Pieter and Marieke Sanders have been collecting contemporary art for over 40 years. Their collection includes paintings, sculptures, installations, photography and videos by young, as well as more renowned artists. From the beginning, their focus has specifically been oriented towards paintings and sculptures by young Dutch artists, many from Haarlem and surroundings. Earlier this year Pieter and Marieke donated a great number of acquired works to the Dutch national collection “Instituut Collectie Nederland”. Over the years they have expanded their collection by adding various new media, such as photography and video and on the other hand by acquiring work of young and emerging as well as leading international artists. The collection of Finnish photography and videos constitutes a very recent and particular addition to the Sanders-collection.

Over the past ten years, Finland has seen the emergence of a new generation photographers and video artists, known as The Helsinki School. Linking factor is their education at the University of Art and Design in Helsinki, an education with a great emphasis on the development of a personal conceptual approach. There are huge differences among the artists with regard to content and style. Yet it is clear that the omnipresence of the awe-inspiring Finnish nature and the Nordic light are important sources of inspiration. The landscape can express a lyrical but also a melancholic atmosphere. Even when nature is not used literally as a theme, the relation of man to the overwhelming nature reverberates in many of the works. The relationship between man and nature is a recurring subject in the collection of Pieter en Marieke Sanders. Yet their collection and the exhibition also present various examples of Finnish artists who primarily occupy themselves with portrait-photography or who take a more narrative approach.

The exhibition Highlighted shows how collectors Pieter and Marieke Sanders, already in an early phase, were inspired by the new Finnish movement in photography and how in the years that followed, they pursued this new development. The public is invited to discover a compelling overview of the variety and extraordinary quality of Finnish Photography. This exhibition is the first introduction of the new Finnish photography movement in the Netherlands.

With works by: IIkka Halso, Nanna Hänninen, Ari Kakkinen, Sandra Kantanen, Aino Kannisto, Pertti Kekarainen, Ola Kolehmainen, Anni Leppälä, Pekka Luuukkola, Susanna Majuri, Arno Rafael Minkkinen, Riitta Päiväläinen, Mikko Sinervo, Santeri Tuori, Miklos Gaál and Pilvi Takala.

Author

Maarten Bertheux

Publisher

Nieuw Dakota, 2010

Graphic design

Rutger Fuchs

ISBN

978 90 816662 1 3

Available at

Nieuw Dakota