Demiak (pseudonym of Maarten Demmink) is a Dutch painter, photographer and sculptor. Born in 1967 in

Goudriaan Goudriaan is a village in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Molenlanden, and lies about 25 km east of Rotterdam. On 1 January 2006, the village of Goudriaan had 843 inhabitants. The built-up area of the ...

, he lives and works in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's ad ...

Biography

He grew up in

Laag-Soeren Laag-Soeren is a village in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is about 4 km northwest of Dieren, in the municipalities of Rheden and Brummen. It used to be a spa town. History It was first mentioned between 1830 and 1855 as Laag Soeren ...

where he was initiated to painting by his mother and grandfather, both artists and teachers. He first studied at the

Utrecht School of the Arts The HKU University of the Arts Utrecht ( nl, Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht, HKU) is a performing arts and visual arts educational institution in Utrecht, Netherlands. Overview The institution has 680 teachers and staff members. The HKU c ...

(1986-1988). Disappointed by the predominance of abstraction in the courses, he transferred to the

Royal Academy of Art, The Hague The Royal Academy of Art (KABK, nl, Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten) is an art and design academy in The Hague. Succeeding the ''Haagsche Teeken-Academie'' (part of the Confrerie Pictura), the academy was founded on 29 September 1682, m ...

, more focused on pictorial techniques. He was graduated in 1992 under the pseudonym Demiak. Along with a group of friends met at the Royal Academy, including Vittorio Roerade, Niels Janssen, Peter Zwaan and Tjebbe Beekman, he settled in the area of Laakkwartier being demolished. Since that date, Demiak has been working temporarily in different damaged buildings: former offices, old schools or houses. The difficulty to find a permanent studio finds an echo in his sculptures and photographs of ruined houses. He began to paint surrealist landscapes before organizing his works in series and experimenting with new mediums in the 2000s, such as staged photographs, mixed media and mural wood sculptures. Fascinated by

Piero della Francesca Piero della Francesca (, also , ; – 12 October 1492), originally named Piero di Benedetto, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. To contemporaries he was also known as a mathematician and geometer. Nowadays Piero della Francesca ...

and by

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially re ...

’s landscapes, Demiak explores the relationship between nature and industry in fantasy pictures or post-apocalyptic landscapes. He was awarded the Van Ommeren de Voogt prize in 2004, the Jacob Hartog prize in 2010, the silver medal with Bas Koopmans and Festina Lente Collective for the cover art of The Kyteman orchestra album in 2012 and the Groene prize at the zomerexpo in 2013 by the

Gemeentemuseum Den Haag The Kunstmuseum Den Haag is an art museum in The Hague in the Netherlands, founded in 1866 as the Museum voor Moderne Kunst. Later, until 1998, it was known as Haags Gemeentemuseum, and until the end of September 2019 as Gemeentemuseum Den Haag. I ...

Work

* "''Dreamland''" series (2002-2008), paintings and painted photographs based on recurrent dreams he had of flying above imaginary landscapes. The painter gradually extends this series with mural and independent sculptures of wooden rudimentary houses * "''The Big blow''" series, (2010-2013) paintings and watercolors depicting ravages caused by hurricanes, floods and other natural disasters through centuries. Each artwork looks like a vintage photograph and is entitled with the place and the date of a catastrophe, from the

St. Elizabeth's flood (1421) The St. Elizabeth's flood of 1421 was a flooding of the Grote Hollandse Waard, an area in what is now the Netherlands. It takes its name from the feast day of Saint Elisabeth of Hungary which was formerly 19 November. It ranks 20th on the lis ...

in the Netherlands to the Breezy point fire in 2012 (

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds span ...

) * "''Malaysia''" (2009), paintings, painted photographs and sculptures linked to a journey in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

further to an invitation by the Malaysian Embassy * "''The Deepwater Horizon''" series (2010-2011), docufiction staged photographs using small scales models related to the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United S ...

oil spill in 2010 * "''The Swampland series''", paintings of virgin swamplands or swampy landscapes revealing marks of human activity inspired by journeys in

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a U.S. state, state in the Deep South and South Central United States, South Central regions of the United States. It is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 20th-smal ...

and

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Solo exhibitions (selection)

* 2008: ''Dreamland'',

Pulchri Studio Pulchri Studio (Latin:"For the study of beauty") is a Dutch art society, art institution and art studio based in The Hague ('s-Gravenhage), Netherlands. This institute began in 1847 at the home of painter Lambertus Hardenberg. Since 1893 the c ...

, The Hague * 2012: ''Deepwater Horizon'', Galerie Kap Pur, Tilburg; ''The Big Blow'', Redbud Gallery, Houston * 2022: ''Places & Traces'', Galerie Jean-Marie Oger, Paris

Group exhibitions (selection)

* 2009: ''Brushwork Odyssey in Malaysia'',

, The Hague * 2011: ''Dutch Invasion'', Williams Tower Gallery, Houston; ''Dutch Invasion'', Box 13 Art Space, Houston * 2013: ''Trouble the Water'', Legion Arts, Cedar Rapids * 2015: ''Sanctuary'', Suzanne Biederberg Gallery, Amsterdam * 2016: ''Still life – Style of life'', Jean-Marie Oger, Paris

Album cover art

Kyteman Colin Benders (born 5 December 1986 in Utrecht) is a Dutch techno artist. He is also the founding figure of The Kyteman Orchestra. Childhood Benders grew up in Sterrenwijk, Utrecht. Primary school was not easy for Colin; various diagnoses, like ...

, ''The Kyteman orchestra'', 2012

Bibliography

* ''Demiak –Dreamland'', text by Paola van de Velde, Haags Palet deel 22, The Hague, 2008 * ''Brushwork Odyssey in Malaysia: A Dutch Retelling'', Edition of the Embassy of Malaysia, The Hague, 2009 * ''Dutch Invasion - 5 Dutch artists visiting Houston'', texts by Jetteke Bolten-Rempt and Maria Smits, 2011 * ''Beeld voor Beeld: HBKK jubileum boek'', De Stichting Haagse Beeldende Kunst en Kunstnijverheid, 2014

External links

Official site

Galerie Jean-Marie Oger

References

{{Authority control (arts) 1967 births Living people Modern painters Contemporary painters 20th-century Dutch painters Dutch male painters Dutch contemporary artists Dutch photographers Dutch sculptors Dutch male sculptors People from Graafstroom People from Rheden Royal Academy of Art, The Hague alumni Date of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Dutch male artists