Claudie de Cleen (1968) cannot be captured by any single medium. She finds the term 'artist' a cumbersome burden to bear: she rather refers to herself as a draughtswoman. De Cleen draws in various styles, which she masters down to the smallest details: from girlishness to delicate little landscapes and hilarious cartoons.
The drawings are often dominated by a sense of discomfort. A woman shopping for groceries naked, while carrying two plastic shopping bags. A landscape with a sign in the distance bearing the enticing legend 'CLUB INFERNO'. 'For dead people only' is written in parentheses at the bottom of the drawing. Colourful birds, their pupils silver dots that rob them of their sight, with the text 'Modern birds in modern life'. At the moment, De Cleen has a six-month occupancy of the Parijs Holsboer studio in Paris, which belongs to the Institut Néerlandais and the Fonds BKVB. Besides older drawings and commissioned work, the exhibition also displays work she produced in her first month in Paris.
Claudie de Cleen graduated at the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam in 1992, at the Jan van Eyk Academy in Maastricht in 1996, followed the one-year course for art directors 'Hello', at the Academy for Creative Communication in Amsterdam and did an internship at Dutch advertising agency KesselsKramer. Her drawings are featured regularly in magazines such as Carp, BLVD and De Avenue.
During the exhibition, a limited edition set of serigraphs titled 'Secrets du Coeur' will be available for purchase. The set was made by De Cleen commissioned by the Grafisch Atelier Amsterdam, and consists of six images of various sizes, all picturing the attempt to enter into contact with 'desire'.
Claudie de Cleen: One fine day bakery, 25 May - 29 June 2002
Past exhibition