Julie van der Vaart is a photographic artist and educator born in Maastricht, The Netherlands, and currently living and working in Belgium. She has a Masters of Fine-arts in Photography from the Media, Arts & Design-faculty in Genk, and a further Masters of Research in Art and Design from Sint Lucas Antwerp. She is supported by the Mondriaan Fund, receiving the stipend for established artists, and since 2021 she has been participating in the two-year international Masterclass Reflexions 2.0. Recently publisher Void published her book Blind Spot, bundling her work of the past six years in one volume.
In the current exhibition we show her recent series ‘Black Cloud’; a project about the fluidity of being and Julie van der Vaart’s experience of depersonalization. The title is taken from Fred Hoyle’s 1957 SciFi novel The Black Cloud, which is about an intelligent, alien entity in the form of a huge cloud of gas. This idea, of a being that has no substantial or solid form, served as inspiration.
“Throughout my life, I experienced moments when I felt that my being was not in this body, not limited by the boundaries of my skin. Where is the self located? Is it in the body, the heart, the mind?
Or is it more fluid, extending beyond the body, like an energetic field? Are we as three-dimensional beings limited in our understanding of reality? And what ís reality? My work revolves around these questions.”
Peter Waterschoot over “Deep Time”, 2019
Julie van der Vaart’s photography seems to articulate an inner conflict between a passion for science and a suppressed feeling for spirituality. This wonderful duality has
trickled down into her work. Throughout her oeuvre, van der Vaart developed form and method to keep up with the requirements of her themes. Science, time, cosmos and spirituality have been translated in star-spangled nudes, esoteric black and white landscapes, and now, in her most recent work, in photopolymer etchings of timeless caves.
Caves are the belly of the world, the abdominal abyss of ancient memory. There is a form of imprinted awe that is felt when entering one. These wonderful palaces formed by time, water and calcium carbonate were the womb-like shelter for hunter-gatherers, and their messages have succeeded to reach us through many millennia. To enter a cave is to undergo a psychological journey where each step deeper into the world below is paired with not only wonder, wisdom and fear, but also with losing track of human time. After all, the caves don’t care about human time, and clearly, neither does Julie van der Vaart.
Education:
2009-2012: Bachelor Fine-arts, Photography; Media, Arts & Design-faculty, KHLim Genk, BE
2012: Sept./Oct./Nov. Internship with artist Koen Vanmechelen
2012-2013: Master Fine-arts, Photography; Media, Arts & Design-faculty, KHLim Genk, BE
2013-2014: Specific Teacher Training (Visual Arts); Media, Arts & Design-faculty, PXL, Hasselt, BE
2013-2014: M Studios, Museum M, Leuven, BE
2014-2015: Master of Research in Art and Design; Sint Lucas, Antwerpen, BE
2016-2017: Jan van Eyck academie, Maastricht, NL
Prizes:
2011: 1st Prize ”The Golden Lens”, 33rd International Photo-Festival, Knokke-Heist, BE
2011: 1st Prize ”Portraits… made in Limburg”, Nieuwerkerken, BE
2011: Photo Academy Award Amsterdam, Winner category ”d’jonge hond”, NL
2014: Cultural Ambassador of Lanaken, BE
2014: Shortlisted, Gomma Photography Grant
2015: Shortlisted, Sony World Photography Awards, category “Conceptual”
2018: Shortlisted, Gomma Photography Grant
2019: Shortlisted, Siena International Photo Awards
Solo Exhibitions:
2011: ”Stranger to Myself”, Lumière, Maastricht, NL
2014: Cultureel Centrum, Lanaken, BE
2015: “DUSK”, MINT Galerie, Gent, BE
2016: “Beyond Time”, Het Kabinet – CIAP, Hasselt, BE
2018: “Beyond Time”, Ingrid Deuss Gallery, Antwerp, BE
Group Exhibitions:
2011: 33rd International Photo-Festival, Knokke-Heist, BE
2011: “Photo Academy Award”, Museum of Photography, Den Haag, NL
2011: “Photo Academy Award”, Photo Gallery Fotogram, Amsterdam, NL
2011: ”Architecture of Fear”, House for Contemporary Art Z33, Hasselt, BE
2012: “no man’s land”, Coalface Gallery, Genk, BE
2012: 34rd International Photo-Festival, Knokke-Heist, BE
2012: “Photo Academy Award”, Photo Gallery, Groningen, NL
2012: “Photo Academy Award”, Photo Academy, Eindhoven, NL
2012: ”Kunst in Eigen Huis”, Leuven, BE
2013: “Out of Space”, House for Contemporary Art Z33, Hasselt, BE
2013: ”1000 Photos Amsterdam”, Melkweg Galerie, Amsterdam, NL
2013: “EXIT 2013”, Mijn van Waterschei, Genk, BE
2013: “YET SHOW 8”, 44 Gallery, Brugge, BE
2013: ”Pop-up Expo AmuseeVous”, Bonnefanten Ateliers, Hasselt, BE
2013: “Empty Stretch + Furthermore Present: Petty Thieves #3”, Petworth Citizen, Washington D.C., USA
2013: “Of The Afternoon: Pop-up Exhibition Issue #4 Launch”, Power Station Gallery, London, UK
2014: “Here’s looking at you, kid!”, Arts Center BELGIE, Hasselt, BE
2014: “Test Case”, SLAC, Leuven, BE
2014: “Der Greif – A Process”, Neue Galerie im Höhmannhaus, Augsburg, DE
2014: “D!NG exhibition”, R.A.A.M., Kortrijk, BE
2014: “Extra Fort”, Artist Talk + Projection, Recyclart Art Center, Brussels, BE
2014: “The Ones We Love”, Viaduct Gallery, Des Moines, USA
2014: “Unexposed – TWENS”, CC Romaanse Poort, Leuven, BE
2014: “Open Monumentendag”, Waterburcht Pietersheim, Lanaken, BE
2014: “Photoville NY”, Brooklyn Bridge Park, New York, USA
2014: “The White Rabbit”, Bacteriologisch Instituut, Leuven, BE
2014: “Internationaal Fotofestival Leiden”, various locations, Leiden, NL
2014: “vlees. #1”, Leopoldskazerne, Gent, BE
2014: “Reminisce”, Voka Kamer van Koophandel, Hasselt, BE
2014: “New Dutch Photography Talent” Exhibition + Book Launch, 5&33, Amsterdam, NL
2014: “Check”, Museum M, Leuven, BE
2015: “Eclipse”, Gevangenis Noord Singel, Rotterdam, NL
2015: “Love Will Tear Us Apart”, HAL, Antwerpen, BE
2015: “Poppositions”, KanalWharf, Brussels, BE
2015: “Sony World Photography Award” Somerset House, London, UK
2015: “Imaginary Line”, Face to Face Gallery, Tokyo, JP
2015: “Game of Roles” Paris-Texas, Antwerpen, BE
2015: “Unexposed – TWENS”, CC Romaanse Poort, Leuven, BE
2015: “Internationaal Fotofestival Leiden”, various locations, Leiden, NL
2015: “Une Infinité de Similitudes”, Atelier Néerlandais, Paris, FR
2015: “Introspection”, Duo Exhibition with Camille Renée Devid, 44 Gallery, Bruges, BE
2016: “Der Greif proces 2.0”, Krakow Photomonth Festival, Krakow, PL
2016: “Intimité / Identité / Réalités Contemporaines: Les nouvelles publications photographiques”, More Than A Gallery, Paris, FR
2016: “Intimacy Under The Milky Way”, PAK&44Gallery, Gistel, BE
2016: “Stitch”, OFFF by night, Antwerp, BE
2016: “Dog Day Cabinet 2”, Le Clignoteur, Brussels, BE
2017: “Open Studio’s”, Jan van Eyck Academie, Maastricht, NL
2017: “Amsterdam Art Fair”, Johan Deumens Gallery, Amsterdam, NL
2017: “We traveled across seven mountains”, Cultuurcentrum Mechelen, BE
2017: “Musée de la Photographie de Bruxelles”, Recyclart, Brussels, BE
2017: “You want it darker”, Garage Rotterdam, Rotterdam, NL
2017: “Turn/Return – Brugge Foto”, Bogardenkapel, Brugge, BE
2018: “Internationaal Fotofestival Leiden”, various locations, Leiden, NL
2018: “The Shell Of Man”, Duo exhibition with Guido Paulussen, Suzanne Biederberg Gallery, Amsterdam, NL
2018: “Beyond Time / Still”, Duo exhibition with Debby Thijs, 44 Gallery, Bruges, BE
2018: “B is for Bird”, Museum Kranenburgh, Bergen, NL
2018: “Fuseé de la Motographie”, Quai de la Roquette, Arles, FR
2019: “Hunger” curated by Void Magazine, Online exhibition, PHmuseum
2019: “Beyond Time”, Duo exhibition with Guido Paulussen, StonePhoto, Stein, NL
2019: “Amuse”, Galerie Wilms, Venlo, NL
2019: “Amuse” op PAN Amsterdam met Galerie Wilms, Amsterdam, NL