Clashing of two worlds © Micky Hoogendijk
© Micky Hoogendijk
Moonlight © Micky Hoogendijk
Sunlight I © Micky Hoogendijk
Sunlight II © Micky Hoogendijk
Sunlight III © Micky Hoogendijk
_D_utch artist Micky Hoogendijk debuts a powerful series of work as part of Deep Water, a group exhibition at the William Turner Gallery in Santa Monica, opening May 18th, 2019 (opening reception on Saturday, May 18, 6-8 pm).
Gallery hours: Tuesday – Saturday 11-6 pm
Deep Water, as an idiomatic phrase, often connotes a sense of danger and risk. Impliedly, one has moved from a situation of security and safety, to one fraught with peril, perhaps getting in over one’s head. Yet deep water is also the necessary condition to setting full sail, free from running aground.
For the artists in this exhibition, Deep Water has these meanings and more. Water, like light, is an inspiration, a subject, and a metaphor. All have left the safety of the familiar, to strike out in that most intimidating of directions, diving deeply within, braving the fears of the unknown, in pursuit of an idea. For them, Deep Water is where the magic lies, and the artists in this exhibition have answered that call to the mystery and beauty of discovery. All have embarked on the perilous journeys of self-expression and discovery, and the freedom that awaits.
The works reflect the vulnerability and hidden beauty of her muses, with the figures photographed underwater, evoking notions of disorientation, struggle, and transcendence. In discussing this work, Hoogendijk noted that Edvard Munch’s painting, ‘The Scream’, served as a source of inspiration. “My muses portray the intense struggle we female humans engage in to break through that symbolic “Glass Ceiling”, Hoogendijk stated. “These works serve as my homage to women and that struggle”. The physical properties of water: resistance, danger, fluidity, grace, sensuality, and the notion ‘breaking the surface’, provided the perfect context for Hoogendijk to record her muses as they engage in this beautiful, complex choreography of the spirit in their quest to be free.
“Water purifies, heals and is very playful. Water encourages me to keep moving towards change”. – Micky Hoogendijk
For those interested in the world behind the works, see Hoogendijk’s book Through The Eyes Of Others, I see me.
Micky Hoogendijk about the book: “The book explains my process, methodology, and creative inspiration. It contains 148 pages with my photographic artwork from the past five years, an introduction by my Dutch Gallery, Eduard Planting, an essay by photo-critique Pim Milo and some loving quotes by renowned photographer Terry O’Neill, author Robert Greene, and fashion designer Stephen MacMillian Moser. Through The Eyes Of Others, I see me is an ode to my late mother who started this journey by giving me her last gift: a camera.”
The book is available via Amazon.