Koen Vermeule

donated by the artist
courtesy: Galerie Tanya Rumpff

Some recent solo exhibitions
Galerie Tanya Rumpff, Haarlem 2008
Galerie Fahnemann, Berlin 2007, 'Neue Bilder'
Mas Art, Barcelona 2006, 'Spinning'

Some recent group exhibitions
White Box, New York 2009, 'Towing the Line, Drawing Space'
De Kunsthal, Rotterdam 2007, 'Leve de schilderkunst. Terug naar de Figuur' Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague 2006,
'Room with a view. De Bouwfonds kunstcollectie'

Selected publications
Hans den Hartog Jager, Leve de Schilderkunst! Terug naar de figuur, Rotterdam: De Kunsthal 2007
Elly Stegeman, Waiting in silence, Breda: Museum de Beyerd 2004

Selected public and corporate collections
Stadsgalerij Heerlen, NL • Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, NL • Akzo Nobel Art Foundation, NL • AMC Brummelkamp Galerie and AMC showcases, Amsterdam, NL • AON Kunstcollectie, NL • Bouwfonds Kunstcollectie, NL • De Nederlandsche Bank, NL • Eneco Holding nv, NL • Kunstcollectie kpn, NL • Rabo Kunstcollectie, NL • TNT Post Kunstcollectie, NL

Koen Vermeule's paintings depict vast landscapes with heavy skies, deep horizons and broad furrows. He also paints desolate people who appear to roam the world like lost souls. His paintings thrive on contrasts, on an estranging reality, on the exclusion of distractions. The latest paintings recall film stills: a scene taken from a story with no hint of what comes before or after. His figures are rendered in fine, smooth brushwork set off against an often hectic, loose background, or backlight that erodes the edges of a human silhouette. Vermeule's work is first and foremost about seeing – looking closely and with an open mind – a gaze that seizes on images that inspire him: people in the street absorbed in what they're doing, feisty teenagers or people caught up in themselves. Transient moments stretched out into an ineluctable, theatrical image. For Vermeule it is more about a personally crafted visual lyricism than a faithful representation of reality.

Koen Vermeule was resident artist at the Rijksakademie in 1990-1992.
He won the Charlotte Köhler Prize (NL) in 1994.

www.koenvermeule.nl