Ruud Van Empel

RUUD VAN EMPEL (Breda, 1958)
"The office n.9. 1996.
Archival pigment print.
Measurements: 30 x 34 cm (photograph); 52,5 x 55,5 cm (frame).

"The office" (1995-2001) was the artist's first photographic series, in which he played with a deceptive documentary aesthetic, quickly disproved by the juxtaposition of different realities.
Renowned Dutch photographer and visual artist. He studied at the Academie voor Beeldende Kunst St. Joost in Breda in the 1970s. In the late 1980s he moved to Amsterdam to work on his career as a visual artist. Her first photographic series were The Office, Study for Women (1999-2002) and Study in Green (2003). The Groninger Museum presented her first solo exhibition in 1999. She made the international leap with her World-Moon-Venus series, which was exhibited at the George Eastman House in Rochester, New York. Curator Deborah Klochko invited him to participate in the exhibition entitled "Picturing Eden" at the George Eastman House. In particular, the World series, which explores the theme of innocence, made a deep impression. Van Empel placed neatly dressed black boys and girls in paradisiacal settings of unspoiled, non-existent nature. Interest in and appreciation of this series continues to this day all over the world. The breakthrough in the United States also brought renewed attention to Dutch museums. Van Empel has had solo exhibitions at the Het Valkhof Museum in Nijmegen, the Groninger Museum and the NoordBrabants Museum in 's-Hertogenbosch. Since the international recognition of his work gave Van Empel the status of an artist with his own independent formal language, he has progressively expanded his oeuvre with the series Theatre, from 2010 to 2013, and Souvenir, which offered a charged image of his youth in Breda. This series was acquired by the NoordBrabants Museum. But this always has a darker side, though not always obvious. Ruud Schenk, curator of the Groninger Museum, wrote about this aspect in reference to the series Study for Women (2000-2002). Her work has been reviewed in countless publications and she has held important international exhibitions, not only in institutions specializing in photography but also in renowned museums of modern visual art.