The Netherlands is entwined with a North European flair that is transferred to the canvas from the artists who immerse themselves within this cultural bastion. Singulart is proud to highlight five contemporary artists that live and work here.
NellyVan Nieuwenhuijzen
Nelly van Nieuwenhuijzen is a contemporary art painter, born 1944 in Baarland, the Netherlands. Thematically eclectic, landscapes and female/doll faces are her main subjects.
Nelly started her career as an artist in 1975. Inspired by her surroundings, she looks to the skies, the skylines, the dikes and the sea to bring out her best work. Zeeland is renowned for its special, beautiful light, refracting in the water around the isles and the polders. Her landscapes are representing a special place in the long tradition of Dutch landscape artists.
“My landscapes are me… I could always paint them.. When I look outside I see them , and when I look inside I see them.”
NellyVan Nieuwenhuijzen
Michiel Folkers
Michiel Folkers (or Gieler) was born in 1982 in Zeist, a small place near Utrecht in The Netherlands. In the 1990s, skateboarding and graffiti were common and popular pursuits in his neighborhood. He started experimenting with graffiti towards the end of the decade. For years, he remained active spraying letters on walls, and when he got older, more ‘mature’, and tired of the fights that are accompanied with graffiti, he was looking for something else and slowly graffiti evolved in street art.
In addition to colouring walls, Michiel began experimenting on canvas. He started by painting a series called ‘anti-heroes’, focusing on B-listed celebrities / ‘famous’ people from Holland.
“In Pop Art everyone was painting Jim Morrison or Marilyn Monroe. So I thought it would be more striking to paint unpopular celebrities”
Michiel Folkers
Marieke Bekke
Marieke Bekke, a painter from the Netherlands, expresses themes of motherhood, family life, and friendship in her compositions. She works thematically and lets the current phase of her life and experience guide her creative process. Bekke begins with a photograph, then sketches directly on the canvas, adding acrylics, glossy and dull paints, and crayons.
The focus of her paintings is on color and shape. Topics are chosen by the aesthetic features and capabilities. Marieke translates realistic birds, fish, butterflies, and other organic forms in figurative patterns. Even static architecture and landscapes metamorphose during the painting process in expressive graphical structures and views. Her paintings are characterized by the use of lacquer, chalking, transparency, and layering in texture.
“Your last is always your best.”
Marieke Bekke
Steve White
When Steve White first moved to the Netherlands he happened to take a photograph of a building reflected in an Amsterdam canal. It was a striking image so he transferred it onto canvas and it sold very quickly. This was the start of Steve’s career. He likes the fact that the image was absolutely realistic, but also the way the water distorted the building to make it seem very abstract.
In another life Steve traveled a lot and this has influenced his art deco travel posters. He likes to paint minimalist images of well known landmarks together with some unusual font-work.
“My main artistic influences are David Hockney, Roy Lichtenstein, Kazimir Malevich and the poster artist Cassandre. I work exclusively in acrylics.”
Steve White
Lotte Teussink
Lotte Teussink is a gifted Dutch artist who has exhibited her work throughout the Netherlands. Taking an instinctive approach to the creative process, she explores how the subconscious is made visible through art: different phases of life, emotions, and changes are revealed. Teussink’s mark is a mix of different styles. There is a touch of folk and gothic, and similarities can be found in current contemporary movements such as pop surrealism and lowbrow art.
She paints (mostly) female figures with big eyes who are young and grown up at the same time. They are strange and effective in a dreamlike manner, revealing facets of human psychology. In an imaginative setting, expressive use of color and thoughtful composition form a balance that is both harmonious and fragile.
“You need contrast in life. If it would be all joy and happiness, life really wouldn’t be interesting.”
Lotte Teussink
