Nieke Koek - Bodied

Nieke Koek (b. 1982, Roelofarendsveen) has always been fascinated by what the human body can and cannot do. Her work is a poetic interpretation of the body, raising the everyday things indelibly associated with everyone’s body to the level of art. A trained actor, she analyses and internalises her own body and that of others, and then proceeds to make us aware of our own.

_{Nieke Koek, Fossils, 2022, plaster. Photo: Peter Tijhuis.}

Nieke Koek’s art raises questions about healthcare, about what would happen if creativity were allowed to play a greater role in the health system. Koek collaborates with a number of hospitals and universities in her exploration of this idea. She also works in co-creation with patients who have terminal illnesses. Koek’s projects offer a new vision of healthcare, the body and of life.

Nieke Koek’s oeuvre encompasses a huge range of art forms, from video to performance, from embroidery to sculpture. Her concern is not the form itself, but the experience. Bodied is her first solo museum presentation.

A book, including an interview with Nieke Koek, will be published by Waanders Publishing and Museum de Fundatie to accompany the exhibition.

_{Nieke Koek, Yellow, 2012, plaster, epoxy, steel construction, collection Amsterdam UMC. In collaboration with Thijs Elich.}

Bodied is part of De Fundatie’s Future Factory, a laboratory where multidisciplinary makers seek out the pulse of today’s world and explore the issues that will shape the future. Their findings are presented in displays both inside and outside the museum.

_{Photos: Peter Nijhuis}

_{Image header: Nieke Koek, Nota Bene, 2020, cedar wood, poplar plywood, cast iron, steel. In collaboration with Anton Klijnsmit (chainsaw carving). Photo: Peter Tijhuis.}

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