AMSTERDAM.- In collaboration with Atelier K84 in Amsterdam,
Koster Fine Art Gallery presents a solo exhibition by Dutch photographer Astrid Verhoef from 5 April until 11 May 2024. For the first time, the gallery showcases a large overview of her award-winning series 'Human//Nature' with serene, surrealist black-and-white photographs on locations in the Netherlands, Spain, and the USA. Atelier K84 is an inspiring art space in the heart of Amsterdam.
As a Fine Art photographer Astrid Verhoef explores her personal connection to the natural world. The complicated relationship between human and nature is a common thread throughout her work. Once she places herself in desolate landscapes, an anonymous character arises that wants to connect with her surroundings. However, her roots in contemporary modern life often remain visible in the form of an artificial element. The images can be seen as emotional translations where a desire for synergy is challenged by an urge to control.
The long-term project 'Human//Nature' is a logical continuation of Verhoefs well-known 'Inscapes' series. With an even more minimalist visual language and an increasingly geometrical approach to composition, she aims to emphasize the contrast between the human presence and the natural. At the same time she wants to stage scenes that can only exist because of the combination of the two. Her theatrical photography is also an ode to imagination itself.
Never before has the recent 'Human//Nature' series been exhibited this extensively. During the course of the show in Atelier K84, interdisciplinary events are on the program as well. In addition to a poetry reading by Bernard Wesseling, alternated with cello music by Noam Staal, light yoga and meditation will be combined with the theme and experience of the photographic artworks during an 'Art in Silence' session.
Astrid Verhoef (Amsterdam, 1973) studied photography at the Utrecht School of the Arts. Since 1998, she is working as a Fine Art photographer, and in the last decade also regularly as a curator. Her autonomous work is included in the collection of the Société Nationale des Beaux Arts in Paris and has been exhibited in Amsterdam, Berlin, Milan, New York, Paris, Rotterdam, Sydney, and Tokyo. Koster Fine Art Gallery presented the visual artists work at the FotoFestival Naarden, and at leading art fairs such as KunstRAI and PAN Amsterdam.