Femke Hiemstra
Encyclopedia
Work
Femke started as a illustratorIllustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...
for Dutch magazines but since her paintings became too elaborate for commissions she now mostly works as a fine artist. Her work is usually categorized as pop surrealist or American lowbrow
Lowbrow (art movement)
Lowbrow, or lowbrow art, describes an underground visual art movement that arose in the Los Angeles, California, area in the late 1970s. Lowbrow is a widespread populist art movement with origins in the underground comix world, punk music, hot-rod street culture, and other subcultures. It is also...
Art. Her mixed media
Mixed media
Mixed media, in visual art, refers to an artwork in the making of which more than one medium has been employed.There is an important distinction between "mixed-media" artworks and "multimedia art". Mixed media tends to refer to a work of visual art that combines various traditionally distinct...
works are made with delicate layers of acrylic paint and color pencil on the surfaces of old books or other bric-a-brac
Bric-a-brac
Bric-à-brac , first used in the Victorian era, refers to collections of curios such as elaborately decorated teacups and small vases, feathers, wax flowers under glass domes, eggshells, statuettes, painted miniatures or photographs, and so on...
objects. The themes are often mixtures of animals and comic characters, dark surreal
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
settings and stylized typography
Typography
Typography is the art and technique of arranging type in order to make language visible. The arrangement of type involves the selection of typefaces, point size, line length, leading , adjusting the spaces between groups of letters and adjusting the space between pairs of letters...
.
In 2009 'Rock Candy', a book with an overview of her work was published at Fantagraphics Books
Fantagraphics Books
Fantagraphics Books is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, magazines, graphic novels, and the adult-oriented Eros Comix imprint...
, ISBN 978-1-60699-149-7
Education
1990-1994: School of Graphic Arts, AmsterdamAmsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, the Netherlands
1994-1997: Art Academy, Utrecht
Utrecht
Utrecht is a city in the Netherlands.The name may also refer to:* Utrecht , of which Utrecht is the capital* Utrecht , including the city of Utrecht* Bishopric of Utrecht* Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Utrecht...
, the Netherlands
Exhibitions
2011- museum exhibition: Februari 5th - April 17, 2011; ‘SuggestivismSuggestivismSuggestivism is a term used to describe the works of some contemporary artists that demonstrate a 'suggestion.' Suggestivism was used by Nathan Spoor as the title of a 2011 gallery exhibition at CSU Fullerton's Grand Central Art Center in Santa Ana, California...
’* exhibition at GCAC, Santa Ana - gallery exhibition: March 11 - April 2, 2011; Hi Fructose group show at Roq la Rue Gallery, Seattle
- Merry Karnowsky Gallery, Los Angeles, July 2011
2010:
- May 8 to 29: ‘Neo Fabulists’ shared solo show with Heiko MüllerHeiko MüllerHeiko Müller is a German painter.-Overview:Heiko Müller works as an independent artist. His works have been exhibited in his hometown of Hamburg as well as in New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, Paris, Saint Petersburg and Tartu. He also curated several exhibitions in Hamburg...
, Fred Stonehouse, Atak and Ryan Heshka at Feinkunst Krüger, Hamburg, Germany - September 11 to October 2: BLAB! group show at Copro Gallery, Santa Monica
- November 12 to December 4: Shared solo show ‘The Bone Shaped Bone’ with Ryan Heska at Roq la Rue Gallery, Seattle
2009:
- January 17 to February 18: ‘Beasts! #2’ group exhibition at Giant Robot Gallery, San Francisco
- April 4 to April 25: ‘The Herring’s Hairdo’, shared solo exhibition with Keith Weesner at Copro Nason, Santa Monica, USA
- April 16 to 29: Prints & The Revolution group exhibition, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- May 5 to June 6: ‘Lush Life’, group exhibition at Roq la Rue Gallery, Seattle
- July 23 & 24: ‘Scribble o8’, group exhibition curated by Mark Murphy, Wonderhaus, San Diego
- August 8 to 29: ‘The BLAB Apocalypse show’, group exhibition at Copro Nason, Santa Monica
- December 5 to 23: ‘Don’t Wake Daddy #4, The Drawing Show’, group exhibition at Feinkunst Krüger, Hamburg, Germany
- December 11 to January 30, 2010: ‘Bonjour, Dachshund!’, shared solo exhibition at Roq la Rue Gallery, Seattle
2008:
- February 8 to March 1: Group exhibition 'A cabinet of natural curiosities' at Roq la Rue Gallery, Seattle
- April 11 to May 3: Shared solo exhibition at Roq la Rue Gallery, Seattle, USA
- June 20 to June 22: 'Garage Sale' #4, group exhibition at Chiellerie Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- July 11 to August 2: 10th Anniversary Roq la Rue, group exhibition at Roq la Rue Gallery, Seattle
- September 6 group exhibition Heiko MüllerHeiko MüllerHeiko Müller is a German painter.-Overview:Heiko Müller works as an independent artist. His works have been exhibited in his hometown of Hamburg as well as in New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, Paris, Saint Petersburg and Tartu. He also curated several exhibitions in Hamburg...
, Fred Stonehouse and Anthony Pontius, Feinkunst Krüger, Hamburg - December 13 to January 3: Group exhibition Copro Nason, Santa Monica,
2007:
- February 9 to March 3: Shared solo exhibition at Roq la Rue Gallery, Seattle
- April 6 to April 9: 'Garage Sale' #3, group exhibition at the Chiellerie Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- June 2 to July 8: Shared exhibition at MF Gallery, NYC, USA
- November 2007: Affordable Art Fair Amsterdam with Koch Bos Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- December 1, 2007 to Januari 26, 2008: La Fenêtre Secrète, solo exhibition at Koch Bos Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2006:
- April 1 to May 16: 'Girls, girls, girls', group exhibition at MF Gallery, NYC
- April 14 to April 16: 'Garage Sale' #2, group exhibition at Chiellerie Gallery, Amsterdam
- September 16 to October 31, 2006: ‘Halloween’ group exhibition at MF Gallery, NYC
2005:
November 26 to December 12: 'Art Trek' #2, group exhibition at Mekanik, Antwerpen, Belgium
2004:
- October 1 to October 3: 'Garage Sale' #1, group exhibition at Chiellerie Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands