The large-scale panoramic photographs by Ellen Kooi challenge us to view the world as a dramatic narrative. She wants us to seek the border between fantasy and reality. At first glance, the people that inhabit these panoramas of (mostly Dutch) landscapes seem to be at the mercy of their surroundings. But if we look at these pictures more carefully we see a more complex relationship, as the landscape almost responses to its inhabitants. The displays of nature we see are a symbolic reflection of the inner turmoils, or indeed of the happiness of these people. In a way comparable tot nineteenth century psychological portraits, Kooi tries to tell us about myths, chance encounters and our relationship with the outside world. But keeping this in mind, her works are as much concerned with the landscape as they are with the person. By forming close connections between themes set in our visual memory of history but never choosing a main focus, Kooi's works are suspensefull and hard to identify.
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Artworks by Ellen Kooi
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Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken
Achmea
UMC Utrecht
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VU Medisch Centrum
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1981/87 Art academy ABK Minerva, Groningen, the Netherlands
1993/94 Post graduate in Arts at the Rijksacademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Ellen Kooi lives and works in Haarlem, the Netherlands.
Solo/duo exhibitions selection
2018
Solo at Camara Oscura Galeria de Arte, Madrid
2016
Crossings, Catherine Clark Gallery ,San Francisco, USA
Crossings, Torch Gallery, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
2015
Undertones, at Musée de La Roche - sur - Yon, la Roche - sur - Yon, France
Docks Art Fair Lyon, solo presentation by Gallerie Les Filles Du Calvaire
2014
Undertones, solo show at Centro de Arte Alcobendas (CAA), Madrid, Spain
AIPAD Photography Show (solo presentation by PPOW Gallery), New York
As it happens, Galerie Les Filles Du Calvaire, Paris, France
2013
Sables Mouvants, Lambertart, Le Fort de Mons -en-Baroeul, Lille, France
2012
Transparent days, Camara Oscura, Madrid, Spain
Next to me, Torch Gallery, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Recent Photography, Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, USA
Luz Holandesa, Espacio Liquido, Gijon, Spain
2011
Out of Sight, PPOW Gallery, New York, USA
Ellen Kooi: Out of Sight, Le Château d’Eau, Toulouse, France
On the Other side of Twilight, duo-show with Astrid Kruse Jensen, Stedelijk Museum Den Bosch, the Netherlands
2010
Out of Sight/ Hors de Vue, Institut Néerlandais, Paris, France
Ellen Kooi, Photographies, Le centre Image/ Imatge, Orthez, France
2009
Borrowed Landscapes, part of Festival Off PhotoEspaña, Gallery Camara Oscura, Madrid, Spain
Fotowerken, de Willem III, Vlissingen, the Netherlands
Recent Work, Torch Gallery, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
2008
Dentro por Fuera, Within from without”, soloshow, La Casa Encendida, Madrid, Spain
2006
Travaux Recents, duo show with Hans Op De Beeck, Les Filles du Calvaire, Paris, France
2005
Hold Still, Keep Moving IV, solo, Gallery Beaumontpublic, Luxemburg, Luxemburg
Group exhibitions selection
2017
Colors of Diversity, Hungarian National Museum, Budapest
Les imaginaires d’un monde in - tranquille, 8 July–22 October, Le Centre d'art de Meymac, France
Local stories, 29 September –11 November, Ennia & DL Gallery, Pireus, Greece
Het Tweede Gezicht, 3 November – 1 December, De Kloostergangen, Haarlem
2016
Graskunst bij MIJ, Museum IJsselstein, IJsselstein, the Netherlands
Wild van Water, Zuiderzeemuseum Enkhuizen, the Netherlands
Connection, Museum Lazienki Kroleweski, Gdansk, Poland
2015
Common Ground: Air, collections from the Borusan contemporary Art Collection, Borusan Contemporary, Istanbul,
Turkye Aux frontières de l’intime: les photographes et leurs enfants, Musée français de la Photographie, Bièvres, France
Femina ou la reappropriation des models,Pavillon Vendôme, Clichy, France
2014
Absurd – did you say absurd? at Galerie Les Filles Du Calvaire, Paris, France
2013
La metamorfosis del paisaje en el arte, group show, Caja Vital Foundation. Vitoria, Spain
2011
Opening exhibition Borusan Contemporary, PeriliKöşk, Istanbul, Turky
Photo Event, De Garage, Mechelen, Belgium
Foto=Kunst (the art of Photograpy), Museum het Valkhof, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
The International Festival of Photography of Lodz, main program: OUT OF LIFE, Lodz, Poland
2008
Times Square, Beaumontpublic, Luxemburg, Luxembourg
De kleur van Friesland, beeldende kunst na 1945, Fries Museum, the Netherlands
Recent Photography, soloshow, Espacio Liquido, Gijon, Spain
2006
Trial Balloons, Musac, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Castilla Y Leon, Spain Photography
Biennale MOSCOW, Ruarts Gallery, Moscow house of photography, Moscow, Russia
Untouchable Things, Museum Centre Vaprikki, Tampere, Finland
2005
Out There: Landscape in the New Millennium,
Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland, USAConstructed Moment, KW14, Den Bosch,the Netherlands
Dutch Eyes/ Chrysalis,Castello Svevo, Bari, ItalyHxBxD,
Exhibition Collection Rabobank, GEM& Fotomuseum,The Hague, the Netherlands
Going Dutch,new photography from the Netherlands, Museum of New Art (Mona), Michigan, USA
Histoire(s)Parallèle(s), création-confrontation, France/Pays-Bas, by E.Kessels (NL) and G.Bauret (F) FOAM, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
2003
Potential Images of the World,the Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Retrospective View, Photos from the collection, Frans HalsMuseum, Haarlem, the Netherlands
2002
Faces, People and Society, (contemporary photography) Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, the Netherland
1993/94 Post graduate in Arts at the Rijksacademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Ellen Kooi lives and works in Haarlem, the Netherlands.
Solo/duo exhibitions selection
2018
Solo at Camara Oscura Galeria de Arte, Madrid
2016
Crossings, Catherine Clark Gallery ,San Francisco, USA
Crossings, Torch Gallery, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
2015
Undertones, at Musée de La Roche - sur - Yon, la Roche - sur - Yon, France
Docks Art Fair Lyon, solo presentation by Gallerie Les Filles Du Calvaire
2014
Undertones, solo show at Centro de Arte Alcobendas (CAA), Madrid, Spain
AIPAD Photography Show (solo presentation by PPOW Gallery), New York
As it happens, Galerie Les Filles Du Calvaire, Paris, France
2013
Sables Mouvants, Lambertart, Le Fort de Mons -en-Baroeul, Lille, France
2012
Transparent days, Camara Oscura, Madrid, Spain
Next to me, Torch Gallery, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Recent Photography, Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, USA
Luz Holandesa, Espacio Liquido, Gijon, Spain
2011
Out of Sight, PPOW Gallery, New York, USA
Ellen Kooi: Out of Sight, Le Château d’Eau, Toulouse, France
On the Other side of Twilight, duo-show with Astrid Kruse Jensen, Stedelijk Museum Den Bosch, the Netherlands
2010
Out of Sight/ Hors de Vue, Institut Néerlandais, Paris, France
Ellen Kooi, Photographies, Le centre Image/ Imatge, Orthez, France
2009
Borrowed Landscapes, part of Festival Off PhotoEspaña, Gallery Camara Oscura, Madrid, Spain
Fotowerken, de Willem III, Vlissingen, the Netherlands
Recent Work, Torch Gallery, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
2008
Dentro por Fuera, Within from without”, soloshow, La Casa Encendida, Madrid, Spain
2006
Travaux Recents, duo show with Hans Op De Beeck, Les Filles du Calvaire, Paris, France
2005
Hold Still, Keep Moving IV, solo, Gallery Beaumontpublic, Luxemburg, Luxemburg
Group exhibitions selection
2017
Colors of Diversity, Hungarian National Museum, Budapest
Les imaginaires d’un monde in - tranquille, 8 July–22 October, Le Centre d'art de Meymac, France
Local stories, 29 September –11 November, Ennia & DL Gallery, Pireus, Greece
Het Tweede Gezicht, 3 November – 1 December, De Kloostergangen, Haarlem
2016
Graskunst bij MIJ, Museum IJsselstein, IJsselstein, the Netherlands
Wild van Water, Zuiderzeemuseum Enkhuizen, the Netherlands
Connection, Museum Lazienki Kroleweski, Gdansk, Poland
2015
Common Ground: Air, collections from the Borusan contemporary Art Collection, Borusan Contemporary, Istanbul,
Turkye Aux frontières de l’intime: les photographes et leurs enfants, Musée français de la Photographie, Bièvres, France
Femina ou la reappropriation des models,Pavillon Vendôme, Clichy, France
2014
Absurd – did you say absurd? at Galerie Les Filles Du Calvaire, Paris, France
2013
La metamorfosis del paisaje en el arte, group show, Caja Vital Foundation. Vitoria, Spain
2011
Opening exhibition Borusan Contemporary, PeriliKöşk, Istanbul, Turky
Photo Event, De Garage, Mechelen, Belgium
Foto=Kunst (the art of Photograpy), Museum het Valkhof, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
The International Festival of Photography of Lodz, main program: OUT OF LIFE, Lodz, Poland
2008
Times Square, Beaumontpublic, Luxemburg, Luxembourg
De kleur van Friesland, beeldende kunst na 1945, Fries Museum, the Netherlands
Recent Photography, soloshow, Espacio Liquido, Gijon, Spain
2006
Trial Balloons, Musac, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Castilla Y Leon, Spain Photography
Biennale MOSCOW, Ruarts Gallery, Moscow house of photography, Moscow, Russia
Untouchable Things, Museum Centre Vaprikki, Tampere, Finland
2005
Out There: Landscape in the New Millennium,
Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland, USAConstructed Moment, KW14, Den Bosch,the Netherlands
Dutch Eyes/ Chrysalis,Castello Svevo, Bari, ItalyHxBxD,
Exhibition Collection Rabobank, GEM& Fotomuseum,The Hague, the Netherlands
Going Dutch,new photography from the Netherlands, Museum of New Art (Mona), Michigan, USA
Histoire(s)Parallèle(s), création-confrontation, France/Pays-Bas, by E.Kessels (NL) and G.Bauret (F) FOAM, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
2003
Potential Images of the World,the Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Retrospective View, Photos from the collection, Frans HalsMuseum, Haarlem, the Netherlands
2002
Faces, People and Society, (contemporary photography) Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, the Netherland
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