During Amsterdam Art Week, Vriend van Bavink Gallery is proud to present the group-exhibition 'Common Ground' with work by four alumni and two future residents of the Rijksakademie. Featuring Inez de Brauw, Bo Bosk, Yaima Carrazana, Abul Hisham, Clinton Kabena Daniel Tetteh Nartey and Lotte Werkema, Common Ground brings together painting, video and installation. The exhibition moves between personal histories, cultural references and imagined realities, offering a glimpse into the different worlds that shape each artist’s work.
Former residents Inez de Brauw, Bo Bosk and Abul Hisham each approach their practice from a different perspective. De Brauw uses the act of painting as an exploration of historial revisionism; painting to erase, to edit or to cover parts of historicial paintings. Bosk draws on moments from his everyday life, extending his practice beyond painting through video. Hisham brings together memories, Indian artistic traditions and observations of the social, political and religious structures that shape everyday life. Current resident, Lotte Werkema explores the relationship between the body and public space through fictional aids, installations and performances, drawing on her own experience of living with a disability. The exhibition also features work by future residents Clinton Kabena and Daniel Tetteh Nartey. Kabena's work explores the intersection of personal experience and collective histories, while Nartey's practice engages with the human figure and interpersonal relationships. Rather than presenting a single narrative, Common Ground allows these different practices to exist alongside one another, creating unexpected connections between images, materials and perspectives.
On Friday, 20 November, Vriend van Bavink celebrates the opening with a performance by Rijksakademie alumna Yaima Carrazana 'Nail Polish Tutorial', an ongoing work and performance inspired by online beauty tutorials. Reinterpreting works by renowned male abstract painters as nail art, Carrazana brings modernist painting into the everyday world of beauty and self-expression. Visitors are invited to have their nails painted, turning the encounter with abstract art into a shared, hands-on experience.
Dancing lights - after Wilhelm Schubert van Ehrenberg et. al., Art cabinet with Candaules and Gyges 1666, 2025 155 x 180 cm, oil and acrylic paint on canvas (courtesy of Galerie Fontana)