Mikel Gelderen Van

Mikel van Gelderen (1963) lives and works in Amsterdam. He combined working as an artist with working as an
architects and scenographic installations for theatre maker Tjyying Liu. His architectural and scenographic work is closely linked to his visual art.
With his landscapes, Mikel van Gelderen depicts imaginary nature fantasies that lure the viewer into introspection. The works are made of acrylic and charcoal on paper or canvas.

'When I paint or draw landscapes in my studio, I create images that I have never thought of in exactly the same way. I react to what I see emerging on the canvas. The act of making itself is guiding the process. First an intuitive, ardent and almost ecstatic setup is made. This is a physical tour de force, in which the whole body moves along as if in a dance. Then, after a long period of reflection, in peace and quiet, sitting on a stool, details are meticulously applied with charcoal. The properties of the material influence the effect: flowing diluted paint, thick splotches, pasty applied, aggressive pigments, dry soft charcoal, they all participate. The landscape creates its own world with its own logic. The image is easy readable as a landscape. When figurative elements can be recognized, they ar...

Education: 1981-1983 Royal School of Arts, s-Hertogenbosch, painting1988-1994 Delft University of Technology, Architecture

2023 Clash, Kunstliefde Utrecht
2023 The BK-Cloud of Art, Delft
2023 Kunsthuis Waterland ‘TranFORmation’ Purmerend
2021 40th anniversary WWPT
2020 Artist in the World, M-M-Artspac, Kattendijke
2019 Loods 6, Lemonscapes, Amsterdam
2017 Loods 6, Group exhibition Bagagehal, Amsterdam
2014 Drawings on the table, Buiksloterkerk, Amsterdam
2011-present Sculpture garden ‘Anningahof’, Zwolle
2011 ‘Patterns’, Notations manifestation, M4 guest studio, Amsterdam
2010 RE:FRAME, Dutch Design Week Eindhoven (with Marianne Theunissen)
2010 Nieuwe Oogst, ARCAM, Amsterdam
2010 Gastgastgeber Ruhr 2010, Museumbahnsteig, Oberhausen
2008 Flexibility; Design in a Fast-Changing Society, “Le Nuove”, Torino
2004-2005 Living in Motion, Art Centre Z33, Hasselt (KZG)
2003-2006 Kröller Müller Museum, Otterlo, sculpture garden (KZG)
2003 Crossed, Centre de Cultura Contemporania de Barcelona (KZG)
2003 Strangely Familiar, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, USA (KZG)
2003 Virtual Museum of Micro Architecture, (KZG)
2001 Mobiele architectuur, Storkeiland, Amsterdam (KZG)
2000 ‘Habiter l’an 2000 / Dwelling in the year 2000’, Bordeaux (KZG)
1999 ‘The presence of urban space’, Town Hall Heerlen (KZG)
1999 ‘Nominaties Designprijs’, Museum Boijmans, Rotterdam ((KZG)
1998 ...