It is beautiful? Is it bad?
It's the Netherlands!
It's the Netherlands... Is it shocking?
It’s the Netherlands at its most Netherlandish!
(Extract of a conversation between Kees van Kooten and Wim de Bie in their Dutch TV show Krasse Knarren, VPRO Television 1994)
In the exhibition *Footnote (2020) photographer Barbara van Schaik presents stories of the Netherlands at its most Netherlandish.

The Netherlands is the third most populous country in Europe (after Monaco and Vatican City). There is no escaping the literal and figurative footprint of mankind in the Dutch landscape. Wherever you look, almost every square meter of available space has been designed, groomed, regulated and carefully demarcated.
Sometimes an individual is reduced to a mere footnote. At other times, they claim their own space and leave their unique footprint. In both cases there can be discord.

And is this beautiful? Is it bad? Is it shocking?

The exhibition *Footnote (*Voetnoot in Dutch) is a series of photographs of largely urban landscapes: stories of footprints and footnotes. The tension between the (public) space as it has been designed and as it is actually used by the individual is palpable. The scenes shown are somewhat abrasive, slightly absurd, and afflicted with mild irony. And yet the photographer never makes fun of it all. She looks at her environment with genuine curiosity and with great affection for this Netherlandish landscape.

Due to the Corona virus, the full exhibition (23 images) is presented in an online exhibition gallery, via Kunstmatrix: https://artspaces.kunstmatrix.com/en/exhibition/1735709/voetnoot

Born in 1965 in Diemen (The Netherlands), Barbara van Schaik is by now a long time resident of Amsterdam. While studying Chemistry she took up photography, analog and black/white.

Though her professional life took her in a different direction at first, photography was always around, moving towards digital and color as well. From urban landscape photography via street photography to portrait photography (and back again). That is the path of her development as a photographer. Her photography experience is largely self-taught supplemented with courses and workshops, and fed by the work of many talented and exceptional photographers out there.


IMAGES FOR SALE (Contact the artist directly for sales)

11” H x 15” W archival prints
€85 unframed
Limited edition of 10, signed on back
Contact: Barbara van Schaik
info@barbaravanschaik.com
Images:
Footnote 2
Footnote 5
Footnote 19

www.barbaravanschaik.com
https://www.instagram.com/scherpte.diepte/

 

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THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND HOMEPAGE:
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HONORABLE MENTIONS:
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EXHIBITION #1:
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EXHIBITION #2:
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