Steven Aalders, Mirror: 30 May – 29 June 2024

Slewe Gallery is pleased to announce Steven Aalders' new solo exhibition Mirror, which will open on Thursday, May 30 during Amsterdam Art Week (May 29 to June 2, 2024). The exhibition shows new paintings that were created last year during his stay in 's-Graveland, a nature reserve with forests and lakes, where wealthy Amsterdammers built idyllic country estates in the past. After forty years, Aalders returned to his parental home, an eighteenth-century rectory, where he started painting at the age of sixteen. In the series of paintings, he made there, the colours and light return from the surrounding romantic landscape, which he knew from his memory and now saw again with new eyes. The harmonious proportions of the house and the classicism of the adjacent seventeenth-century church responded to his minimalistic vocabulary, which he has mastered over the years.

Steven Aalders is known for his carefully crafted, minimal geometric oil paintings. His work is about proportion and colour. Modernist serial principles, such as repetition and uniformity, are linked to age-old concepts of imagining time and place. It is an attempt to create light and space through paint. In his paintings he expresses the rhythm of life. The multi-layered oil paintings demand a concentrated eye from the beholder. Aalders' color palette has become more saturated in recent years and generally shows more dark tones. The choice of colour arises from impressions gained from nature or from studying colour theories, such as that of Goethe, who saw colour as shadow, which arises from a mixture of light and darkness. In addition, some series are inspired by the palette of old masters, such as that of the Renaissance painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Matthias Grünewald.

Steven Aalders, born in 1959 in Middelburg (NL), lives and works in Amsterdam. He studied in London at Croydon College of Art and at Ateliers 63 in Haarlem. In 2002 he had his first museum solo exhibition, entitled Vertical Thoughts at the S.M.A.K. in Ghent, Belgium and in 2010 followed by Cardinal Points at the Gemeentemuseum (now Kunstmuseum) in The Hague, on which occasion a catalogue was published with an overview of fifteen years work. In 2017 the book The Fifth Line. Thoughts of a Painter was published by Koenig Books, London, in which Aalders’ thoughts on art and particularly abstract art and its relation to the world are discussed in a series of interviews conducted by Robert van Altena.In 2020 he made an installation at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. In 2022 his exhibition Seasons in the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo was on view, on which occasion an extensive catalogue was published by the museum in collaboration with Hatje Cantz, Berlin. Aalders’ work is internationally collected by both private and public collections, such as the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Kröller-Müller Museum, Museum Voorlinden, AkzoNobel Art Foundation, ABNAMRO Art Collection, BPD Art Collection, Thoma Art Collection, Museum Over Holland and Museum Kurhaus Kleve.

Steven Aalders, Shadow: 27 November – 23 January 2022

Slewe Gallery is pleased to host the exhibition Shadow by Steven Aalders from November 27, 2021 to January 8, 2022, now extended until January 23, including the Amsterdam Art Gallery Weekend on 22 & 23 January with opening hours from 12 noon to 5 pm.

Aalders presents some new series of square sized paintings in various dimensions, all divided in two equal vertical planes of colour. The two colours are brought in balance and form together a ‘oneness in twoness’. Recently Aalders’ colour palette has intensified and shows more darker tones overall. The choice of colours is inspired by different sources, from nature as well as from various colour theories, for instance that of Goethe’s, who saw colour as shadow, which arises from a mixture of light and darkness. In addition, some series are inspired by the palette of old masters, such as the renaissance painter Matthias Grünewald and American modernist Milton Avery. At the same time Aalders’ exhibition Seasons will be on view at the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo. On this occasion a comprehensive catalogue has been published by the museum in collaboration with Hatje Cantz. It gives an overview of the last ten years and is designed by Irma Boom. You can listen to an interview with the artist by Robert van Altena [in Dutch] here.

Steven Aalders is known for his carefully hand-painted geometric abstract oil paintings. He evokes the history of modern abstraction, referring to the origins of constructivism and minimal art. His work is an attempt to create light and space through paint. Modernist serial principles, such as repetition and uniformity, are linked to age-old concepts of depicting time and place. Different colour concepts are being investigated. In his paintings he expresses the rhythm of life.

Steven Aalders, born in 1959 in Middelburg (NL), lives and works in Amsterdam. He studied at Croydon College of Art in London and at Ateliers 63 in Haarlem (NL). In 2002 he had his first museum solo exhibition Vertical Thoughts at the S.M.A.K. in Ghent, Belgium and in 2010 followed by Cardinal Points at the Gemeentemuseum (Kunstmuseum) in The Hague, on which occasion a catalogue was published with an overview of fifteen years work. Last year he made an installation at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, referring to Van Gogh’s painting Harvest. His current solo exhibition Seasons in the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo will be on view until June 5, 2022. In 2017 the book The Fifth Line. Thoughts of a Painter was published by Koenig Books, London, in which Aalders’ thoughts on art and particularly abstract art and its relation to the world are discussed in a series of interviews conducted by Robert van Altena. Aalders’ work is internationally collected by both private and public collections, such as the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Kröller-Müller Museum, Museum Kurhaus Kleve, Museum Voorlinden, AkzoNobel Art Foundation, ABNAMRO Art Collection, BPD Art Collection, Thoma Art Collection and Over Holland Collection.

Brainwave: 4 September – 9 October 2021

Slewe Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of the group exhibition Brainwave, including a selection of works by Alan Charlton, Callum Innes, Dan Walsh, Domencio Bianchi, Jan van Munster, Jerry Zeniuk, Joris Geurts, Karel Appel, Krijn de Koning, Michael Jacklin, Steven Aalders.

The exhibition will be on view from September 4 to October 9. The gallery is open from Wednesday to Saturday from 1 to 6 pm and by appointment.

The exhibition with new work by Domenico Bianchi and Nunzio, previously scheduled for September, has been postponed to spring 2022. 

Meanwhile...: 29 May – 22 August 2020

Slewe Gallery is pleased to announce the (re)opening of the gallery after more than two months of temporarily closure with a group exhibition of new works, made during the recent lockdown by some locally based artists.

Please note that during the summer months of July and August the gallery will be only open by appoitment.

Artists who participate in Meanwhile... are Adam Colton, Alice Schorbach, Jan van Munster, Joris Geurts, Krijn de Koning, Lon Pennock, Michael Jacklin, Paul Drissen, Roos Theuws, Ruud Kuijer, Steven Aalders.

The exhibition, entitled Meanwhile ..., was on view from May 29 to June 27 and will now be extended until August 22. During the summer months of July and August the gallery will be open only by appointment.

The gallery is open according to the regulations of the RIVM. The gallery will allow a limited number of visitors at a time. However, the gallery offers enough space to keep a safe distance.

The next exhibition with new works by Martin Gerwers (*1963, DE) will open on September 4.

Steven Aalders, In Search of Red, Yellow and Blue: 4 November – 23 December 2017

Slewe Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of In Search of Red, Yellow and Blue by Steven Aalders, on Saturday November 4, in which he presents the results of his residency at the Van Doesburghuis in Meudon near Paris this summer. At 17.30 Wies van Moorsel, heir and niece of Nelly van Doesburg, will open the exhibition. During Aalders’ four-month stay in the famous studio house of the founder of De Stijl movement, he explored the concept of the Golden Section in relation to the primary colours. As an homage to Theo van Doesburg, the artist will place a white painted cube central in the gallery. A brochure with an illustrated text by Aalders on Van Doesburg, designed by Irma Boom, will be published to accompany the exhibition. The show will be open during Amsterdam Art Weekend (23-26 November) and will remain on display until December 23.

Three new series of paintings will be shown. In one of the series, the surface of the paintings is gradually divided into multiple planes following the Golden Section ratio in different shades of grey. These are acquired by mixing only the three primary colours, red, yellow and blue and white to a neutral grey, without using any black. Another series shows the primary colours, red, yellow or blue, each in relation to a mid-tone grey. These series are related to Van Doesburg’s colour theory in which he proclaims that the colour grey gives a platform for bright colour planes. The third series shows two squares interpenetrate each other, dividing three primary-colour planes in different shades, from bright to dark and greyish tones.

Aalders is known for his carefully hand-painted geometric abstract oil paintings. He evokes the history of modern abstraction, referring to the origins of constructivism and minimal art. His work is an attempt to create light and space through paint. Modernist serial principles, such as repetition and uniformity, are both related to older traditions in Western art and non-Western abstract art. Different colour concepts are being investigated. The multi-layered oil paintings demand a concentrated eye from the beholder.

Steven Aalders, born in 1959 in Middelburg (NL), lives and works in Amsterdam. He studied in London at Croydon College of Art and at Ateliers 63 in Haarlem (NL). In 2002 he had a solo exhibition entitled Vertical Thoughts at the S.M.A.K. in Ghent, Belgium and in 2010 his exhibition Cardinal Points opened at the Gemeentemuseum The Hague, on which occasion a catalogue was published with an overview of fifteen years work. In spring 2017 De vijfde lijn. Gedachten van een schilder was published by Prometheus, Amsterdam and in autumn 2017 The Fifth Line. Thoughts of a Painter will be published by Koenig Books, London. His work is internationally collected by both private and public collections, such as the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, AKZO Nobel Art Foundation, ABN AMRO Art Collection, Caldic Collection/ Museum Voorlinden, Museum Over Holland and Museum Kurhaus Kleve.

Innes, Walsh, Davenport, Drissen, Aalders: Works on Paper: 5 November – 17 December 2016

From November 5 until December 17 Slewe Gallery will host the exhibition Works on Paper: Callum Innes, Dan Walsh, Ian Davenport, Paul Drissen, Steven Aalders. All five artists are from the same generation and internationally known as painters, having built up an abstract vocabulary each in their own way. The exhibition will also be on view during Amsterdam Art Weekend from November 24 until 27.

Washing away paint and exposing the ground is characterisitic for the painting process by Scottish artist Callum Innes (*1962). Exhibiting at Slewe Gallery in the late nineties he has currently a solo show at Museum De Pont in Tilburg from October 15 until February 26, 2017. His main gallery is Frith Street Gallery in London.

American artist Dan Walsh (*1960) is known for his playful minimal abstract paintings, in which he explores ‘process generated images’. Having Paula Cooper Gallery as his main gallery in New York, he showed regularly at Slewe Gallery. In Spring 2019 he will have a solo exhibition at the Bonnefantenmuseum in Maastricht.

London based artist Ian Davenport (*1966) is like Innes one of the most important abstract painters of his generation in Britain. With his technique of pouring paint he has reached a refined surface and imagery. Very thin lines and subtle colors are a result of his highly controlling hand and esthetic eye. Since the start of his career he is represented by Waddington Custot in London.

Paul Drissen (*1963), who lives and works in Maastricht, makes paintings with a collage technique and with casein tempera on canvas. He uses elements from the modernist tradition in an almost nostalgic way. His works has been collected by Bonnefantenmusuem Gemeentemuseum The Hague and Stedeijk Museum Amsterdam a.o.

The geometric abstract painting by Steven Aalders (*1959) are traditionally made with oil paint on linen, in which the heritage of modernism of Mondrian and the American Minimal Art has been processed. His work had been included in the by Rudi Fuch curated show Excitement in the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam last Summer.

The exhibition will also be on view during Amsterdam Art Weekend from Novemer 24 until 27. For more information please visit www.amsterdamart.nl

Steven Aalders, Acts & Places: 24 May – 28 June 2014

Slewe Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of the exhibition Acts & Places by Dutch artist Steven Aalders. It opens Saturday May 24 and will be on view until June 28, 2014. Time and place is a returning theme in Aalders’ works. In his new series of paintings stillness and movement are visible compositional elements. The square is a central motif.

On view there will be two series of paintings. In one of the series, entitled Places, the image consists of an edged square. It is a static composition, in which either the central square or the edge is either colored or white. The image in the other series, entitled Acts, is divided in four squares and their edges. Here the composition is dynamic, in which the four colors are changing positions either as square or as edge in a rotating movement.

The six-colored spectrum, which Aalders has explored in depth in his former exhibition, one will find here back. It has been recollected in simplified and larger planes. There are also references to the seasons, the four elements and the times of the day. The titles of the paintings are quotations from the poem Four Quartets, T.S. Eliot’s epic 20th century meditation on time and being.

Alongside the exhibition there will be the launch of his new website www.stevenaalders.nl, designed by graphic designer Niels Schrader.

Aalders, known for his carefully hand painted geometric abstract oil paintings, evokes the history of modern abstraction, referring to the origins of Constructivism and Minimal Art. His work is an attempt to embody the essence, to create light and space through paint. Modernist serial principles such as repetition and sameness are both connected to older traditions in Western art and Eastern abstract art. The multi layered oil paintings demand a concentrated eye of the beholder.

Steven Aalders, born in 1959 in Middelbug (NL), lives and works in Amsterdam. He studied in London at Croydon College of Art and at Ateliers 63 in Haarlem (NL). In 2002 he had a solo exhibition, entitled Vertical Thoughts at the S.M.A.K. in Ghent in Belgium, and in 2010 his exhibition Cardinal Points opened at the Gemeentemuseum The Hague, on which occasion a catalog was published with an overview of 15 years work, with texts by Benno Tempel, Rudi Fuchs, Thomas Lange and Steven Aalders himself. His work has been internationally collected by both private and public collections such as the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, AKZO Nobel Art Foundation, Caldic Collection and Museum Kurhaus Kleve (DE).

Steven Aalders, Spectrum: 12 May – 16 June 2012

The laws of the colors are unutterably beautiful, just because they are not accidental.
— citation from letter 450 by Vincent van Gogh to his brother Theo, June 1884

Slewe Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of the exhibition Spectrum by Steven Aalders (*1959, NL) from May 12 to June 16, 2012. It will comprise new series of paintings with the spectrum as subject. One is a six-panelled work of which each panel is painted in one of the six colors of the spectrum and serves as a background for another spectral range of 12 colors. In relation to their background these colors change in perception according to the principles of interaction of colors. As a motto for this exhibition Aalders chose the above mentioned fragment from a letter of Van Gogh, in which Vincent evokes his belief in a scientific approach of painting.

Aalders, who has been reflecting on artists of the past and who has been investigating color schemes of various masters, old and modern, moves with these new series towards pure abstraction, by taking color itself as a subject. The exhibition comprises also a group of small new works with a new motif on which Aalders worked during his residency at the Josef Albers Foundation in the United States last Summer.

Aalders, known for his carefully hand painted geometric abstract oil paintings, evokes the history of modern abstraction, reverting to the origins of Constructivism and Minimal Art. His work is an attempt to embody the essence, to create light and space through paint. Modernist serial principles such as repetition and sameness are both connected to older traditions in Western art and Eastern abstract art. The multi layered oil paintings demand a concentrated eye of the beholder.

Steven Aalders, born in 1959 in Middelbug (NL), lives and works in Amsterdam. He studied in London at Croydon College of Art and at Ateliers 63 in Haarlem (NL). In 2002 he had a solo exhibition at the S.M.A.K. in Ghent in Belgium. A catalog with texts by Jan Hoet snd Pietje Tegenbosch was published at the same time. In 2010 his exhibition Cardinal Points at the Gemeentemuseum The Hague opened, on which occasion a catalog was published with an overview of 15 years work, with texts by Benno Tempel, Rudi Fuchs, Thomas Lange and Steven Aalders himself. Last year he had an exhibition at De Ketelfactory entitled For Philip Guston. His work has been internationally collected by both private and public collections such as the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, AKZO Nobel Art Foundation, Caldic Collection and Museum Kurhaus Kleve (DE).

Steven Aalders, Celestial Chart: 10 January – 14 February 2009

Slewe Gallery is pleased to announce Steven Aalders: Celestial Chart, the next exhibition at the gallery. It comprises some new series of paintings and will take place from January 10 through February 14, 2009

Steven Aalders, known for his carefully hand painted geometric abstract oil paintings proceeds on his earlier theme of orientation for his new exhibition. Whereas the direction of his former series was pointing more horizontal the new works are, as appears from the title of the exhibition, predominantly vertical focused. Constellations of a broken grid of horizontal and vertical coloured bars feature against a light or dark coloured background They move between a pattern and a sign, evoking a spatial working atmosphere. Like in his earlier work his use of colour reflects various colour concepts from the past.

Aalders evokes the history of modern abstraction, both seriously and playfully reverting to the origins of Constructivism and Minimal Art of the sixties and seventies. His work is an attempt to embody the essence, to create light and space through paint, and to remap the tradition of history of art as well. Modernist serial principles such as repetition and sameness are both connected to older traditions in Western art and Eastern abstract art. The carefully made multi layered oil paintings demand a concentrated eye of the beholder.

Steven Aalders, born in 1959 in Middelbug (NL), lives and works in Amsterdam. He studied in London at Croydon College of Art and at Ateliers 63 in Haarlem (NL). In 2002 he had a solo exhibition Vertical Thoughts at the S.M.A.K. in Ghent in Belgium. A catalogue with texts by Jan Hoet and Pietje Tegenbosch was published at the same time. His work has been collected by several museum collections such as the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam.

Steven Aalders, Orientation: 6 January – 10 February 2007

Steven Aalders, 12 Months: 10 January – 14 February 2004

From January 10 until February 14, 2004, Steven Aalders will exhibit a new series of 12 paintings, entitled 12 Months, at Slewe Gallery Amsterdam.

Steven Aalders: 6 January – 10 February 2001

Steven Aalders, Michael Jacklin, Martina Klein: 18 February – 24 March 1999

Steven Aalders: 10 January – 14 February 1998

Steven Aalders: 9 September – 18 October 1995

From September 9 until October 18, 1995 Slewe Gallery will host an exhibition with new paintings by Dutch artist Steven Aalders (*1959), on which occasion a catalog will be published, designed by Irma Boom.