Celine van den Boorn, On the border of hope , 2025, Acrylic on photo, 80 x 120 cm.
About
In her visual work, Celine van den Boorn explores the relationship between humans and nature, particularly the tension between the presence and absence of humans in the landscape.
The intersection of human and nature regularly reveals wondrous contradictions. Thus, the recreational human desires pristine nature and a sublime experience of it, but at the same time, he seeks out this nature ‘en masse’, which makes this sublime experience impossible and the paradise landscape is actually damaged. The military presence in a photo colors the surrounding landscape, making it loaded, while the military wants to be as invisible as possible. Dramatic images of stranded refugees, whose brightly colored tents and luggage sharply contrast with the bleak landscapes, reinforce this tension.
She is fascinated by the fact that nature and landscape are often used as a backdrop for human activity in the media. For her work, she uses press photos of these, in her eyes, contrasting, awkward or confrontational gatherings of man and nature, such as in subjects like tourism, war, conflicts, and migration. By working with something ephemeral like images from the news and advertisements, she wants to offer a new perspective on the habituation to confrontational news images and question the desire for paradisiacal places.
By painting on photographs, she enters the border area between photography and painting. She lets the people (soldiers, tourists, refugees) in the painting disappear into the natural background. This shifts the focus in the image from the human to the landscape. In the newly created landscape, the original subject no longer plays a role, and the difference in tension between a violent or harmless image (a beach with posing tourists or a beach with washed-up refugees) has been eliminated while painting.
The subject painted out is barely visible in her work at first. Only when looking closely or moving past the work, when the light changes, do the matte painted silhouettes on the glossy photo become visible or do the details of the original subject appear.
The layering in her work is of great importance to her, both in the image (what is the viewer actually looking at) and in technique (what is paint and what is a photo) and in terms of content (how does the landscape relate to human presence). This layering causes tension between the seemingly pristine nature and the still visible traces of human presence, between actuality and timelessness. The viewer is invited to reflect on questions such as: 'what was the original image and what is the artist's intervention?' and 'what does that do to our interpretation of the image?'.
Celine van den Boorn (1978) lives and works in Amsterdam. After completing her education at the Utrecht Hogeschool voor de Kunsten, she has further explored the theme of her work, the relationship between humans and nature, both in her visual work and from a scientific perspective. In addition to her visual art, she teaches at the Utrecht Hogeschool voor de Kunsten.
Artworks
Celine van den Boorn, We were here, 2025, Acrylic on photo, 110 x 160 cm
Celine van den Boorn, At the European border #6, 2021, Acrylic on photo, 60 x 90 cm
Celine van den Boorn, NT, 2024, acrylic on dibond, 120 x 80 cm.
Celine van den Boorn, Freedom, 2025, Acrylic on photo , 80 x 120 cm.
Celine van den Boorn, Crossing the European border #6, 2019, Acrylic on photo on dibond, 40 x 60 cm.
Curriculum Vitae
Celine van den Boorn / artist website
Education
1997 - 2002
HKU, Utrecht Fine Art and Design in Education
2002 - 2006
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Culturele Antropologie. Individual study program on the relationship between nature and culture
2010
Collegeserie ‘Verlangen naar natuur’, prof.dr. Erik de Jong, Illustere School, Universiteit van Amsterdam
Expositions
2025
Art Rotterdam, with Gallery Vriend van Bavink, Rotterdam
‘Promise that you will sing about me’, Gallery Vriend van Bavink, Amsterdam
2024
Tsunami van Beelden, Nieuw Charlois, Rotterdam
2023
EXODUS, Bijbels Museum ism Buitenplaats Doornburgh, Maarssen
Door de ogen van de kunstenaar, Aegon, Den Haag
VOUCH, Loods 6, Amsterdam
2022
UNSEEN, LANGArt Galerie, Amsterdam
‘De zeggingskracht van kunst in de diplomatie’, Atelier Néerlandais, Paris
Singer Laren, Anna Singer Art 2022, Laren
‘White smoke’, LANGArt, Amsterdam
2021
Anna Singer Art 2021, Singer Laren, Laren
Kromhouthal, - solo exhibition, This Art Fair, Amsterdam
2020
‘Aanwinsten 2018-2019 voor de LUMC-collectie’, Galerie LUMC, Leiden
2019
Collectie de Groen, Pick Me!, Arnhem
Museum Villa Mondriaan - solo exhibition, Winterswijk
2018
‘Being there’ - solo exhibition, Studio Seine, Rotterdam
Zesvoorzes - duo exhibition, galerie dudokdegroot, Loods 6, Amsterdam
‘Shifting Landscapes’, NAVO Hoofdkwartier - duo exhibition, Nederlandse afdeling NAVO, Brussel
2017
galerie dudokdegroot - solo exhibition, ‘Conflicts and Dreams’, Amsterdam
Amsterdam Art Fair - duo exhibition, galerie dudokdegroot, Amsterdam
‘Rebuilding Nature’ - duo exhibition, Galerie De Meerse, Hoofddorp
2016
‘Siteless Survey’ - solo exhibition, galerie Rento Brattinga, Amsterdam
Quickscan NL#02, Nederlands Fotomuseum, Rotterdam
‘The Promise’ - solo exhibition, SCHUNCK*, Heerlen
‘2016 days of awesome photo books’, Liefhertje en de Grote Witte Reus, Den Haag
‘Aanwinsten: Vergezichten’, Fries Museum, Leeuwarden
2015
Unseen Festival - solo exhibition, ‘The Promise’, Prinsengrachtziekenhuis, Amsterdam
2014
Kunstcollectie Rijnstate Ziekenhuis - solo exhibition, Arnhem
RECLAIM, Rento Brattinga galerie, Amsterdam
2013
‘Withdrawn’, - duo exhibition, Galerie with Tsjalling, Groningen
Rotterdam Art Fair - solo exhibition, Rotterdam
2012
‘Contemporary Romanticism’ - solo exhibition, C3 Gallery, Amsterdam
‘Royal Awards for Modern Painting 2012’, Royal Palace, Amsterdam
2011
Webster Art Gallery - solo exhibition, Leiden
2010
Sanquin - solo exhibition, Galerie Joghem, Amsterdam
‘Nature’s Gift’ - solo exhibition, De Vishal, Haarlem
Collections
2023
Kunstcollectie Erasmus Universiteit, Rotterdam
Collectie Rijksoverheid, Den Haag
2022
Collectie Krot, Amsterdam
2021
Aegon Kunstcollectie, Den Haag
Akzo-Nobel Art Foundation
Kunstcentrum Haarlem
2020
Kunstcollectie Erasmus Universiteit, Rotterdam
Spaces, Rome, Italie
2019
Isala, Zwolle
Spaces holding, Poland
Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Ziekenhuis (NKI-AVL), Amsterdam
2018
Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken, Den Haag
Ymere, Amsterdam
LUMC Kunstcollectie, Leiden
2017
Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken, Kunstopdracht (aankoop 16 werken) voor NAVO, Brussel
CBK Zuidoost, Amsterdam
2016
Luciano Benetton Foundation, Treviso, Italy
Sanquin, Amsterdam
2015
Fries Museum, Leeuwarden
2014
Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken, Den Haag
Collectie Zoetmulder- Sanders, Aerdenhout
Collectie De Swaan, Amsterdam
2013
Collectie Sanders, Haarlem
Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken, Den Haag
2010
CBK Zuidoost, Amsterdam
Collectie O.L. Schaap, Amsterdam
2009
Collectie Wilploo, Enschede