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biographie

I am an observer, art is my disguise…

In my artworks I explore the hidden significance of seemingly mundane objects or scenes and how they can be portrayed in ways that reveal something deeper about our identities. I search for forms that remain grounded in reality, yet also highlight its complexity and the sense of its inherent incomprehensibility.

I’m less interested in the traditional „decisive moment“ photograph—where a single, self-contained image captures everything—and more focused on creating meaning through the relationships between photographs.

My work explores how images interact, challenge, and recontextualize each other, revealing complex narratives that emerge from their dialogue rather than from individual, isolated compositions.

My projects—both autonomous photographic series and site-specific interventions—are deeply rooted in context. Each work emerges from a careful investigation of location, history, social dynamics, and the potential interactions with viewers.

For me, photographs, are versatile materials that engage in complex dialogues. They can be reimagined across multiple platforms—from traditional exhibitions and publications to architectural integrations and site-specific installations. This approach allows me to explore the fluid nature of visual storytelling and spatial interpretation.

My permanent works can be found throughout the Netherlands, inhabiting diverse spaces: cultural centers, apartment buildings, laboratories, schools, immigration service waiting rooms, town halls, parking garages, police stations, and social housing complexes. Each location becomes a canvas for exploring broader social narratives.

In 2012, Marieken Verheyen moved with Martin Hansen from Amsterdam to the Uckermark to set up Re:hof Rutenberg, a tourist project in which architecture, design and art merge on the large site of a former rectory.

Her work is included in the collections of the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, Museum of Modern Art Arnhem and the Amsterdam Museum.

PROJECTS (choise)

Reviere | Realms – book, 3 channel videoinstallation, photo series, 2024
I’ve been roaming through the surrounding forests with my camera. I was looking for traces that tell something about its development, its history, its users and its inhabitants.

Afghanistan – photo series, Book, 2012
1976, a journey from Herat to Kabul through the inaccessible interior of Afghanistan. A reconstruction.

Football club | Amsterdam , 2011, 4 panoramic photos,
Where did the discarded shirts from Amsterdam’s Arsenal football club end up in Gambia?

Elsewhere – photo series, photo book, 2007
Elsewhere illustrates contemporary experiences of foreignness and familiarity and explores the dream and mirage images at the source of emigration decisions.
Exhibition: Naarden Photo Festival 2007

View – photo installations based on the photographs of Elsewhere
Artwalk Amsterdam 2006, Breda Photo Festival 2008, De Balie Amsterdam 2009, (NL)
Life-size views from windows of living rooms in countries of origin of immigrants as trompe l’oeil in 10 shop windows in a working-class neighborhood.

Public Life – photo series, 2005-2012, Center for Visual Arts CBK Amsterdam (NL)
Panoramic images of groups in public space in different countries.

A Home from a Home – photo series, 2005, Bagagehal Amsterdam (NL)
Photos of personal objects that residents of a „plate“ in Amsterdam brought from their countries of origin.

Fuoco fatuo (Will-o‘-the-wisp) – photo installation, 2001, Topolo (I).
Photos of family members who emigrated from the Italian mountain village, hung as lanterns in unused spaces between the houses and barns.

In the eye of the beholder – video installation, 2003, Heilo Mental Hospital (NL)
On the premises of a mental hospital, the viewer is confronted with the eyes of the patients in the confessional of the church.

Red Light – film and film installation, 1988
Point of view of a window prostitute in the red light district of Amsterdam on her potential johns.
Exhibitions: Rijksmuseum Twente, Historisch Museum Apeldoorn, Historisch Museum Amsterdam (NL), Locomativa Verona (I), Kampnagel Hamburg (D), Film screening: various festivals (Osnabrück, Rotterdam, IDFA) and ARTE.

PUBLIC SPACE – permanent works (choise)

Cultural center | Veenendaal, 2010, vinyl on glass
An old textile factory is transformed into a cultural center, a web of related words about the history of the factory on the new glass facade

Satelite town | Leidschendam, 2006, light installation with photos
In the entrance hall one gets to know the favorite objects of the neighbors.

Suburb | Amsterdam, 2005, painting and light installation on the fire wall, 31×10 meter
Without dreams nobody would leave for somewhere else.

‚Temporary re-organisation‘ | Amsterdam, 2004, temporary installation, 70 carpets over balcony balustrades
In new building neighborhoods hanging up laundry and airing carpets is forbidden.

Immigration Office | Zwolle, 2003, 25 Cibrachrome slides 140x162cm
The daily reality in countries of origin of migrants seeking asylum in Holland.

Elementary school | The Hague, 2001, 11 photos on PVC, 250x140cm
What stimulates the imagination of young children when they grow up in the confines of a nature-poor neighborhood?

City hall | Katwijk aan zee, 1999, 4 Reliëfs of transparent rubber, 90x250cm.
Structures of sand waves when the sea retreats at low tide.

Parking lot | Alkmaar, 1998, Cibachrome slides in light boxes 510x100cm, panoramic photo in elevator shaft 900x110cm.
Where fish and frogs once lived, cars now park.

Laboratorium | Bilthoven, 1998, transparent film on glass 7×10 meter, 2 reliefs in PU rubber 87x110cm
Microcosm/Macrocosm – What is the connection between microscopic photos of bacteria, satellite photos and pictures from the universe?

Apartment block | Maassluis, 1997, 2 glass facades, sandblasted glass 6×10 meter, 8 reliefs cast in concrete, 0,5×14 meter
I didn’t know that there are so many different kinds of bobbin curtains to distinguish from the neighbors.

Police station | The Hague, 1995, glass front sandblasted glass 8×7 meter
Every individual – regardless of skin color and ethnicity – has her or his unique fingerprint.

2001-2003 – Advisor of the The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture
2002-2011 – Advisor Art in public space, Amsterdam

CV (selection)
2024 – German Romantic Museum Frankfurt, New Tales of the Forest, 3 channel videoinstallation
2017 – Castle Werdeburg (CH), film installation
2016 – Amsterdam Museum, videoinstallation
2016 – De Hallen Haarlem, photo project, group exhibition
2015 – Museum moderne kunst Arnhem, photo project, group exhibition
2011 – Rijksmuseum Twente, videoinstallation, group exhibition
2010 – Historisch Museum Apeldoorn, videoinstallation, Group exhibition
2009 – Centre for Visual Arts CBK, photo project, group exhibition
2008 – Fotofestival Breda, photo installation
2007 – De Balie Amsterdam, solo exhibition
2007 – Fotofestival Naarden, photo installation
2006 – Architects‘ Chamber Hanover (D), solo exhibition
2005 – Amsterdam | high-rise residential building, permanent project
2004 – Artwalk Amsterdam and Kostelijke kades, Site specific installations
2003 – Nervenklinik Heilo(NL), Site specific Installation
2001 – Topolo (I), Fuoco fatuo, Site specific installation
1997 – Solo exhibition, Galerie De la Tour, Amsterdam
1996 – Halle K3 Hamburg, Group exhibition
1994 – Lokomotiva Kosmika, Verona (I), group exhibition