Helen Verhoeven Helen Verhoeven (1974) is a Dutch/American artist based in Berlin who grew up in the Netherlands and moved to the US in 1986. She received her BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1995 and in 2001 her MFA from the New York Academy of Art under Eric Fischl. In 2005-2006 she attended the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam and since 2009 she lives in Berlin. In 2021 Verhoeven became an advisor at the Rijksakademie and since April 2023 she is a painting professor at HfBK.
Verhoeven wasa recipient of the Dutch Royal Painting Prize in 2008, the Wolvecampprijs in 2010 and the ABN-AMRO Art Prize in 2019. Her work has been exhibited internationally in institutions such as the Bonnefantenmuseum in Maastricht, The Kestnergesellschaft in Hannover, The Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, The Gemeentemuseum in Den Haag, The Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, Museum Nikolaikirche in Berlin, The Saatchi Gallery in London and the FLAG Art Foundation in New York. Upcoming shows include solo exhibitions at Gregor Podnar in Vienna, 104 Galerie in Tokyo, and Kunstmuseum Bonn.
Verhoeven makes paintings which are sometimes accompanied by ceramic work, stained-glass windows, print-making, film or installation. Her work ranges from very small to monumentally large and from simple and iconic to crowded and chaotic. In 2015 she was commissioned to make a new work for the new Supreme Court building in The Hague. Her 4 x 6 meter canvas depicted a densely populated courtroom full of judicial-and art-historical references. Her work concentrates on the human experience: the turmoil of the individual and the hysteria of the group. Sometimes finely rendered, other times crude, she appropriates and invert the traditions of state-portraiture, religious and mythological painting, the muse, the nude, the fantastical and the mundane. Within a kind of trans-historic space, her paintings depict rapture, dispair, indifference, lust, aggression, and estrangement.
Selected solo exhibitions
2023
Ausgezeichnet 7: Helen Verhoeven, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn, DE
Humans, Gregor Podnar, Vienna, AT
2021
Helen Verhoeven – Stigter van Doesburg, June Art Fair, Basel, CH
Puff Puff goodbye, Stigter van Doesburg, Amsterdam, NL
2019
Schamerkat, Hermitage, Amsterdam, NL
Eleven Women, Circl, Amsterdam, NL
2018
Oh God, Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht, NL
Church I, Statements, Art Basel, CH
2016
Libby Libby Libby, Galerie Stigter van Doesburg, Amsterdam, NL
2013
The Waiting, Galerie Parisa Kind, Frankfurt, DE
Mother, Galerie Stigter van Doesburg, Amsterdam, NL
2012
Stage Disasters, Wallspace, New York, US
Part Pretty, SCHUNCK, Heerlen, NL
2010
Art Show I, Klemm’s, Berlin, DE
The Thingly Character, Galerie Stigter van Doesburg, Amsterdam, NL
2008
Event Two, Mesler and Hug, Los Angeles, US
Event One, Wallspace, New York, US
2007
The Beautiful Many, Galerie Fons Welters, Amsterdam, NL
2006
Saints, Wallspace, New York, US
2004
Nightmares, Wallspace, New York, US
Selected group exhibitions
2023
Underdog, Schunck, Heerlen, NL
Schilderkunst Nu, Singer Laren Museum, NL
2022
Dictionary of Imaginary Places, Gregor Podnar, Vienna, AT
Vals Plat, Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht, NL
De Nieuwe Vrouw, Singer Laren Museum, NL
104 Introduces, 104 Galerie, Tokyo, JP
Apple in the Dark, Harkawik, New York, US
Kunstraum Kraut – Variationen, Museum Nikolaikirche, Berlin, DE
2021
Roaring 20’s, Museum Kranenburgh, Bergen aan Zee, NL
Grensverkenners, Paleis Amsterdam, NL
50-50 vrouwe justitia, PLAYroom, Zaandam, NL
Maria Magdalena, Museum Catharijneconvent Utrecht, NL
Our Beginnings Never Know Our Ends, Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, US
2020
Frutti di Mare, Galerie Hartwich Sellin auf Rügen, DE
Features, Museum Nikolaikirche, Berlin, DE
Mensbeeld, Arti et Amicitiae Amsterdam, NL
2018
Neue Heimat, Willem Twee Kunstruimte, Den Bosch, NL
Helene Appel, Alisa Margolis & Helen Verhoeven , Galerie Judin, Berlin, DE
Out of the Office, Singer Museum, Laren, NL
De Meest Eigentijdse Schilder Kunst, Dordrechts Museum, Dordrecht, NL
2017
The Painted Bird, Marres, Maastricht, NL
Vaste Collectie: Beeldende Kunst 1850-heden, Utrecht Centraal Museum, NL
Paint it Soft, SCHUNCK, Heerlen, NL
Vele gezichten van het LUMC, LUMC, Leiden, NL
2016
It’s not your paintings I like, It’s your painting, Stigter van Doesburg, Amsterdam, NL
10e Wolvecampprijs, Heartpool, Hengelo, NL
Geen Woorden maar Beelden, LUMC, Leiden, NL
2015
Aanwinten 2014-2015, LUMC, Leiden, NL
Apophänie, Peggy Franck & Helen Verhoeven, Nederlansche Bank, Amsterdam, NL
Disturbing Innocence, The FLAG Art Foundation, New York, US
2014
Beating around the Bush, Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht, NL
De Grote Kunstshow, Stadsschouwburg, Amsterdam, NL
How Soon is Now?, Manifesta Foundation, Amsterdam, NL
2013
Body Language, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
More than meets the Eye, Raadhuis, Heerlen, NL
Ten Years, Wallspace, New York, US
Far from the Madding Crowd, Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht, NL
The Legend of the Shelves, AUTOCENTER, Berlin, DE
2012
Der Gemalte Raum / Painted Space, Schömer Hause, Klosterneuburg, AU
Through an Open Window, Institut Néerlandais, Paris, FR
Made in Germany Zwei, Sprengel Museum, Kestnergesellschaft, Kunstverein, Hannover, Hannover DE
It Might As Well Rain Until September, Galerie Stigter van Doesburg, Amsterdam, NL
Voor Eeuwing de Jouwe, Stadsgalerie, Heerlen, NL
Objects of Dismissal, AUTOCENTER, Berlin, DE
From a Painter’s Perspective, Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterdam, NL
2011
Bellevue, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, NL
Imagine Being There, Rabobank, Utrecht, NL
Een i treurend om een punt, SCHUNCK, Heerlen, NL
What’s Up – Jonge Nederlandse Schilderkunst, Dordrechts Museum, Dordrecht, NL
Sie irren sich, Galerie Maurer, Frankfurt, DE
Collection Imaginaire, Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterdam, NL
2010
Helen Verhoeven & Alon Levin, Tommy Hilfiger / Lees Museum, Amsterdam, NL
In.flec.tion, Hudson Valley Center of Contemporary Art, New York, US
Wolvecampprijs, Creatieve Fabriek, Hengelo, NL
Dirty Light, The Forgotten Bar, Berlin, DE
Girl Overkill 2, Kunstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, DE
2009
Girl Overkill, The Forgotten Bar, Berlin, DE
Play, Monica De Cardena, Milan, IT
Pruesspress, Ritter/Zamer, London, UK
Retour, Huize Frankendael, Amsterdam, NL
Nieuwe Schilders, LUMC, Leiden, NL
Aanwinsten, LUMC 2007-2009, LUMC, Leiden, NL
Girl Overkill, The Forgotten Bar, Berlin, DE
2008
Koninklijke Prijs voor Vrije Schilderkunst 2008, GEM Museum, Den Haag, NL
Tints of Majesty, Lizabeth Oliveria, Los Angeles, CA, US
Pruesspress, Rental Gallery, New York, NY, US
2007
Some Kind of Portrait, Marc Selwyn Fine Art, Los Angeles, US
Hedendaagse Figuratie #2, Kunstcentrum, Hengelo, NL
About Contemporary Figuration, Safe Art, Dalfsen, NL
Recent Acquisitions – Young Painting, Sammlung Essl Museum, Vienna, AU
2006
The Presence of Absence, Gallery w52, NY, US
In Order of Appearance, Living Arts Museum, Reykjavik, IC
Bold Moves, 382 West Broadway, NY, US
Rijksakademie at Parts, Parts, Xiamen City, CN
Open Ateliers, Rijksakademie, Amsterdam, NL
2005
Hot Spots 05, Sammlung Essl Museum, Vienna, AU
Seven Young Painters, Bowie Van Valen, Amsterdam, NL
ArtReview 25: Emerging US Artists, Phillips de Pury & Co, New York, NY, US
The Exploding Plastic Inevitable, Bergdorf Goodman, New York, US
Open Ateliers, Rijkakademie, Amsterdam, NL
2004
Show and Tell, Zimmer Museum, Los Angeles, CA, US
2003
The Holiday Shopping Show II, Wallspace, NY, US
Photography As Model, Wallspace, New York, US
Space Invators, Fishtank, Brooklyn, NY, US
1996
Jonathan Schipper / Helen Verhoeven, Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco, CA, US
Betrothed, Falkirk Cultural Center, San Raphael, CA, US
1995
Lateral, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA, US
Posture, Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco, CA, US
Awards I Grants
2022
Stiftung Kunstfonds, DE
2019
ABN-AMRO Art Prize
2017
Mondriaan Fund – Werkbijdrage Bewezen Talent plus Opdrachtgever: Bonnefantenmuseum
2011
Basisstipendium, BKVB / Mondriaan Fund, Amsterdam, NL
2010
Stroom PRO, Den Haag, NL
Wolvecamp Prize, Hengelo, NL
BKVB / The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Amsterdam, NL
2008
Netherlands Royal Painting Prize (Koninklijke Prijs voor de Schilderkunst), NL
2007
BKVB / The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Amsterdam, NL
2006
Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds – Van Eck-Vollgraff Fonds, NL
Stichting Dr. Hendrik Muller’s Vaderlandsch Fonds, Den Haag, NL
ARCADIS, NL
2002
Ruskin School of Art, Oxford University / NYAA Travel Grant, NY, US
2001
John Alexander Research Fellowship / NYAA, US