For NAP+ 2026, we are pleased to present a solo presentation by Gideon van Gameren, winner of the Royal Award for Modern Painting 2026. For this occasion, the artist will develop a new body of work, expanding on the themes and visual language of his current practice.
In his work, the relationship between family, home, and the workplace is central. There is a certain tension between work and home: what constitutes a workplace, and what defines the backyard of your parental home? How do these spaces interact, and what role exists in between them? For him, it is natural that these are not clearly delineated domains, but rather that they flow into one another. This is something he aims to further explore and deepen in his new works.
Drawing from his immediate surroundings, Van Gameren depicts scenes rooted in his upbringing in Overdinkel, a village in the Twente region of the Netherlands. Adjacent to his parental home, his mother operates a workshop where his father, together with one of his siblings, repairs cars and campers for resale or rental. This setting forms the basis for an ongoing series of paintings, initiated during his graduation period, in which he examines both familial relationships and the convergence of domesticity and labour. Within these works, the boundaries between home life and work life dissolve, reflecting a lived reality in which both spheres continuously intersect.
Deeply personal in nature, Van Gameren’s paintings are grounded in lived experience. Their narratives may not always reveal themselves immediately, instead unfolding gradually through sustained engagement. Central to his practice is an exploration of the unfinished as a visual strategy: areas of the canvas are deliberately left open, while gestures remain loose and sketch-like. Through this approach, he foregrounds process, gesture, and emotional resonance.
GIDEON VAN GAMEREN
Gideon van Gameren (1998) is a young Dutch painter who recently graduated from the Fine Art program at the AKI ArtEZ Academy of Art & Design (2025). He is part of a new generation of artists distinguished by a direct, personal visual language and a strong painterly energy.
He creates large, colourful paintings that initially appear abstract. His expressive, smoothly-applied broad strokes and splashes of paint betray a process of rapid execution, as if the momentum might slip away from him. On closer inspection, you discern figurative elements between the areas of colour. Van Gameren’s titles reveal a little more about his sources of inspiration
His work is characterized by dynamic, colorful compositions in which everyday scenes play a central role. He often draws from his immediate surroundings, such as his family’s workshop, exploring themes of labor, domestic life, and personal relationships. These familiar situations are translated into layered paintings with a powerful, almost physical brushwork.
In 2026, Van Gameren was awarded the Royal Award for Modern Painting, one of the most prestigious prizes for young artists in the Netherlands. The jury particularly praised the “dynamism and pictorial strength” of his work, as well as his ability to transform personal observations into compelling paintings. With this recognition and additional support, such as the HeArtfund, Van Gameren is rapidly developing into a promising voice within contemporary Dutch painting.