"Anneke Wilbrink
graduated from the Frank Mohr Institute, MF Groningen in 2004. Since then she has exhibited widely in a variety of European galleries and museums. In 2004she was nominated for the Prix de Rome (drawing), and she received the Royal Dutch Award for painting in 2006."
By pure accident i discovered Anneke work two years ago in the Young Art Gallery in Amsterdam, i was walking by and i saw this big paintings that looked liked abstract structures and i had to get in, what i saw was stunning, labyrinth landscapes that could either be the remains of an ancient civilization that was swallowed by the ocean or waking up after a beautiful dream with the eyes blurred and thinking if this were clouds reflecting a secret dimension. Anneke lives and works in Zwolle, capital city of the province of Overijssel, Netherlands
What is art in your perspective?
I can only tell about my own art. It has everything to do with my consciousness and the way I live.
There is not much difference between the things that I feel and think when painting and when travelling or having a good time.
I try to put my visions and feelings in my art in a way that the visual creation can communicate with the viewer.
How would you define your paintings ?
I have a DVD at home with Irish music and images of the country which is called: Visuals for your Body and Mind. It is a very commercial and common piece, nothing artistic on it Yet I like it. Once I was thinking to give an exhibition that title.
I also define my painting often as landscapes, because while watching a painting, one like to see where one is standing, I mean a point of view from which everything is in the right perspective.
Well, that is not the case in my painting of landscapes. I do play with points of view while I am painting. The result is sometimes clear, other times it is fuzzy from which point the painting can be seen when looking for something like perspective.
When you were young did you intend to become a professional artist?
No , never i did not know what a professional painter was. (i thought painters lived in the past)
I must have been in my early twenties when I discovered contemporary art. The moment I discovered contemporary art is something I still feel as a second birth .
What type of art were you making in secondary school?
In secondary school , I did not have any idea of what to do in my life. On university, I studied half a year on theology. But I was thinking more of doing something with music. When I went tot the academy of art, I liked to make large pictures, which i filled with strange building structures and fiction buildings.
While you were attending college were there any professors who influenced the building of your career?
I liked art history a lot. When they taught about artists from earlier periods, I could imagine I was doing the same in my lifetime. I admired all those painters..
Was it difficult for you to develop your own style?
It is just something that grows while working. For me , it began on art school.
While I am working, I let go of thinking about subjects or something as ideas. I totally depend on my instincts and intuition. The style is an outcome that I am not interested in while working.
Everything just happens. But I am very much aware of the fact that my art studies, which took 6 intensive years, are always somewhere hidden in the background while I am working.
In 2006 you won the Dutch Royal Prize of Contemporary Painting. How important was it for your carrier ?
It was very important for me. It put me on the map. Suddenly, a lot of persons got interested in my work and bought it. As a result of the money I made, i could work intensively for new shows…
Who are the artists who inspire you today?
I have a strong bond with the well known painters who are presented in museums like the impressionism, the Modern Abstracts. A lot of the work of now-a-days artists that I see all over the world gives me a boost that drives me back to my studio. It is not about picking up ideas; it has everything to do with the energy they give me, Seeing art is great. Talking about inspiration, I have to say that I can experience music very intense. Sometimes i compare my work with several types of music..
How important is it to remain true to yourself and your individual vision as an artist?
On one hand, it is important to remain true to myself and my individual vision as an artist. But to renew myself and my art, it is important to leave my opinions and every now and then I have to surprise myself.
A new painting has to be an adventure and a surprise for myself.
In painting It is the same as in live…when you are not honest it does not work and it feels bad.
You have had many exhibitions, which one did you enjoyed the most?
Vegas gallery london…
Bright new work in a nice place.
How do you feel about people reaction to your work?
I do react on that. I like to communicate and i still feel it as a miracle when it works, I mean, when my art communicates as I hope it could do.
What are your futures plans when it comes to your paintings ?
Recently, my artbook has been published; it contains work over the last 8 years,
It is a sort of time-travel to look back what i have done.
So i am very curious my self to see and start with making new work.
Anneke paintings are now in exhibition in the Kasteel het Nijenhuis untill the 10 of October, for more information please visit The Museum Foundation
