Han Schuil

Han Schuil (born 12 February 1958, Voorschoten) is a Dutch multimedia artist, who works in a Dutch tradition of compactness and tension in painting.

Biography From 1979 to 1981 Schuil attended the Academie voor Beeldende Kunsten in Rotterdam, the predecessor of the Willem de Kooning Academy. He went on from there to Ateliers '63, a postgraduate program in Haarlem, where he worked from 1981 to 1983. He made his debut in 1983 at the gallery Art & Project.

In his early career, Schuil worked on canvas. After experimenting with wood, aluminium, and copper, he has opted for aluminium since 1985, because it provides a smooth surface for painting. The shapes formed by aluminium often play a central role in Schuil’s work. Examples include the folded edges and the seams and rivets in the aluminium, which sometimes run straight through the picture plane.

Over time, Schuil has also shown a growing tendency to have the support protrude into three-dimensional space. Schuil frequently treats the aluminium before painting it, making dents and holes that become integral parts of the picture. “I use them not to emphasize the thingness of the picture, but because they fit into the picture,” Schuil told Dominic van den Boogerd in 2000.

According to Bert Jansen "the meaning they have in the real life is lost as soon as the feature as signs in a Han Schuil Painting." Rudi Fuchs, former director of the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam placed Schuil in a Dutch tradition of compactness and tension in painting.

Exhibitions Solo (selection) 1983–1996: Art & Project, Amsterdam, the Netherlands 1985: Galerie 't Venster, Rotterdam, The Netherlands 1987: Museum Fodor, Amsterdam, the Netherlands 1990: 1991 Germans van Eck Gallery, New York, USA 1995: until now Galerie Onrust, Amsterdam, the Netherlands 2000: Schilderijen / Paintings1983-1999, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, The Netherlands 2000: 2004 Gallery Conrads, Düsseldorf, Germany 2008: Crashed and Gobsmacked, Museum Jan Cunen, Oss, The Netherlands 2011, 2013: Gallery Hamish Morrison, Berlin, Germany

Group Exhibition 1985: 'Wat Amsterdam betreft', Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, The Netherlands 1987: 'XIX Bienal de São Paulo', São Paulo, Brazil 1991: 'Negen', Witte de With, Rotterdam, The Netherlands 1992: 'Moments d'abstraccio', Palau de la Virreina, Barcelona, Spain 1994: 'L'orrizonte', Castello di Rivoli, Turin, Italy 1995: 'Couplet 4', Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, The Netherlands 1999: 'Panorama 2000', Centraal Museum, Utrecht, The Netherlands 1999: 'Troublespot Painting', MUHKA, Antwerp, Belgium 2004: 'Encounter with Modernism', Shanghai Art Museum, Singapore Art Museum, Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo en Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro 2005: 'Later on we shall simplify things', Centre Cultural, Andratx, Mallorca, Stadsgalerij Heerlen, The Netherlands 2009: 'Real/Painting', S.M.A.K., Ghent, Belgium 2013: 'Van Dumas tot Cobra, Collectie De Heus-Zomer', Singer Museum, Laren, The Netherlands

Collections Work by the artist is held in various public and private collections Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague, The Netherlands Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht, The Netherlands Lakenhal, Leiden, The Netherlands Museum Jan Cunen, Oss, The Netherlands Centraal Museum, Utrecht, The Netherlands Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, Schiedam, The Netherlands Rijksmuseum Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands Museum voor Moderne Kunst, Brussels, Belgium S.M.A.K., Ghent, Belgium Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA Collection KPN, The Hague, The Netherlands Instituut Collectie Nederland, The Netherlands Collection Jo en Marlies Eyck, The Netherlands Collection ABN/Amro, The Netherlands Collection AEGON, The Netherlands Collection Akzo Nobel Art Foundation, The Netherlands Collection De Heus-Zomer, The Netherlands Caldic Collection, The Netherlands