Art Rotterdam

with Lisette van Hoogenhuyze

For the New Art section of Art Rotterdam 2025, Gallery van Fanny Freytag is proud to present a solo exhibition by Lisette van Hoogenhuyze (b. 1991).

Van Hoogenhuyze is a multidisciplinary artist whose work explores themes of identity, subcultures, and global citizenship. Her most recent work is inspired by her experience of new motherhood and navigating cultural identity, with her child being raised in a richly multicultural environment.

In her practice, van Hoogenhuyze incorporates traditional craftsmanship, particularly textiles, weaving, embroidery, patterns, and ceramics.

For Art Rotterdam 2025, Lisette van Hoogenhuyze will show a selection of both new and earlier works that embody the theme of cultural identity in a heavily globalized but polarized world.

For more information or tickets, please contact the gallery: gallery@vanfannyfretyag.com

Lisette van Hoogenhuyze (1991) was born in The Hague, Netherlands. She holds a degree in Art History from the University of Amsterdam and graduated in Fine Art from the University of the Arts Utrecht in 2019. She currently lives and works between Amsterdam and Lisbon.

As a multimedia artist, Lisette has developed a profound interest in the behavior and habits of different cultures. Through her encounters, she has observed a recurring theme: a quest for belonging among people on their own contemporary pilgrimages.

An avid traveler herself, Lisette’s work explores themes of identity, collective memory, and language. Using layered compositions and vibrant color arrangements inspired by diverse visual motifs, she invites viewers on a journey through different interpretations of contemporary (sub)cultures. Her work traverses invisible borders that feel more relevant than ever.

Van Hoogenhuyze’s art has been showcased at esteemed institutions such as Museum IJsselstein, Torch Gallery (Amsterdam), ART Rotterdam, and Saatchi Gallery (London). Her work is included in notable collections, including the Rijksoverheid (Dutch Government), the KPMG art collection, the Büyükkusoglu collection, and private collections in New York, Slovakia, Italy, and the Netherlands.

‘A Mirror of All Others’

A group-exhibition with Ivalu Carlsen, Julia Creuheras, Bernice Nauta, Marinka Reuten and Elise van Staveren.

Gallery van Fanny Freytag is proud to announce exhibition A Mirror of All Others, opening on January 17, 17:00.

A group exhibition that explores the thresholds of being and becoming, questioning how we shape meaning in the spaces in-between body and soul. The exhibition features work by Ivalu Carlsen, Julia Creuheras, Bernice Nauta, Marinka Reuten and Elise van Staveren.

A Mirror of All Others delves into the notion that our perception of identity is not static, but fluid: constantly shaped by the interplay between presence and absence, the physical and the immaterial.

The exhibition draws on Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s philosophy, which posits that the body acts as both a mirror and a gateway to the world, influencing how we navigate and understand our existence. In this exhibition, the artists explore the boundaries between these states of being, questioning and reimagining the boundaries that define our identity.

A Mirror of All Others shows works that touch on the theme in various ways: engaging with different facets of time, object-hood, non-presence, and fragments. Whether through the subtle passage of time, the transformation of objects into vessels of identity, or the presence of invisible forces, each piece invites reflection on how being and becoming are intertwined and ever-changing.

Ivalu Carlsen (1995, Denmark) graduated from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in 2024. Her graduation work is included in this exhibition, a drop made from glass and steel trying to do what is impossible; holding on to time. She works within the space of uncertainty, embracing the unpredictability between a gesture and its receiver, where the outcome remains unknown until it emerges.

Elise van Staveren (2000, Netherlands) is a visual artist whose work explores memory, time, and the relationship between the body and objects. The objects Elise paints, often appear worn, as if they carry life and identity in them. They evoke personal memories, such as those of her mother, and reflect how objects—like her silverware pieces—retain life through human interaction. She holds a Master of Fine Art from the Frank Mohr Institute (2021–2023) and a Bachelor of Fine Art with honors from HKU, Utrecht (2017–2021).

Marinka Reuten (Netherlands), a former graphic designer, shifted her focus entirely to autonomous art in 2022. Her paintings explore themes of time, impermanence and resilience through minimalist surfaces. Her work invites viewers to pause and reflect on life's transience, urging them to slow down, pay attention, and uncover the essence of each moment—whether through a broader view of time or a closer focus on its smallest details.

Julia Creuheras (1995, Spain) an artist based in Barcelona, explores the boundaries between life and non-life, magic and reality, focusing on the uncanny and creating pieces that evoke both wonder and unease through movement and technology. She graduated with an MA in Computational Arts from Goldsmiths in 2019 and a BA in Visual Arts from Camberwell College of Arts in 2018. 

Bernice Nauta (1991, Netherlands) holds a BA in Fine Arts from the Royal Academy of Art (KABK) in The Hague (2013) and an MFA from the Sandberg Institute in Amsterdam (2022).  Her work often features characters and objects that hover between the visible and the invisible, exploring identity in transitional spaces and the interplay between form and imagination. Her multidisciplinary practice includes drawing, painting, installations, and film. For this exhibition Bernice made sculptures and asked; How can one learn to become someone? 

El Futuro Siempre Será Brillante

A solo exhibition by Azul Ehrenberg

On Friday November 15th the solo exhibition ‘El Futuro Siempre Será Brillante’ by artist Azul Ehrenberg opens in Gallery van Fanny Freytag.

In the exhibition ‘El Futuro Siempre Será Brillante', multidisciplinary artist Azul Ehrenberg uses the lottery ticket as a symbol of hope and illusion. She explores the ambiguity of the lottery, representing both financial inequality and the attempt to escape it. 

Having spent a year working in Mexico, she will show her photographic work, printed on Mexican lottery calendars. Her fascination with paper, in this case the texture and composition of the lottery sheets, is also evident in other work displayed at Fanny Freytag; a series of her handmade paper mixed with personal images. In addition to the photographic works, Ehrenberg presents the installation Portable Paradise. This is a collection of over 100 found objects, each representing a personal or emotional “paradise.”. She also made sculptural pieces for the exhibition, including her take on the classic Mexican piñata. Together, the works create a playful yet confrontational whole. They remind us of our vices and desires, of our differences and similarities, in a time when success seems to dictate the pace for finding fulfillment.

Azul Ehrenberg (1997) is an interdisciplinary artist working between Mexico and the Netherlands. She graduated from the Rietveld Academy in 2022 and has exhibited her work at places including Gallery Vriend van Bavink, Gallery van Fanny Freytag, Art Island, and various venues in Mexico. This year, she will present her work at Unfair, which takes place from November 21 to 24 at the Gashouder in Amsterdam. 

In her work, she often combines handmade paper, visual poetry, and moving images, with a focus on archives and self-created imagery. She explores how narratives from the past and present influence our perception by intervening in existing materials and creating new contexts. Her experimental approach addresses themes such as heritage, memory, and the emotional resonance these evoke. Materiality plays a crucial role in her work; for instance, she makes paper from locally sourced plants, deepening her connection to her heritage. Her work invites reflection on solitude and the contrasts between modernity and tradition, drawing inspiration from both Mexico and the Netherlands. She blurs the line between reality and imagination, evoking a universal atmosphere that engages the senses. Her work is both personal and a reflection of broader cultural themes.

We came a long way

Duo-expositie van Kenneth Aidoo en Tom van Veen

English below

Kunstenaars en vrienden Kenneth Aidoo en Tom van Veen tonen in de duo-expositie ‘We came a long way’ werk dat reflecteert op de betekenis en waarde van vriendschap. 

De werken zijn een schilderkunstige ode aan broederschap, collectieve herinneringen, gedeelde herkenning en de mogelijkheden van een grotere gemeenschap 

Tom van Veen onderzoekt hoe fenomenen zoals muziek, kleding, uitgaanscultuur en gebeurtenissen mensen verbindt in hedendaagse progressieve gemeenschappen. Met het werk dat getoond wordt in deze expositie laat hij de schoonheid van saamhorigheidsgevoel zien.

Kenneth Aidoo is in zijn werk ingegaan op zijn relatie met Tom van Veen. In een reeks intieme schilderijen laat Kenneth Aidoo zien wat het is dat hem verbindt met Tom van Veen; gedeelde vreugde, leed, smaak, interesses maar ook acceptatie van elkaars verschillen.

Kenneth Aidoo

Multidisciplinaire kunstenaar Kenneth Aidoo (1988) studeerde in 2019 af aan de Gerrit Rietveld Academie, daarvoor studeerde hij aan de Nederlandse Filmacademie (2015). In 2022 won hij de de Koninklijke Prijs voor Moderne Schilderkunst. Aidoo werkt met verschillende media zoals video-installaties en schilderijen. De representatie en onderbelichte geschiedenis van zwarte mensen loopt als een rode draad door het werk van Kenneth. Voor deze expositie keek Kenneth naar zijn relatie met Tom en maakte daar werk over. Momenteel heeft Kenneth een residentie in het Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam bij Bureau Stedelijk, te bezoeken tot en met 17 oktober. In het Stedelijk Museum maakte Kenneth onder andere het portret ‘Tom’.  Eerder toonde Kenneth werk bij Framer Framed, W139 en Unfair. Zijn werk zit onder andere in de kunstcollectie van Akzo Nobel Art Foundation.

Tom van Veen

Multidisciplinaire kunstenaar Tom van Veen (1995) studeerde in 2019 af aan de Artez Aki Hogeschool van de Kunsten met een bachelor Fine Art. Tom is bekend om zijn schilderijen maar werkt ook met textiel, 3d prints en andere media. Collectiviteit en verbondenheid zijn de hoofdonderwerpen van Tom’s werk, in zijn werk refereert hij zowel naar de oude meesters als naar universele thema’s uit de jeugdcultuur. Hij toonde werk bij onder andere Art Rotterdam, Unfair en This Art Fair. 

English text

‘We came a long way’

Duo-exhibition with Kenneth Aidoo and Tom van Veen

In the duo-exhibition ‘We came a long way’, artists and friends Kenneth Aidoo and Tom van Veen present work that reflects on the meaning and value of friendship. The works are a painterly ode to brotherhood, collective memory, shared recognition, and the potential of being part of a larger community

Tom van Veen explores how phenomena such as music, fashion, nightlife, and events connect people in contemporary progressive communities. The works in this exhibition present the beauty of fellowship. Kenneth Aidoo has delved into his relationship to Tom. In a series of intimate paintings Kenneth presents what it is that connects him to Tom; shared joy, pain, tastes and interests, but also acceptance of each other’s differences. 

About the artists: 

Kenneth: 

Multidisciplinary artist Kenneth Aidoo (1988) graduated from the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in 2019. Previously, he studied at the Dutch FIlm Academy (2015). In 2022 he won the Royal Prize for Modern Painting. The underrepresented history of black people is an important theme in his work. Aidoo works with different media, such as video installations and painting. Kenneth currently has a residency with Buro Stedelijk in the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, which is on view until October 17th. Past exhibitions have included Framer Framed, W139 and Unfair. His work has been selected for the Akzo Nobel Art Foundation. 

Tom: 

Multidisciplinary artist Tom van Veen (1995) graduated from the Artez Aki College of the Arts in 2019. He is known for his paintings but has also worked with textile, 3D printing and other media. Collectivity and Connection are the main themes of Tom’s work, referencing both the old masters and universal themes from youth culture. Past exhibitions have included Art Rotterdam, Unfair and This Art Fair.  

“The image of the little dabbling duck catches me.

I’m looking out over an expanse of water and his upturned tush turns my landscape view around its axis by 90 degrees.

It’s like being jovially mooned, or being shown what category of thing belongs on this side of the water’s surface –

I’m just an ass here with the other asses.”

From May 30 until July 6 solo exhibition ‘Absolutely Never Sitting Duck’ is on view in gallery van Fanny Freytag, by Rijksakademie alumnus Annelies Kamen. The exhibition is curated by Jelmer Wijnstroom.

 In the exhibition ‘Absolutely Never Sitting Duck’ Annelies Kamen presents an installation with new ceramics, video and print works. In her work Kamen plays with language and the power dynamics involved in joke-making. Her work often begins with autobiographical stories or myths, which she combines with research into pop and mass culture to understand how perceptions of what is 'real' are shaped and manipulated.

The structure for laying out a spread of decoy ducks is called a rig; it's used in hunting. Decoys can point out the boundaries between definitions of what is ‘real’ and what is not. The duck decoy is a  construction meant to mimic the real, in order to destroy it; a tricky mirror and a deadly hoax. The presented works point out a thin line between what you could see as ‘real’ or ‘fake’, and sometimes the one seeps into the other, like the image of a Möbius strip. Or like a decoy duck is used to lure a real duck. On which side of the strip are we?

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Annelies Kamen (1988) is an artist based in Berlin. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in 2011. And a Master of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2014. Her work has been exhibited internationally at, among others, the Biennial of Humor and Satire in Art in Gabrovo, Bulgaria, the Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, the Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago and fffriedrich in Frankfurt am Main. She was a 2018 fellow of the Goldrausch Künstlerinnenproject, Berlin and a resident artist at the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam from 2021-2023.

Tja Ling Hu, It’s best to harvest at full moon (2023), 41 x 29,5 cm, Potlood op steinbach papier

Solo exhibition ‘A corner of the Universe’ by artist Tja Ling Hu is on view in gallery van Fanny Freytag from April 19 until May 18.

In her work, Tja Ling explores the complexity of human existence, universal connectedness and migration movements. The pieces showcased in the exhibition are the result of her research into the influence of intergenerational transmissions on contemporary society. While eternal truths derived from myths offer wisdom and knowledge, negative behavioral patterns are also often transmitted across generations.

With the symbols that Tja Ling creates in her imagery, she invites her audience to an inner dialogue. Through self-development, a person contributes to the collective, building on the legacy of previous generations. 

Tja Ling is known for her profound drawings on paper. Following her residency at the Vincent van GoghHuis in 2023, Tja Ling has expanded her repertoire by adding ceramic sculptures and paintings. For the first time, she brings these three mediums together, in the exhibition 'A Corner of the Universe'.   

Tja Ling (1987) graduated in 2010 with a Bachelor of Design towards fashion. After realizing that the fashion world was not for her, Tja Ling discovered her passion for drawing. She graduated from the Luca School of Arts in Ghent in 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts after which she completed a Master in Fine Arts in 2016. In 2017, she won the Fiep Westendorp Incentive Award. Tja Ling has previously shown work at Fanny Freytag's brother; gallery Vriend van Bavink, Beurs van Berlage, het Scheepvaart Museum and Museum IJsselstein. In 2023 she completed her residency at the Vincent van GoghHuis, during which she expanded her artistic repertoire, adding painting and ceramics. Her work is currently on show in the Amsterdam Museum as part of exhibition series Collecting the City #4. 

Tja Ling, Joshua tree (2024), 36 x 27 cm, Potlood op steinbach

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My Ghostly MRI’s

Solo exhibition by Femi Dawkins

From March 22nd, solo exhibition 'My Ghostly MRI’s' by artist Femi Dawkins is on view at gallery van Fanny Freytag.

Femi Dawkins shows a series of MRI's, an ongoing research project consisting of paper works with Lapis Lazuli, beetroot, salt and Indian Ink. My Ghostly MRI’s is a meditation on grief, faces abstracted into emotional landscapes.

As a child of the Diaspora and it’s migratory movements, Dawkins journeys through in-between worlds. His work focuses on these fractured narratives and the significance of personal narratives that translate into universal truths. 

Shaheen Merali, Curator/ Artist based in London said about Femi's MRI's: 

My Ghostly MRI’s are envisaged by the Jamaican born, Netherlands  and London based, artist Femi Dawkins as a series of haunting portraits deploying mix media practice to obliquely articulate memory, and radical loss. Dawkins' involvement with diverse visual notations has enabled him to depict the condition he describes as the “silence grown to a punctuation.” For Dawkins, My Ghostly MRI’s provoke our imaginations to push boundaries and social attitudes which otherwise would remain archival documents “failing a beginning.”  

Femi Dawkins is an independent artist, he graduated with a MFA from Goldsmiths University London with distinction (2022). He won the Gieskes-Strijbis Podiumprijs (2022) together with Kate Moore, he was the first recipient of the Lisson Gallery scholarship (2022), was selected as a New Contemporaries artist (2021), and was awarded the the Ford Fellowship (1991-90). He received his BA/BS from Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY (1989) and is an alumni of La Guardia High School of Music and Art (1984).

He has exhibited his work in the exhibitin ‘Rites Of Passage’ curated by Péjú Oshin (2023) in Gagosian Gallery at the Brittania Street gallery in London and the South London gallery, Capital C in Amsterdam, Firstsite in Colchester, Barnsdale Municipal Gallery in Los Angeles and CC Pounder Gallery in Los Angeles. 

Femi Dawkins, about the opening night

In the process of making My Ghostly MRI's,

  I channel what's inside the enslaved body and the lived experience of a life in handcuffs or the constant threat of handcuffs.

My mournful rendition of Motherless Child amidst my work was filled with vulnerability and grief. 

It comes from the same place as the tears that flow like washing the bodies in perpetual quietness looking for sovereignty of purpose.

 What it is like, to live a life unremarked upon, but visited by violence, for violence sake. 

No one likes seeing a black man on his knees, it recalls Rodney King and many other countless and nameless bodies whipped and mashed into submission to pain death and terror.

Yet there I was circling my work, head downturned  singing Motherless Child, my knees dragging across the floors of the gallery.

Each round my voice getting louder and louder.

Recalling the transatlantic voyages of past ships and lost dead souls thrown overboard without a care, and buried deep under water and in soil.

The countless nameless faces and bodies broken  and thrown on beds of  antebellum medical schools and experimented on and thrown in graves unmarked and unremarked without names or even a mournful peep of anyone caring.   I was performing poetry as prayer. Attempting to visualize the spiritual by spirit conjuring

"Far away from home a language like a man can lose face, hang its head in shame and wither into silence. I became by loving myself, loveless motherless child." 

Through sonic reflection in the form of music and poetry , in this case singing  Motherless Child, 

I sought a deeper engagement with the forgotten histories and the suppressed forms of diasporic memories.

The sonic presented at My Ghostly MRI solo exhibition, are the poetics of words and the visual of falling down, are all contributing to the ground swell of being present in the moments of trauma and joy, a transformation of silence and being silenced into language and action.

Of black bodies that escape like angry liquids, somewhere, to catch their breath.

the blue Vein

That vibrates

Under the surface of the black skin,

Who is talking? 

From what under water

and lost country ocean

will you return me The bone and the eye

The mouth 

And the sound.”

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CAESURA //

A Perception of Silence

Group exhibition ‘Caesura’ is on view in the gallery from the 9th of February until the 16th of March.

This exhibition brings together a selection of pieces by Azul Ehrenberg, Johnny Mae Hauser and Aldo van den Broek.

In a fast paced world filled with stimuli, even the slightest perception of silence can be significantly valuable. What happens in this fleeting moment of quiet presence?

Azul Ehrenberg (1997) is an emerging interdisciplinary artist who graduated from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in 2022, she is based between Mexico and Amsterdam. Among other projects, she showed her graduation work in the exhibition '34 ondergaande zonnen' at gallery Vriend van Bavink. In her work she dominantly uses a combination of self-made paper, visual poetry and moving image. Azul said about her work in the upcoming show: 'The works in 'CAESURA' might all together form a journey through my subconscious. The images represent moments of wandering in and out of what's real and imaginary.' 

Johnny Mae Hauser (1997) is known for her sensitive ways of capturing the obscure existence of human emotion. An incomprehensible stillness can be found in her images, which are recognisable by their soft and at times cool colour schemes. The Dutch-German artist who graduated in 2022 from the KABK challenges us to see beyond the traditional ways of looking at photography. She already has several solo exhibitions on her name and is paving her way to becoming an internationally recognized artist. 

Aldo van den Broek (1985) creates charged, texturized canvases and sculptures by using scrap materials that he carefully selects from the street such as cardboard, wood, fabrics, plastic, and metals. He reframes and re-contextualizes his subject and combines technical mastery with playful assemblage techniques. These resulting stills defy straightforward interpretation as he questions our fast-paced society, exploring love, death, and the existential.

Article about the exhibition in Het Parool

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