Wandering along the beach, Schaap finds plastic that has washed ashore and once in her atelier transforms it into beautiful sculptures. By photographing these sculptures, she tries to evoke an emotional response from the public by creating a contradiction. A clash between the initial aesthetic appeal and after a second look: repulsion and the realization of the tragedy that waste causes.
Thirza Schaap graduated from the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague in 1996. Since then she has been working as a photographer and is now exploring new art forms through her Plastic Ocean project. She has been living and working both in Amsterdam and in Cape Town, South Africa since 2013.
Thirza Schaap graduated from the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague in 1996. Since then she has been working as a photographer and is now exploring new art forms through her Plastic Ocean project. She has been living and working both in Amsterdam and in Cape Town, South Africa since 2013.
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Artworks by Thirza Schaap
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Bildhalle is pleased to announce the representation of the Dutch artist Thirza Schaap (1971*).
Wandering along the beach, the artist finds plastic that has washed ashore and once in her atelier transforms it into beautiful sculptures. By photographing these sculptures, she tries to evoke an emotional response from the public by creating a contradiction. A clash between the initial aesthetic appeal and after a second look: repulsion and the realization of the tragedy that waste causes.
Thirza Schaap in her own words: “Plastic Ocean is a project which I started to create awareness around pollution, to try and prevent – or at least reduce – the use of plastic. As a child I would walk over beaches and through fields and forests to collect beautiful shells, shimmering stones, feathers and funnily shaped branches. Much later, when spending more time on the beaches all over the world, I found myself doing the same thing. Only to discover that I started filling my pockets with trash instead of treasure. Simply documenting the washed up, eroded plastic findings wasn’t doing justice to the beauty of their colors and textures. I decided to separate them from any reference to their original environment, so that they became stand-alone objects – the basis of my compositions.”
By courtesy of Eyeforce and Frank Solomon
Highlights
Shows
Market position
Awards
• 2000 PANL Photography award, The Netherlands
• 2013 Short film Lina nominated for the Montreal film festival, Canada
• 2000 PANL Photography award, The Netherlands
• 2013 Short film Lina nominated for the Montreal film festival, Canada
CV
Solo exhibitions
2023
• Solo at the Capture Photography Festival 2023, Vancouver,
Canada
• Solo show Bildhalle September 2023, Amsterdam
(NL)
2021
• Bildhalle Amsterdam, book launch and exhibition
• Toronto Photo Festival, curated by Sara Knellman,
Toronto, CA
• Candice Berman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2019
• DSM Heerlen, curated by Catharien Romijn (NL)
• Greenpeace Africa, Waterfront, Cape Town (ZA)
2018
• Ubuntu, Plastic Ocean, Christie‘s Amsterdam, curated
by Colette Olof, “O,Wonder!” (NL)
2009
• Solo exhibition and book presentation Play Dead at
Gallery Christian Ouwens Rotterdam (NL)
Group exhibitions
2023
• Group show in the Chengdu Times Art Museum, China
• Group show Ebony gallery Franschhoek , South Africa
• Group exhibition Delphian Gallery London UK
• Group show Ebony gallery Cape Town, South Africa
• Group show Ebony gallery Franschhoek , South Africa
2022
• Transformation/Liberation at Wembley Park curated
by Averil Curci, London, UK
• Royal Academy Summer show special guest of Farshid
Moussavi, London UK
• Ocean summer show gallery Bildhalle Willemsparkweg
Amsterdam, The Netherlands 2021
• The garden of delights curated by Claudia Küssel,
Budapest (HU)
2020
• Permanent exhibition at untied nations environmental
programme Zurich (CH)
2017
• Finders Keepers, Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam
(NL)
Art fairs
2023
• Photo Basel, Bildhalle, Basel (CH)
2021
• Art Rotterdam, Bildhalle, Rotterdam (NL)
• Unseen, Bildhalle, Amsterdam (NL)
2020
• Art Rotterdam, WeLikeArt, Rotterdam (NL)
• Turbine Art Fair, Johannesburg (ZA)
2019
• Art Rotterdam, WeLikeArt, Rotterdam (NL)
Turbine Art Fair, Johannesburg (ZA)
Awards
2021
• Winner of Inspiratie prijs Humanistisch verbond, The
Netherlands 2000
• PANL Photography award (NL)
2013
• Short film Lina nominated for the Montreal film festival
(CA)
Books
2022
• Included in Flora Imaginaria by William Ewing
2021
• Plastic Ocean published by 1605 Publishers, Bastiaan
Woudt, foreword by Lidewij Edelkoort
2009
• Play Dead published by Christian Ouwens and text by
Bianca Stigter
Collections
• NN Group, The Netherlands
• DSM, The Netherlands
• Het Radboud, UMC, The Netherlands
• KPMG, The Netherlands
• United Nations Environmental Programme, Switzerland
• DNB, The Netherlands
• Swiss RE, Switzerland
• Fidelity Investment, USA
• Dutch Embassy, The Netherlands
• Vanderlande collection, The Netherlands
2023
• Solo at the Capture Photography Festival 2023, Vancouver,
Canada
• Solo show Bildhalle September 2023, Amsterdam
(NL)
2021
• Bildhalle Amsterdam, book launch and exhibition
• Toronto Photo Festival, curated by Sara Knellman,
Toronto, CA
• Candice Berman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
2019
• DSM Heerlen, curated by Catharien Romijn (NL)
• Greenpeace Africa, Waterfront, Cape Town (ZA)
2018
• Ubuntu, Plastic Ocean, Christie‘s Amsterdam, curated
by Colette Olof, “O,Wonder!” (NL)
2009
• Solo exhibition and book presentation Play Dead at
Gallery Christian Ouwens Rotterdam (NL)
Group exhibitions
2023
• Group show in the Chengdu Times Art Museum, China
• Group show Ebony gallery Franschhoek , South Africa
• Group exhibition Delphian Gallery London UK
• Group show Ebony gallery Cape Town, South Africa
• Group show Ebony gallery Franschhoek , South Africa
2022
• Transformation/Liberation at Wembley Park curated
by Averil Curci, London, UK
• Royal Academy Summer show special guest of Farshid
Moussavi, London UK
• Ocean summer show gallery Bildhalle Willemsparkweg
Amsterdam, The Netherlands 2021
• The garden of delights curated by Claudia Küssel,
Budapest (HU)
2020
• Permanent exhibition at untied nations environmental
programme Zurich (CH)
2017
• Finders Keepers, Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam
(NL)
Art fairs
2023
• Photo Basel, Bildhalle, Basel (CH)
2021
• Art Rotterdam, Bildhalle, Rotterdam (NL)
• Unseen, Bildhalle, Amsterdam (NL)
2020
• Art Rotterdam, WeLikeArt, Rotterdam (NL)
• Turbine Art Fair, Johannesburg (ZA)
2019
• Art Rotterdam, WeLikeArt, Rotterdam (NL)
Turbine Art Fair, Johannesburg (ZA)
Awards
2021
• Winner of Inspiratie prijs Humanistisch verbond, The
Netherlands 2000
• PANL Photography award (NL)
2013
• Short film Lina nominated for the Montreal film festival
(CA)
Books
2022
• Included in Flora Imaginaria by William Ewing
2021
• Plastic Ocean published by 1605 Publishers, Bastiaan
Woudt, foreword by Lidewij Edelkoort
2009
• Play Dead published by Christian Ouwens and text by
Bianca Stigter
Collections
• NN Group, The Netherlands
• DSM, The Netherlands
• Het Radboud, UMC, The Netherlands
• KPMG, The Netherlands
• United Nations Environmental Programme, Switzerland
• DNB, The Netherlands
• Swiss RE, Switzerland
• Fidelity Investment, USA
• Dutch Embassy, The Netherlands
• Vanderlande collection, The Netherlands
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