WILTING SPLENDOR

Photographer Annet van der Voort currently calls her atelier a floral laboratory. Here she observes the transformation of tulips, which she keeps in order to use them in their various states of expiration for her art. Her technique for producing images is modern and completely without camera. In a complex process, she scans the wilting splendor and in doing so creates a special visual space that best corresponds to her understanding of vanitas, the philosophical idea of the transience of everything mundane. Her scanograms are a modern variation on the floral painting of Holland’s gilded age.

Tulips became objects of desire in the seventeenth century. Their bulbs were auctioned at the highest prices. To show how the bulbs would flower, splendid paintings of the flora were commissioned. A true cult emerged around the floral status symbol, and thus the tulip made its way into the halls of art history. Today the flower paintings and contemporary still lifes rank among the zenith of Dutch painting.

The tulip growers outdid themselves with new color variations, but the highest goal was to create a black version. An absurd idea, it may seem – but perhaps logical when one considers the tulip’s ephemerality: blossoming beauty destined to deterioration.

Van der Voort’s work has a particular connection to that of Amsterdam’s painter Rachel Ruysch (1664-1750). Both include insects, butterflies, and other small animals in their floral compositions as essential elements. But what Ruysch employed to heighten the sense of reality, Voort consciously uses to establish a living counterpoint, to create equilibrium with the tulip’s wilting splendor.

Horst Klöver

Annet van der Voort was born in 1950 in Emmen, Netherlands. In 1987 she began her studies in visual communication at the Fachhochschule in Dortmund and received her designer’s degree in 1993. She taught classes at the Higher Institute of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium, in 1998 and 1999. In addition to her artistic work, van der Voort is also a freelance publicist. She lives and works in Drensteinfurt, Germany.

Коллекции (избранное)

Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart, Germany
European Polaroid Collection, Prag, Czech Republic
Industriemuseum, Dortmund, Germany
National Museum of Photography, Bradford, UK
Museet for Fotokunst, Odense, Denmark
Deutsches Architektur Museum, Frankfurt, Germany
Stadtmuseum, Münster, Germany
Gasunie, Groningen, Netherlands
La Filature, Mulhouse, France
Various private collections

Персональные выставки (избранное)

2009	Charakterwerk, Drensteinfurt, Germany
2008	Kreismuseum Wewelsburg, Büren, Germany
2006	Stadtmuseum, Münster, Germany
2005	Rencontres de la Photographie, Arles, France
2004	Botschaft der Niederlande, Copenhagen, Denmark
2003	Fotofestival Odense, Denmark
1998	Museet for Fotokunst (with J.Jensen), Odense, Denmark
	Deutsches Architekturmuseum, Frankfurt, Germany
1997	Kunsthal, Rotterdam, Netherlands
1995	Galerie Im Kabinett (with E. Vargas), Berlin, Germany
1992	Alte Synagoge, Essen, Germany
1991	Bundesgartenschau, Dortmund, Germany

Групповые выставки (избранное)

2008	Septembre de la Photographie, Lyon, France
2007	Rencontres de la Photographie, Arles, France
	La Filature, Mulhouse, France
	Kunstspeicher Würzburg, Germany
2006	Langhals galleri, Prague, Czech Republic
	Gasunie, Groningen, Netherlands
	Festival of photography, Kaunas, Lithuania
2005	Noorderlicht Photofestival, Groningen, Netherlands
	Imagine China Gallery, Shanghai, China
2004	Photofestival Exposure, Hereford, UK
2001	Nikolaj Art Center, Copenhagen, Denmark
	Museet for Fotokunst, Odense, Denmark
1999	Monat der Fotografie im Ruhrgebiet, Dortmund, Germany
1998	Zomer van de Fotografie, Antwerp, Belgium
	Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst, Berlin, Germany
1997	Mois de la Photo, Montreal, Canada
1995	National Museum of Photography, Bradford, UK
1990	Salon des Refusés, Dortmund, Germany

www.annetvandervoort.com

Книги/Каталоги (избранное)

Identité(s) 08, Lyon, 2008
Zwei Welten, Heidelberg, 2008
Rencontres de la Photographie Arles, Arles, 2007
Traces & Omens, Cat., Groningen, 2005
Rencontres Photographie Arles, Arles, 2005
Das Leben und die letzten Dinge, Freiburg, 2005
Odense Foto Triennale 2003, Odense, 2003
Leben im Hospiz, Münster, 2002
Mythos Zeitenwende, Herbert Knorr (ed.), Unna, 2000
Winterpoesie, Herbert Knorr (ed.), Arnsberg, 1999
IDentiteit, Cat., Antwerp, 1998
Gesichter und Dinge, NGBK, Berlin, 1998
The Dead, National Museum of Photography, Bradford, 1997
Von Angesicht zu Angesicht, Christoph Stiegemann (ed.), Paderborn, 1996
Deutscher Photopreis, 1993
Landesgirokasse Stuttgart (ed.), 1993
Anne Frank war nicht allein, Berlin and Bonn (with Volker Jakob), 1988