Pim Palsgraaf
°1979, Gouda, the Netherlands.
Lives and works in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Pim Palsgraaf explores through his work themes of urban and natural dichotomy that reveals the fragility of urban spaces, often portraying deserted rooms and deteriorating structures that are being reclaimed by nature. This theme emphasizes the impermanence of human creations and the inevitable return of nature.
His works incorporate perspective lines and three-dimensional forms due to humanity's use of these methods to comprehend their environment. To delve deeper into the nature of perception, he isolated himself in a completely dark, silent room for five days, devoid of any temporal cues. This intense sensory deprivation experience revealed to him the fluidity of time and the constructed nature of perception in the human mind. Profoundly impacted by this revelation, his subsequent works evolved into spatial sculptural pieces that invite audiences to question their own constructed realities.
With painting as background, Palsgraaf approaches his sculptural collages similarly, layering recovered wood and found materials like a painter would layer oil paint. These materials add depth, light, and texture to his pieces, with each contributing its distinct colour from the decay of the material, functioning like brushstrokes in a painting. Through this technique, he creates rich, complex works that blur the boundaries between painting and sculpture.
Selected exhibitions:
Solo exhibitions
2024, BELOW THE SURFACE | Solo exhibition at NLisUS Gallery, Rotterdam (NL)
2023, Wadström Tönnheim Gallery, ‘Future Remains’, Marbella (ES)
2022, NLisUS Gallery, ‘Traces of Existence’, Rotterdam (NL)
2022, De Spelonk, ‘Membrane’, site specific installation, Den Haag (NL)
2018, Scope Art Fair, with NL=US Gallery, Booth 012, New York City (USA)
2017, Museum de Kunsthal, ‘In the Absence of Light’, site specific installation, Rotterdam (NL)
2012, Cokkie Snoei Gallery, ‘Megalopolis’, Rotterdam (NL)
2011, MK Gallery, ‘Multiscape’, Rotterdam (NL)
2009, 3rd Ward, ‘Summer Solo Show’, New York City (USA)
2009, Preview Berlin Art Fair, with MK Gallery, Berlin (DE)
Group exhibitions:
2025, Art Rotterdam Art Fair, with NLisUS Gallery, Rotterdam (NL)
2025, ARCO Art Fair Madrid, with Galeria Álvaro Alcázar, Madrid (ES)
2024, Invisible Interactions, Macadam Gallery (group), Brussels (BE)
2024, Fundación Valentin de Madariaga y Oya, with Galeria Álvaro Alcázar, Sevilla (ES)
2024, VOLTA Basel Art Fair, with NLisUS Gallery, Basel (CH)
2024, Bordeaux Art+Design BAD+, with Galeria Álvaro Alcázar, Bordeaux (FR)
2023, Salangen Biennale, IPIHAN#13, Salangen (NO)
2023, VOLTA Basel Art Fair, with NLisUS Gallery, Basel (CH)
2023, Art Rotterdam Art Fair, with NLisUS Gallery, Booth 73, Rotterdam (NL)
2022, Museum Zandvoort, Beelden in Zandvoort, Zandvoort (NL)
2022, Private Art Collector, commissioned site specific sculpture, Flims (CH)
2022, NPO2 Extra, documentary art project ‘IPIHAN#9’ (NL)
2022, IFFR International Film Festival Rotterdam, documentary ‘If Paradise Is Half As Nice’, Rotterdam (NL)
2021, IJsselbiennale, international sculpture route, Olst (NL)
2020, Museum Rijswijk, ‘Thuis/Home’, Papier Biennale, Rijswijk (NL)
2019, VOLTA Basel Art Fair, with NL=US Gallery, Booth B19 (duo), Basel (CH)
2019, Franzis Engels Gallery, ‘Serendipity’, Amsterdam (NL)
2018, Museum de Kunsthal, ‘Maaskant Getekend’, Rotterdam (NL)
2018, YIA Young Contemporary Art Fair, with NL=US Gallery, Booth 27, Paris (FR)
2017, PULSE Miami Art Fair, with NL=US Gallery, Booth 304, Miami (USA)
2017, Ehemalige Nudlefabrik, ‘If Paradise Is Half As Nice #7’, Zeitz (DE)
2017, Cranach Stiftung, ‘Apocalypse Now’, Wittenberg (DE)
2016, De Vishal, ‘The Act of the Object’, Haarlem (NL)
2016, Outline Art Festival, site specific installation, Moscow (RU)
2016, Cokkie Snoei Gallery, ‘Questioning Reality’ (duo), Rotterdam (NL)
2014, W139, ‘Now Babylon’, Amsterdam (NL)
2013, TENT Platform voor Hedendaagse Kunst, ‘The Traveller’, Rotterdam (NL)
2012, Museum de Kunsthal, ‘Aanwinst’, HRO Collection, Rotterdam (NL)
2010, Elga Wimmer Gallery, ‘Biennal Wintersalon’, New York City (USA)
2010, Fountain Miami Art Fair, with Christina Ray Gallery, Miami (USA)
2010, PULSE Miami Art Fair, with MK Gallery, Miami (USA)
2010, Governors Island Art Fair, New York City (USA)
2010, Stedelijk Museum ’s-Hertogenbosch, ‘The Nomadic Condition’, Den Bosch (NL)
2009, Art Rotterdam Art Fair, with MK Gallery, Rotterdam (NL)
2008, Berlin Biennale, ‘Review of a Position’, with MK Gallery, Berlin (DE)
2008, International Landscape Triennial, ‘Power of Places’, Nettenfabriek, Apeldoorn (NL)
Prizes:
2020, Nominated for the Heineken Art Prize
2012, Nominated for the Charlotte van Pallandt prize