Anne Forest

Dutch/American mixed-media artist, main focus on painting.
I was raised in a Russian-orthodox household. Our house was filled with icons. As an atheist it took a while before I realized and accepted the impression these works made on me then. It's evident in the graphic style I employ today in which every line is holy and depth is irrelevant to create my portrait-like depictions of people and creatures. Similar to iconography, I try to evoke in the viewer a need to connect with these figures.
These deep-rooted impressions have also led to my interest in naïve, primitive and outsider art and Renaissance portraiture. Besides these inspirational wells to draw from, a natural inclination towards found and unconventional material form the base of my work. I feel a strong need to claim material by repurposing it. Yet in doing so I honor it with the time-consuming task of committing my rigid visual imagery to the coarse and unpredictable fiber of a carpet, the grain in an old wooden panel, the creases in a piece of cloth. By combining the static with the tactile, the inward struggle that drives me as an artist becomes visible: a fear to connect, yet constantly reaching out to be touched.

2003-2007 Gerrit Rietveld Academy of Fine Arts, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2008-2011 The Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, The Netherlands (bachelor of fine arts)

Selected Exhibitions:
2016
-“Sojourners”, Galerie Bart, Amsterdam, NL
-“I Amsterdam You Berlin”, St. Johannes Evangelist Kirche, Berlin, DE
-“Lineage”, Heden, The Hague, NL
-"Royal Award for Modern Painting 2016 Exhibition", Royal Palace, Amsterdam, NL
-PAN, Amsterdam, NL
2015
-"Totem", Het Langhuis, Zwolle, NL
-"Meditations on a Hobby Horse", CIAP, Hasselt, BE
-"Homunculi", Galerie Wit, Wageningen, NL
-“The Solo Project”, Basel, Switzerland, CH
-"Royal Award for Modern Painting 2015 Exhibition", Royal Palace, Amsterdam, NL
-”Dark Matters”, TAC, Eindhoven, NL
-PAN, Amsterdam, NL
2014
-"Holy Ghosts", Galerie Bart, Amsterdam, NL
-"Daar Komen de Putters!", kasteel Keukenhof, Lisse, NL
-"Anne Forest: Mentorproject Marc Mulders", Van Gogh Galerie, Zundert, NL
-"Vensters: Samengesteld door Marc Mulders", Kunsthal Kade, Amersfoort, NL
-"Royal Award for Modern Painting 2014 Exhibition", Royal Palace, Amsterdam, NL
-"All Souls", Heden, The Hague, NL
2013
-"Now or Never #2", GEM Museum for Contemporary Art, The Hague, NL
-"Royal Award for Modern Painting 2013 Exhibition", Royal Palace, Amsterdam, NL
2012
-Exhibition of Selected Works for the Gaverprijs Award, CC De Schakel, Waregem, BE
-"Anne Forest: Portrett...