NATURE, PERCEPTION, AND MATERIALITY IN CONTEMPORARY LENS-BASED ART
OPENING: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 17 – 21 H, BILDHALLE, SINGEL 272
THE ARTISTS ARE PRESENT – PART OF THE GALLERY NIGHT OF AMSTERDAM ART
ARTIST TALK WITH INKA & NIKLAS: SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 14 H
Inka & Niclas, Adam Jeppesen and Joost Vandebrug approach nature not as a static subject but as a dynamic collaborator – fragile, ever-changing and ephemeral. In their work, nature is both material and metaphor, explored through diverse, tactile processes that push the possibilities of photography.
Inka & Niclas (FI/SE)
In their lens-based practice, Inka & Niclas delve into the over-consumed and over-saturated visual culture surrounding portrayals of nature. The artist duo investigates how our relationship with the natural world is shaped – and often distorted – by the camera lens. In their work, there is a constant urge to question conventions and playfully explore what photography can become when it encounters new materials, forms and possibilities.
Adam Jeppesen (DK)
In Tanks (2016 – present), Adam Jeppesen suspends cyanotype-printed fabric in oil-filled tanks, blurring the line between image and object. His practice consistently pushes the boundaries of photography, treating the medium not as an end but a starting point. Though rooted in photographic processes, this work moves decisively toward the sculptural. Where early camera-less photography often halted at the flat image, Jeppesen treats the cyanotype as the beginning of a broader, spatial investigation.
Joost Vandebrug (NL)
At the heart of Joost Vandebrug’s work lie imagined landscapes composed of fragments of visual memory and travel. His practice pushes the boundaries of photography through a deep engagement with materiality and unconventional printing techniques. Themes of vulnerability, ephemerality, and the poetic everyday resonate throughout his work. Vandebrug embraces imperfections, treating them as integral to the creative process. His prints – often made on handmade Japanese washi, Nepali, or baryta paper – reveal the mechanics of their making and reflect the sensitivity that is so central to his practice.
Together, these artists open a dialogue around nature as something seen, shaped, and felt – not merely documented, but transformed. Their works resist permanence and perfection, instead, they embrace fragility, artifice, and transformation as essential elements of a contemporary visual language.
