Robbie Cornelissen

Robbie Cornelissen (1954) has a reputation for making gigantic drawings which, apart from their dimensions, are especially impressive because of their abundance of detail. In the libraries, cities or halls depicted by him man is absent; consequently, the architectural fantasy retains a certain neutrality so that the observer can wander round the rooms undisturbed. The library is a recurring theme in his work. Not only as a metaphor for the power of knowledge or a collective memory, but also as some kind of giant computer that seems to be developing into a living creature with organic forms. Over the last years Robbie Cornelissen pushes the boudaries of the medium by experimenting with computer aided design in animations as The Capacious Memory and The Labyrinth Runner or by having the audience participate in his work.

In 2011 he invited visitors and students in making a twenty meter long, horizontal line drawing during his solo exhibition Studio Vertigo at the Centraal Museum in Utrecht, The Netherlands. In his animation The Black Room he concentrates on the basics of drawing. Using only charcoal on paper he investigates the aspects of perspective and space, abstraction and figuration and the transition from two to three dimensional. In total sixty animations are linked up together. They are meant to be shown simultaneously on three screens in a u-shaped space in a constantly varying compilation, allowing the work to continuously rejuvenate itself. In 2015 he won the professional jury award for this work at the Holland Animation Film Festival.

www.robbiecornelissen.nl

1954 born in Utrecht, The Netherlands (NL)

education

1973 -1980 Biology and Ecology, Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht, NL
1982 – 1984 Vrije Academie, The Hague, NL
1984 – 1987 Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam, NL
lives and works in Utrecht, NL

solo exhibitions

2021 Terra Nova, Kunsthalle Mannheim, Germany
Places We Have Never Been Before, with Karin van Dam, Galerie Maurits van de Laar, The Hague, NL
2020 The Compacted Line, Artspace Kuub, Utrecht, NL
2019 Ayumi Gallery/Cave, Tokyo, Japan
Art on Paper,
Galerie Maurits van de Laar, Bozar, Brussels, Belgium
2018 The Battle of Hernen’, Castle of Hernen, Hernen, NL
The Other Room,
Art Mûr, Berlin, Germany
2017 The New Room, Galerie Maurits van de Laar, The Hague, NL
2016 The Life of Lines, Drawing Centre Diepenheim, NL
Haven’s Factory,
Kogan Gallery, Paris, France
2015 Galerie Art Mur, Montreal , Canada
2014 The Black Room 2014, Galerie Maurits van de Laar, The Hague, NL
Kennedy van der Laan, Amsterdam, NL
2013 Anticipation, Kogan Gallery, Paris, France
God is in the Details, Stedelijk Museum, Kampen, NL
2012 Mémoires à venir, Kogan Gallery, Paris, France
2011 The Capacious Memory, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague, NL
Studio Vertigo, Centraal Museum, Utrecht, NL
Galerie Art Mur, Montréal, Canada
2010 Pueblo, Bacinol, Delft, The Netherlands
2009 Art Amsterdam, Galerie Maurits van de Laar, Amsterdam, NL
2008 Living Room, Centraal Museum Utrecht, NL
2007 The Capacious Memory, Galerie Art Mur, Montreal, Canada
Het Grote Geheugen, CBK Apeldoorn, Apeldoorn, NL
2006 Galerie Maurits van de Laar, The Hague, NL
2005 Galleria Astuni, Pietrasanta, Italy
2004 Stichting KIK, Kolderveen, NL
2003 Galerie Maurits van de Laar, The Hague, NL
Motive Gallery, Haarlem, NL
CBK Provincie Utrecht, Amersfoort, NL
2001 Archipel, Apeldoorn, NL
1997 VB Galerie-Kunstuitkijk, Deventer, NL
1996 Grafisch Atelier, Utrecht, NL
1992 A. Wulfse startgalerie, Amersfoort, NL
1991 Galerie Bert Mertens, Utrecht, NL
1990 Galerie Trajekt, Utrecht, NL

group exhibitions

2022 MOVING UP, Galerie Maurits van de Laar, The Hague, NL
Paréidolie, Marseille, France
Départ, 30 year anniversary Galerie Maurits van de Laar, The Hague, NL
2021 Equipe II, 30 year anniversary Galerie Maurits van de Laar, The Hague, NL
Constructing Worlds,
De Vishal, Haarlem, NL
2020 Falling Ashes, with Liedeke Taen, Plaatsmaken, Arnhem, NL
Utrecht Down Under,
Utrecht, NL
2019 Karachi Biennale, installation with Karin van Dam, Karachi, Pakistan
This Must Be The Place,
with Rik Smits, Dirk Zoete, Galerie Maurits van de Laar, The Hague, NL
2018 De Line Up, Centraal Museum, Utrecht, NL
2017 Art The Hague Drawing, Galerie Maurits van de Laar, The Hague, NL
Kantelpunt (Tipping Point), with Karin van Dam, Cacaofabriek, Helmond, NL
6 ème Biennale du Dessin, Musée des Beaux Arts de Mont-Saint Hilaire, Canada
Drawing Now Paris, Galerie Maurits van de Laar, Paris, France
2016 Track & Trace I & II, 25 years Galerie Maurits van de Laar, The Hague, NL
Drawing Rooms II,
Hamburger Kunsthalle, Germany
Inner City,
Cityscapes Foundation, Amsterdam, NL
Amsterdam Drawing, Galerie Maurits van de Laar, Amsterdam, NL
The Inconstancy of Space, Struggle for Identity, Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterdam, NL
Move the Line, Horst Janssen Museum, Oldenburg, Germany
Van Gogh’s Mini’s, Moti Museum, Breda, NL
Le Contemporain Dessiné, Musée des Arts Décoratifs au Louvre, Paris, France
Drawing Now Paris, Galerie Maurits van de Laar, Paris, France
Art Rotterdam, Galerie Maurits van de Laar, Rotterdam, NL
2015 Constructeurs d’Absurde, Bricoleurs d’Utopie, CAC Meymac, France
Archi-Sculptur
, Fondation Villa Datris, Isle sur La Sorgue, France
Anders Abstract,
Mondriaanhuis, Amersfoort, NL
Henk van Os komt thuis,
Museum Jan Cunen, Oss, NL
Urbane Beelden,
KuuB ruimte voor kunst, Utrecht, NL
Utrecht Down Under, Under Control, Gevangenis Wolvenplein,
Utrecht, NL
Move ON, 100 years of Animation Art
, Kunsthal KAdE, Amersfoort, NL
2014 De stad in mij (The City within me), Museum IJsselstein, NL
Geest van de Plek, Museum Arnhem, NL
Amsterdam Drawing,
Galerie Maurits van de Laar, Amsterdam, NL
Time Being Time, Museum of Contemporary Art Banja Luka, Bosnia-Herzegovina
The City, Museum IJsselstein, NL
Surreal Worlds, Centraal Museum, Utrecht, NL
Staged City, Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterdam, NL
2013 World in Images, Kunstpodium ZaalZuid, , Hengelo, NL
I love Holland, Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, Schiedam, NL
Mooove, Villa Zebra , Rotterdam, NL
Call of the Mall, Art Manifestation, Utrecht Central Train Station, Utrecht. NL
Zoetermeer Utopia, Townmuseum Zoetermeer, Zoetermeer, NL
2012 Scope New York, Galery Art Mur, New York, USA
Living-Being, Songzhuang Art Gallery, Beijing, China (cat.)
Arte Buenos Aires, Galerie Mirta Demare, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Art Rotterdam, Galerie Maurits van de Laar, Rotterdam, NL
2011 Une terrible beauté est née, La 11e Biennale de Lyon, Lyon, France
SCOPE Basel
, Galerie Maurits van de Laar, Basel, Switzerland
Art Amsterdam, Galerie Maurits van de Laar, Amsterdam, NL
Drawing Now Suite, Paris, France
All about Drawing, Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, NL
2010 De Ketelfactory, Schiedam, NL
Texture Maps, NEST, The Hague, NL
Diepsel, Galerie 37 Spaarnestad, Haarlem, NL
Salon du Dessin Contemporain, Galerie Maurits vd Laar, Paris, France
2009 Towing the Line, Drawing Space, White Box, New York, USA
Stressed Spaces, KW 14, Den Bosch, NL
Close Encounters, Blokhuispoort, Leeuwarden, NL
Allemaal Engelen, Museum het Catharijneconvent, Utrecht, NL
Salon du Dessin Contemporain, Paris, France
2008 Paradise Lost, Stedelijk Museum, Schiedam, NL
Salon du Dessin Contemporain, Paris, France
2007 Art Rotterdam, Galerie Maurits van de Laar, Rotterdam, NL
Under Control, Vrije Academie, The Hague, NL
Contour 2007, Museum Het Prinsenhof, Delft, NL
Comfort – Discomfort, Stedelijk Museum, Den Bosch, NL
Art Amsterdam, Galerie Dubble B, Amsterdam, NL
2006 Art Rotterdam, Galerie Maurits van de Laar, Rotterdam, NL
Kunstfort Vijfhuizen, NL
2005 Galerie Loerakker, Amsterdam, NL
Tekeningen zomer, Centraal Museum, Utrecht, NL
Teekengenootschap Pictura, Dordrecht (with Hans de Wit), NL
Papier, schaar, steen, Museum Jan Cunen, Oss, NL
2003 Tekenen des tijds, Stichting KW 14, , Den Bosch, NL
KunstRAI, Galerie Maurits van de Laar, Amsterdam, NL
Tussen droom en daad, Fonds BKVB, Amsterdam, NL
Intravention, W 139 in Onze lieve heer op zolder, Amsterdam
Inclinations, York Quay Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2002 Motive Gallery, 4 x tekeningen, Haarlem, NL
Galerie Maurits van de Laar, The Hague, NL
4e salon van Utrechtse kunstenaars en vormgevers, Centraal Museum, Utrecht, NL
2001 Artis, Den Bosch, NL
Galerie Tegenbosch, Heusden aan de Maas, NL
Galerie Maurits van de Laar, The Hague, NL
2000 Zinnenprikkelend, CBK Provincie Utrecht, Amersfoort, NL
1999 Kunstmanifestatie De dubbelkamer, Schiedam, NL
Galerie Outline, Stichting ZET, Amsterdam, NL
Kunst boven de bank, Archipel, Apeldoorn, NL
1998 3e Salon van Utrechtse Kunstenaars en vormgevers, Centraal Museum (Stadhuis), Utrecht, NL
1996 Past transparencies, Nouvelles Images, The Hague , NL

awards

2018 Fentener van Vlissingen Award, Utrecht, NL
2015 Winner of the special jury prize, Holland Animation Festival, for animation The Black Room
2013 Boellaardprijs, Utrecht, NL