MARIKE SCHUURMAN NL 1964
Jenny Magnusson and Marike Schuurman, two artists whose practice engages with the transformation of materials, perceptions, and place, yet they adopt a distinctly different view.
Schuurman’s photographic practice navigates the tension between documentation and abstraction, capturing human-altered landscapes with a perceptive eye.
Schuurman’s photographic series Toxic (2022 – ongoing) addresses the ecological trauma of post- industrial landscapes. Photographing the acidic, lifeless waters of former coal mines in the Lusatia area of Germany with Polaroids, and then developing those images in the same contaminated lakes, Schuurman allows subject and process to merge. The chemical reactions between the lake’s pH levels and the film’s own acidic emulsion produce hauntingly beautiful images that reveal the unnaturalness of the water itself. Encased in plexiglass boxes, the works emphasize both the allure and untouchability of the damaged environment.
In addition, we will present a work from the series Expired (2007). These large-scale works were taken by Schuurman in São Paulo shortly after the “Clean City Law” came into effect. All advertisement in the public space was banned; advertisements were removed or painted over. Using expired Polaroid film, she documented what was no longer there. During the development the Polaroids disrupted chemical processes produced uncontrollable images of abstract landscapes. They bear no imprint of space or time, only the chemistry of the Polaroid itself. The images were scanned, enlarged, and coated with liquid gloss, transforming them into monumental, sculptural photographs: objects in their own right, documents of what can no longer be seen.
Both Schuurman and Magnusson push the boundaries of their respective mediums, photography and sculpture, through thoughtful, layered explorations of material, place, and process. Their methods are guided by intuitive responses, resulting in spontaneous, site-aware interventions.
Now at the Gallery: (Working Title) Balance till 18 April 2026 with Jenny Brockmann, Nuria Fuster, Jenny Magnusson, Martin Mlecko and Henrik Strömberg
John Devos
johndevos.photo (a) gmail.com
