsewhere, Ongoing, [‘ka:jeta:n], Raum für Kunst, Berlin (DE)
2019 Regular Features, art3, Valance (FR) (publ.)
Regular Features. Archiv, Zürich (CH)
2017 Surplus, Riot, Gent (B)
2015 Eight Works for Eight Corners, Objectif Exhibitions, Antwerpen (B)
2014 Not Available. De Vleeshal, Middelburg (publ.)
Various Artists. Barbara Seiler Galerie, Zürich (CH)
Solo booth ProjecteSD (ES) Art Brussels, Brussel (B)
2012 Often, Not Always. Studio van der Mieden, Antwerp (B) (publ.)
2011 The Erased Tapes. Barbara Seiler Galerie, Zürich (CH) (publ.)
Modernist Persuasion. ProjecteSD, Barcelona (ES)
2 - 3 Person Shows
2024 —Upcoming— … (with Hans Demeulenaere, Nikolaas Demoen), Kiosk, Ghent (B) (publ.)
—Upcoming— Others. (with Ikuhisa Sawada), Beijing (CN)
En Route. (with Stephan Keppel), Bradwolff Projects, Amsterdam (publ.)
2023 Others. (with Ikuhisa Sawada), Fred & Ferry, Antwerp (B) (publ.)
Others. (with Ikuhisa Sawada). Alternative Space The White, Tokyo (JP) (publ.)
Nirvana. (with Marijn van Kreij & lxhxb), SECONDroom, Antwerpen (B) (publ.)
2021 Dialogue. (with Meryem Bayram). Fred & Ferry, Antwerp (B)
2019 Regular Features (with Mark Manders). Enter Enter, Space for Books, Amsterdam
2018 Borrowed Space (withHans Demeulenaere), Emergent, Veurne (B) (publ. + edition)
2016 A Drawing Placed Between Two Objects (with Mark Manders) ProjecteSD, Barcelona
2014 Unstable Objects & Shells Crushed, (with Jochen Lempert) DIX291, Paris (FR)
2013 Going Places (with Karin Herwegh). SECONDroom, Antwerpen (B)
2011 A Good Chair is a Good Chair and There is No Such Thing as a Bad Book (with J. Weber). Mieke van Schaijk,
’s Hertogenbosch
One Show About One Drawing (with H.Demeulenaere) Museum M, Leuven (B)
Group Shows
2024 Repeat After Me. Barbara Seiler Gallery, Zürich (CH)
2023 I draw a Line, [‘ka:jeta:n], Raum für Kunst, Berlin (DE)
Uitgaande van Anne Geene waaiert de lijn zich uit. ARTisBook, Groningen
2003 - 2023, ProjecteSD, Barcelona (ES)
2022 Ante — Poster, Fondazione Alberto Peruzzo,Padova (I) (cat.)
Chronicles, 9A projects, Todmorden (UK)
Unboxing Aspen 5 + 6, Estrany-de la Mota. Barcelona (ES)
2021 One way or another - 10 years of Posture Editions (ism Hans Demeulenaere), SMAK, Ghent (B)
Doppelgänger (ism Hans Demeulenare). De Garage, Mechelen (B)
Minstens 1 ½ uur en terug. (curator Peter Morrens). De Warande, Turnhout (B)
Kajetan Presents: [‘ka:jeta:n], Raum für Kunst, Berlin (DE)
2020 Trance-Action, MuZEE, Oostende (B)
The Imaginary Museum, ProjecteSD, Barcelona (ES)
Borrowed Space and Regular Features, Curated by M.N. ProjecteSD, Barcelona (ES)
Johan de Wilde Invites, Hopstreet Gallery, Deurle (B)
Der Schnitt, Valerie Traan, Antwerpen (B)
As Good a Place to Start as Any, lxhxb, Eindhoven
2019 Secret Show (Hablar con las manos). curated by Hinrich Sachs & Oscar Lara. Barranca, Lima (PE)
The Gulf Between, De Warande, Turnhout (B)
2018 Form follow Fiction, [‘ka:jeta:n], Raum für Kunst, Berlin (DE)
De Line Up, Centraal Museum, Utrecht
(Als) tekens in de ruimte, Emergent, Veurne (B)
Krijt/Chalk, Kunsthal KAdE, Amersfoort
Flip, Zwarte Zaal KASK (curated by K. Andreasen), Gent (B)
2017 I who make mistakes on the eternal typewriter, (curated by M. van Eeden), Drawing
Centre Diepenheim
Copy Construct, (curated by K. Andreasen) CC Mechelen (cat.)
This is the Cover of the Book, (curated by M. Küng) Centre Cultural - Llibreria Blanquerna, Madrid / 019-Design
Museum, Ghent (B)
2016 Wall, Art Basel, ProjecteSD, Basel
The Form of Form, Architecture Triennale, Musea da Electricidade - Fundacao EDP, Lisbon (cat.)
Roma Publications 1-272 Artists’ Documents, MMCA, Seoul (KOR) (cat.)
Thinking Sense, Witteveen Art Center, Amsterdam, NL (curated by Saskia Monshouwer)
Dirty Drawings, Z33, Hasselt
2015 The Aesthetic of the Fragment (curated by M.N.), Panache, Antwerpen
Bottom Line, S.M.A.K., Gent (cat.)
L’Ordre caché 1, Frac de Bourgogne, Dijon
Le dessin contemporain (second volet) (with J. Mogenet, A. Nemours). L’Yonne en scène & Frac de
Bourgogne, Gurgy (FR)
Sequence 1, Nederlandse kunstenaarsboeken, Groninger Museum/academie Minerva, Groningen
2014 Roma Publications, Fondazione Giuliani, Rome (I)
Some Objects, Eight Sculptures, Several Frames, One Video and a Book, MuZee, Oostende (B)
Beauty is for Free, Galerie Nouvelles Images, Den Haag
Joost Zwagerman kiest. Teylers Museum, Haarlem
Tekeningen, Circa Dit (curated by Rosemin Henriks), Arnhem
Forcefield, A Drawing Show, Institut de Carton, Brussels
2013 Vindplaatsen en Voortgangsberichten Drawing Centre, Diepenheim
...and a Lot of Reflection, (curated by Hans Demeulenaere) Annie Gentils Gallery, Antwerp (B)
Dreaming of The South (curated by H. van Ingelgem). Marion de Cannière Gallery, Antwerp (B)
2012 Reflections on Form. Barbara Seiler Galerie, Zürich (CH)
Autumn of Modernism (curated by L. Benedetti). Temporary Gallery, Cologne (D)
Minimal Myth (curated by F. Stocchi). Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam (publ.)
Herfsttij van het Modernisme (curated by L. Benedetti). De Vleeshal, Middelburg (publ.)
2011 Het Zelfportret, Het Huis en de Seizoenen (curated by K. Dedobbeleer). Mu.ZEE, Oostende (B)
About Drawing. Stedelijk Museum, Schiedam (cat.)
It’s raining, fight youngsters. Drawings, Wetering Galerie, Amsterdam (NL)
Artist Publications
2024 Support Sheet (with Stephan Keppel) Roma Publications
sauf 4. folded paper + insert edition of 80
2023 Others (with Ikuhisa Sawada) published by ori.studio (CN)
sauf 2. fanzine edition of 50
sauf 1. fanzine (with Karin Herwegh) edition of 50
Nirvana. (with Marijn van Kreij, Guus van der Velden, lxhxb) 12p + 96p + loose leaf in archival folder.
Present. 40 pages + insert. Roma Publications 438 co-production Ahorn Books edition of 400
2022 Ante-Poster. Edition of 100 signed and numbered, Fondazione Alberto Peruzzo,Padova (I)
Farben, 96 pages + insert. Roma Publications 416. edition of 200 signed and numbered
2019 Borrowed Space. 24 pages + postcard. Roma Publications 376. edition of 400
2019 Regular Features. 272 pages + 23 inserts. Roma Publications 356. edition of 500
2018 Borrowed Space. 32 + 24 pages. with Hans Demeulenaere. edition of 300
2016 Poster. Fondazione Volume, Rome (I) curated by Lorenzo Benedetti
2015 Zeichnungen. Roma Publications in co-production Yellow Press. edition of 200
2014 Not Available. Roma Publications co-production SBKM / De Vleeshal. edition of 600
2013 The Different Possible Variations, Options, Additions or Subtractions of the Beginning of Something. Booklet
12 pages. Roma Publication 206
2012 Often, Not Always. Poster edition published by Studio van der Mieden, Antwerp
2011 Reissue. Book 128 pages + insert. Roma Publication 164
2024 —Upcoming—The same and the Other. Umbrella, (DK)
2022 Texte und Bilder, Alex51 Gallery, Maastricht
2020 Various, Elsewhere, Ongoing, [‘ka:jeta:n], Raum für Kunst, Berlin (DE)
2019 Regular Features, art3, Valance (FR) (publ.)
Regular Features. Archiv, Zürich (CH)
2017 Surplus, Riot, Gent (B)
2015 Eight Works for Eight Corners, Objectif Exhibitions, Antwerpen (B)
2014 Not Available. De Vleeshal, Middelburg (publ.)
Various Artists. Barbara Seiler Galerie, Zürich (CH)
Solo booth ProjecteSD (ES) Art Brussels, Brussel (B)
2012 Often, Not Always. Studio van der Mieden, Antwerp (B) (publ.)
2011 The Erased Tapes. Barbara Seiler Galerie, Zürich (CH) (publ.)
Modernist Persuasion. ProjecteSD, Barcelona (ES)
2 - 3 Person Shows
2024 —Upcoming— … (with Hans Demeulenaere, Nikolaas Demoen), Kiosk, Ghent (B) (publ.)
—Upcoming— Others. (with Ikuhisa Sawada), Beijing (CN)
En Route. (with Stephan Keppel), Bradwolff Projects, Amsterdam (publ.)
2023 Others. (with Ikuhisa Sawada), Fred & Ferry, Antwerp (B) (publ.)
Others. (with Ikuhisa Sawada). Alternative Space The White, Tokyo (JP) (publ.)
Nirvana. (with Marijn van Kreij & lxhxb), SECONDroom, Antwerpen (B) (publ.)
2021 Dialogue. (with Meryem Bayram). Fred & Ferry, Antwerp (B)
2019 Regular Features (with Mark Manders). Enter Enter, Space for Books, Amsterdam
2018 Borrowed Space (withHans Demeulenaere), Emergent, Veurne (B) (publ. + edition)
2016 A Drawing Placed Between Two Objects (with Mark Manders) ProjecteSD, Barcelona
2014 Unstable Objects & Shells Crushed, (with Jochen Lempert) DIX291, Paris (FR)
2013 Going Places (with Karin Herwegh). SECONDroom, Antwerpen (B)
2011 A Good Chair is a Good Chair and There is No Such Thing as a Bad Book (with J. Weber). Mieke van Schaijk,
’s Hertogenbosch
One Show About One Drawing (with H.Demeulenaere) Museum M, Leuven (B)
Group Shows
2024 Repeat After Me. Barbara Seiler Gallery, Zürich (CH)
2023 I draw a Line, [‘ka:jeta:n], Raum für Kunst, Berlin (DE)
Uitgaande van Anne Geene waaiert de lijn zich uit. ARTisBook, Groningen
2003 - 2023, ProjecteSD, Barcelona (ES)
2022 Ante — Poster, Fondazione Alberto Peruzzo,Padova (I) (cat.)
Chronicles, 9A projects, Todmorden (UK)
Unboxing Aspen 5 + 6, Estrany-de la Mota. Barcelona (ES)
2021 One way or another - 10 years of Posture Editions (ism Hans Demeulenaere), SMAK, Ghent (B)
Doppelgänger (ism Hans Demeulenare). De Garage, Mechelen (B)
Minstens 1 ½ uur en terug. (curator Peter Morrens). De Warande, Turnhout (B)
Kajetan Presents: [‘ka:jeta:n], Raum für Kunst, Berlin (DE)
2020 Trance-Action, MuZEE, Oostende (B)
The Imaginary Museum, ProjecteSD, Barcelona (ES)
Borrowed Space and Regular Features, Curated by M.N. ProjecteSD, Barcelona (ES)
Johan de Wilde Invites, Hopstreet Gallery, Deurle (B)
Der Schnitt, Valerie Traan, Antwerpen (B)
As Good a Place to Start as Any, lxhxb, Eindhoven
2019 Secret Show (Hablar con las manos). curated by Hinrich Sachs & Oscar Lara. Barranca, Lima (PE)
The Gulf Between, De Warande, Turnhout (B)
2018 Form follow Fiction, [‘ka:jeta:n], Raum für Kunst, Berlin (DE)
De Line Up, Centraal Museum, Utrecht
(Als) tekens in de ruimte, Emergent, Veurne (B)
Krijt/Chalk, Kunsthal KAdE, Amersfoort
Flip, Zwarte Zaal KASK (curated by K. Andreasen), Gent (B)
2017 I who make mistakes on the eternal typewriter, (curated by M. van Eeden), Drawing
Centre Diepenheim
Copy Construct, (curated by K. Andreasen) CC Mechelen (cat.)
This is the Cover of the Book, (curated by M. Küng) Centre Cultural - Llibreria Blanquerna, Madrid / 019-Design
Museum, Ghent (B)
2016 Wall, Art Basel, ProjecteSD, Basel
The Form of Form, Architecture Triennale, Musea da Electricidade - Fundacao EDP, Lisbon (cat.)
Roma Publications 1-272 Artists’ Documents, MMCA, Seoul (KOR) (cat.)
Thinking Sense, Witteveen Art Center, Amsterdam, NL (curated by Saskia Monshouwer)
Dirty Drawings, Z33, Hasselt
2015 The Aesthetic of the Fragment (curated by M.N.), Panache, Antwerpen
Bottom Line, S.M.A.K., Gent (cat.)
L’Ordre caché 1, Frac de Bourgogne, Dijon
Le dessin contemporain (second volet) (with J. Mogenet, A. Nemours). L’Yonne en scène & Frac de
Bourgogne, Gurgy (FR)
Sequence 1, Nederlandse kunstenaarsboeken, Groninger Museum/academie Minerva, Groningen
2014 Roma Publications, Fondazione Giuliani, Rome (I)
Some Objects, Eight Sculptures, Several Frames, One Video and a Book, MuZee, Oostende (B)
Beauty is for Free, Galerie Nouvelles Images, Den Haag
Joost Zwagerman kiest. Teylers Museum, Haarlem
Tekeningen, Circa Dit (curated by Rosemin Henriks), Arnhem
Forcefield, A Drawing Show, Institut de Carton, Brussels
2013 Vindplaatsen en Voortgangsberichten Drawing Centre, Diepenheim
...and a Lot of Reflection, (curated by Hans Demeulenaere) Annie Gentils Gallery, Antwerp (B)
Dreaming of The South (curated by H. van Ingelgem). Marion de Cannière Gallery, Antwerp (B)
2012 Reflections on Form. Barbara Seiler Galerie, Zürich (CH)
Autumn of Modernism (curated by L. Benedetti). Temporary Gallery, Cologne (D)
Minimal Myth (curated by F. Stocchi). Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam (publ.)
Herfsttij van het Modernisme (curated by L. Benedetti). De Vleeshal, Middelburg (publ.)
2011 Het Zelfportret, Het Huis en de Seizoenen (curated by K. Dedobbeleer). Mu.ZEE, Oostende (B)
About Drawing. Stedelijk Museum, Schiedam (cat.)
It’s raining, fight youngsters. Drawings, Wetering Galerie, Amsterdam (NL)
Artist Publications
2024 Support Sheet (with Stephan Keppel) Roma Publications
sauf 4. folded paper + insert edition of 80
2023 Others (with Ikuhisa Sawada) published by ori.studio (CN)
sauf 2. fanzine edition of 50
sauf 1. fanzine (with Karin Herwegh) edition of 50
Nirvana. (with Marijn van Kreij, Guus van der Velden, lxhxb) 12p + 96p + loose leaf in archival folder.
Present. 40 pages + insert. Roma Publications 438 co-production Ahorn Books edition of 400
2022 Ante-Poster. Edition of 100 signed and numbered, Fondazione Alberto Peruzzo,Padova (I)
Farben, 96 pages + insert. Roma Publications 416. edition of 200 signed and numbered
2019 Borrowed Space. 24 pages + postcard. Roma Publications 376. edition of 400
2019 Regular Features. 272 pages + 23 inserts. Roma Publications 356. edition of 500
2018 Borrowed Space. 32 + 24 pages. with Hans Demeulenaere. edition of 300
2016 Poster. Fondazione Volume, Rome (I) curated by Lorenzo Benedetti
2015 Zeichnungen. Roma Publications in co-production Yellow Press. edition of 200
2014 Not Available. Roma Publications co-production SBKM / De Vleeshal. edition of 600
2013 The Different Possible Variations, Options, Additions or Subtractions of the Beginning of Something. Booklet
12 pages. Roma Publication 206
2012 Often, Not Always. Poster edition published by Studio van der Mieden, Antwerp
2011 Reissue. Book 128 pages + insert. Roma Publication 164
Free Magazine Subscription
Articles, interviews, shows & events. Delivered to your mailbox weekly.