Are you a young artist, graduated from art school for more than two years and in need of a period of deepening? Then this is your chance to invest in the artistic development of your professional practice! During Spacemakers #9: ‘Getting to the core’, the supporting artist Erik Mattijssen will help you further with the questions within your artistic practice.
With the Keep an Eye Spacemakers project, Galerie Pouloeuff organizes an annual artist residency. The ninth edition of this residency masterclass offers artists an intensive working period throughout the month of September. Within this time frame, you will work with other artists to develop new insights into your work. The residency concludes with a joint final exhibition at Galerie Pouloeuff.
If this sounds like something for you, please apply before April 30th via email: mail.ons@galeriepouloeuff.nl!
Getting to the core.
Being truly free in what you want to create as an artist is a stage that is not easy to conquer and achieve. Yet this is what makes you the happiest. And it is what makes being an artist so special and so difficult at the same time.
During this residency masterclass, you will be guided in this process by artist Erik Mattijssen. The process begins with shaking off everything that is not yours: the opinions of others, the views of teachers, assumptions about what is “in fashion” and the voices in your head that constantly judge what you create. These are often your own insecurities.
You will create a lot and then filter it down until you get to the cores. In this process, the emphasis is on “being specific”: don’t get stuck in generalities for too long but dare to make statements.
There is also an opportunity to undertake activities together. Being an artist can be quite solitary. You can learn a lot from each other and make use of each other’s talents. Inspiration comes at unexpected moments when you are not consciously looking for it. Brian Eno puts it this way: “it doesn’t knock on your door”. It’s a matter of being attentive, “noticing things”; encountering something, picking it up and developing it further with enthusiasm.
But the most important thing will be to get the ball rolling, to find fertile ground that you can use to move forward. So that you can then happily conclude that it’s the best job in the world.
De residentieperiode
The residency period runs from 31 August to 26 September. During this period, Galerie Pouloeuff’s exhibition space will function as a shared work and living space. Together with the other artists, you will organize the final presentation here at the end of the work period, showcasing the work you have created during the masterclass. The final presentation will take place from 27 September to 25 October. The opening of this final presentation is on Sunday 27 September. During this opening, you will have the opportunity to tell visitors more about the work you have created and what you have learned during the working period.
About Erik Mattijssen
For over forty years, Erik Mattijssen has been creating works on paper, ranging from very small to enormous formats. His choice of materials remains constant: pencil, gouache and pastel chalk. With these, he portrays everyday life with a unique twist. His work varies from still life to large, composite scenes and interiors. His colourful representations do not show people, although their presence is palpable. It is an intense embrace of the world of things, in which he makes you part of the sensation of detail and use of colour, in which everything seems to demand your attention at the same time. It is a special universe, in which people nevertheless recognize themselves because it appeals to a collective memory.
Erik Mattijssen (1957) discovered his love for art after studying education. In 1979, he chose to study at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam, where he graduated in 1984. From 1988 onwards, he enjoyed teaching there for 32 years, alongside his own studio practice in the center of Amsterdam. Teaching at international institutes formed an important part of his career. His work is exhibited nationally and internationally in numerous galleries and museums. In 2025, Museum MORE presented a major solo exhibition of his work, entitled “Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily”. In addition to his independent work, he also takes on commissions, particularly for public spaces in hospitals. His art is included in the most important Dutch collections.
More information: http://www.erikmattijssen.nl/
We expect you to:
- be present from 31 August to 26 September at least 4 days a week. On these days, you will start at 09.30 and have lunch and dinner together with the other artists. There is a daily budget for this available to each artist. (In addition, overnight stay in the gallery can be arranged).
- be willing to work intensively in the gallery space during this period and to collaborate with the other artists.
- be present all day at the introduction day on Thursday August 27 to get acquainted with each other, Erik Mattijssen and Ine van der Horn (curator of the gallery).
- be present at the opening on Sunday September 27 to talk about the ideas behind your work and your experience during the working period.
- have graduated from an art academy or master’s program at least 2 years ago.
- not be older than 35 years.
- live and work as an artist in the Netherlands.
There is no registration fee for participation in the residency-masterclass Spacemakers #9. However, material and travel costs are at the artist’s expense. There is a limited budget for setting up the final presentation.
How to register?
You can apply by sending an email to mail.ons@galeriepouloeuff.nl before April 30 with the following information:
- Your CV with full contact details including year of birth and graduation years of your studies. And website and social media links.
- A pdf (max 5mb) containing images of your work. Possibly supplemented with links to other places where your work can be seen.
- A short description of what your work is about. Also indicate which discipline you work in.
- A short personal motivation as to why participation in this residency-masterclass is important to you, including your development questions and what you would like to work towards.
- Your availability. Can you stay in the gallery in Naarden-Vesting at least 4 days a week? And which days would those be?
