Projecting the uncanny quality of fairy tales and horror movies, van Meene peoples her images with somnabulent girls, headless bodies, faceless figures and solitary young women encapsulated in empty, luminous rooms. Based in the outskirts of Amsterdam, the Dutch-born van Meene has been steeped in the traditions of classical painting. Like many artists of the last century, she draws on this knowledge to create contemporary images that, in her case, evokes that of Ingres, Millais, Vermeer and Velasquez.
Hellen van Meene lives and works in Heiloo, The Netherlands. Born in Alkmaar, The Netherlands in 1972. Her work was first exhibited in 1996 and has been shown around the world since then. Her work is held in the collections of major museums worldwide including the Guggenheim Museum, New York, the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Brooklyn Museum, MoCA Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. A retrospective of van Meene’s work was recently on view at The Hague Museum of Photography. She is the subject of four artist monographs, including Hellen van Meene: The Years Shall Run Like Rabbits (Aperture, 2015), Hellen van Meene: Japan Series (The Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago and De Hallen, Haarlem, the Netherlands, 2002), Hellen van Meene: Portraits (Aperture, 2004), Hellen van Meene: New Work (Schirmer/Mosel, 2006), and Hellen van Meene: tout va disparaître (Schirmer/Mosel, 2009).
Dates.- December 10, 2015 - January 23, 2016
Schedule.- Opening reception and book signing: Thursday, December 10, 6-8 pm.
Gallery walk through with the artist, Thursday, December 10, 5:30 pm.
Lecture and book signing, Aperture Gallery, 547 West 27th, Tuesday December 8, 6:30 pm.
Venue.- 525 West 22nd Street, New York, NY - 1001. US
