Annet van der Voort

WILTING SPLENDOR

Photographer Annet van der Voort currently calls her atelier a floral laboratory. Here she observes the transformation of tulips, which she keeps in order to use them in their various states of expiration for her art. Her technique for producing images is modern and completely without camera. In a complex process, she scans the wilting splendor and in doing so creates a special visual space that best corresponds to her understanding of vanitas, the philosophical idea of the transience of everything mundane. Her scanograms are a modern variation on the floral painting of Holland’s gilded age.

Tulips became objects of desire in the seventeenth century. Their bulbs were auctioned at the highest prices. To show how the bulbs would flower, splendid paintings of the flora were commissioned. A true cult emerged around the floral status symbol, and thus the tulip made its way into the halls of art history. Today the flower paintings and contemporary still lifes rank among the zenith of Dutch painting.

The tulip growers outdid themselves with new color variations, but the highest goal was to create a black version. An absurd idea, it may seem – but perhaps logical when one considers the tulip’s ephemerality: blossoming beauty destined to deterioration.

Van der Voort’s work has a particular connection to that of Amsterdam’s painter Rachel Ruysch (1664-1750). Both include insects, butterflies, and other small animals in their floral compositions as essential elements. But what Ruysch employed to heighten the sense of reality, Voort consciously uses to establish a living counterpoint, to create equilibrium with the tulip’s wilting splendor.

Horst Klöver

Annet van der Voort was born in The Netherlands. In 1987 she began her studies in visual communication at the Fachhochschule in Dortmund and received her designer’s degree in 1993. She taught classes at the Higher Institute of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium, in 1998 and 1999. In addition to her artistic work, van der Voort is also a freelance publicist. She lives and works in Drensteinfurt, Germany.

Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart, Germany
European Polaroid Collection, Prag, Czech Republic
Industriemuseum, Dortmund, Germany
National Museum of Photography, Bradford, UK
Museet for Fotokunst, Odense, Denmark
Deutsches Architektur Museum, Frankfurt, Germany
Stadtmuseum, Münster, Germany
Gasunie, Groningen, Netherlands
La Filature, Mulhouse, France
Various private collections

Solo Exhibitions

2019	Deutsches Marinemuseum, Wilhelmshaven, Germany
2016	AnzenbergerGallery (with Pawel Zak), Vienna, Austria
2017	Galerie, Aelderhooghe, Aalden, Netherlands
2013	Arbeit & Leben, Düsseldorf, Germany
2012	Städtische Galerie, Markdorf, Germany
2011	Kunstmuseum, Ahlen, Germany
	Städtische Galerie, Iserlohn, Germany
2010	FotoFreo, Fremantle, Australia
	Photaumnales, Beauvais, France
2009	DGB, Berlin, Germany
2008	Kreismuseum Wewelsburg, Büren, Germany
2006	Stadtmuseum, Münster, Germany
2005	Rencontres de la Photographie, Arles, France
2004	Botschaft der Niederlande, Copenhagen, Denmark
2003	Fotofestival Odense, Denmark
1998	Museet for Fotokunst (with J.Jensen), Odense, Denmark
	Deutsches Architekturmuseum, Frankfurt, Germany
1997	Kunsthal, Rotterdam, Netherlands
1995	Galerie Im Kabinett (with E. Vargas), Berlin, Germany
1992	Alte Synagoge, Essen, Germany
1991	Bundesgartenschau, Dortmund, Germany

Group Exhibitions

2019	Athens Photo Festival, Athens, Greece
2018	Kunstverein, Sundern, Germany
2017	Museum of Modern Art, Tbilisi, Georgia
2016	Stadtmuseum Münster, Germany
2015	Landesmuseum Hanover, Germany
2014	Deutsches Museum, Munich, Germany
	Museum Ratingen, Ratingen, Germany
2013	Centro Cultural, University Lima, Peru
	Deutsches Hygienemuseum, Dresden, Germany
	Deutsches Naturkundemuseum, Berlin, Germany
	Courthouse Gallery, Port Hedland, Australia
	FORM Gallery, Perth, Australia
2012	Städtische Galerie, Lüdenscheid, Germany
2011	Getxophoto, Bilbao, Spain
2010	Beter dan God, Enschede, The Netherlands
2008	Septembre de la Photographie, Lyon, France
2007	Rencontres de la Photographie, Arles, France
	La Filature, Mulhouse, France
	Kunstspeicher Würzburg, Germany
2006	Langhals galleri, Prague, Czech Republic
	Gasunie, Groningen, Netherlands
	Festival of photography, Kaunas, Lithuania
2005	Noorderlicht Photofestival, Groningen, Netherlands
	Imagine China Gallery, Shanghai, China
2004	Photofestival Exposure, Hereford, UK
2001	Nikolaj Art Center, Copenhagen, Denmark
	Museet for Fotokunst, Odense, Denmark
1999	Monat der Fotografie im Ruhrgebiet, Dortmund, Germany
1998	Zomer van de Fotografie, Antwerp, Belgium
	Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst, Berlin, Germany
1997	Mois de la Photo, Montreal, Canada
1995	National Museum of Photography, Bradford, UK
1990	Salon des Refusés, Dortmund, Germany