Jacobien de Korte

January - February 2024

FULL CIRCLE

by Michael Toorop

🇬🇧 translation

Jacobien de Korte's exhibition Back to Venice is a logical follow-up to her participation in the Biennale Architettura 2023 in Venice. Logical, because this allows Jacobien to share her work with those who supported her to go to the Biennale, but also to show it to a wider audience. Also logical because the theme of this six-month exhibition in Venice applies 1 to 1 to The Hague and the Low Countries, namely the rising sea level. Jacobien's work during this 18th Biennale Architettura was exhibited in the Palazzo Bembo and was a selection from her series Elevation. This series reflects life above sea level, but also has deeper layers of meaning, such as the upliftment of people and the consequences of rising sea levels.

The honorable invitation to participate came via Suzanne van der Borg, an Italian-Dutch exhibition maker and curator, who works for the European Cultural Center (the organizer of the Time Space Existence exhibition). This marked the beginning of an intensive collaboration and a close bond between Jacobien and Suzanne, who is even coming to the Netherlands especially to open the Back to Venice exhibition.

Bringing this exhibition to Pulchri Studio in The Hague is a way for Jacobien to fully complete a project and come full circle. Her work, which touches on architecture, the environment and nature, also shows her growing commitment to environmental issues such as rising waters. The curator of the Back to Venice exhibition is Viola Winokan, an art consultant, exhibition maker and artist herself. Viola sees the beauty in everyday things and will use this perspective to curate a unique selection of Jacobien's work.

Jacobien comes from the Veluwe with original roots on one of the islands of Zeeland. She studied graphic design at the Academy of Visual Arts in Rotterdam (the Willem de Kooning Academy) and started to portray concepts such as alienation, loneliness, mystery and melancholy in a tranquil way, based on her personal feelings and experiences. These are concepts that are recognizable to many people. By striving for mutual recognition, she hopes to offer, as well as find, comfort and understanding.

Through photography, Jacobien has found a way to express herself and convert introversion into connection. She now communicates openly about her work and more easily about emotions, and this has shaped her not only as an artist, but also as a person. This has come full circle for her. She learned to communicate with people by talking about her work together. Philosophizing side by side with an unknown spectator about feelings, about the work and his or her interpretation thereof has a healing effect. A nice added bonus was that you don't have to look at each other directly, because a priori it is about the work and that is what you look at. Another turning point for Jacobien was the moment when she had to write a biography for one of her first exhibitions. She then had to consciously consider questions such as why does someone make art? Is it a form of narcissism or do you want to say something? The film Pina, about the life of choreographer and dancer Pina Bausch by director Wim Wenders, made an indelible impression on her. She was amazed at the impression it made on her and immediately knew that if you can achieve this as an artist, you have achieved the greatest goal. In 2015, Jacobien sold a work to a lady from the former Yugoslavia. When she later met her conversation, the woman said that she had bought the work because it symbolized displacement for her. From that moment on, Jacobien knew; satisfaction trumps success. This woman gave Jacobien a little bit of a 'Pina' feeling. Jacobien needs these kinds of benchmarks from time to time. Back to the essence, and she is doing better and better. Last year was a busy year, including the Biennale. With this exhibition, 2024 starts with a nice conclusion to her recent projects and she will again prepare herself in peace for a new series of intense and catchy photos. Jacobien now partly lives in the Veluwe because she can enjoy the region so intensely. peace and space. It's a good place to live and work there, but she can't live without the Randstad and also lives in The Hague.

This exhibition was made possible by Stroom, The Hague. ▫️ Michael Toorop

January - Februar 2024

PULCHRI STUDIO DEN HAAG, VOORHOUT GALLERY | Lange Voorhout 13, The Hague

Exhibition BACK TO VENICE by Jacobien de Korte