Celine van den Boorn's 'At the European border': Photography, Painting, and Social Commentary

This artwork, '_At the European border_' by Celine van den Boorn, merges photography and painting by painting over press photos of refugees, making them disappear into natural backgrounds. The work shifts focus to the landscape, creating an idealized reality where traces of human presence remain.

Celine van den Boorn's artwork '_At the European border_' occupies the space between photography and painting. The artist applies layers of paint onto press photographs, causing figures like refugees to disappear into the natural background. This technique shifts the viewer's focus from the human subject to the landscape, fostering a new, seemingly ideal reality while ensuring the original subject remains palpable. Van den Boorn's layered approach creates a tension between the pristine landscape and the visible traces of human presence, navigating the area between current events and timelessness. Initially, the painted-over subject is barely visible, only becoming apparent upon closer inspection or when the light changes, revealing matte, painted silhouettes against the glossy photo. Colorful spheres that appear to float through the landscape are unpainted 'peep-throughs' revealing details of tent cloths and clothing from the original photograph. Van den Boorn's artistic practice investigates the dynamic between the presence and absence of humans in a landscape, often driven by sociopolitical themes. She draws inspiration from current press photos depicting the convergence of people and nature, particularly in contexts of tourism, conflict, and migration. Since 2013, she has focused on the theme of refugees, exploring the extreme contrasts within their stories—the bleakness of their situation versus vibrant tents and luggage, uncertainty versus trust, hope versus reality, and movement versus stillness. Van den Boorn has been a lecturer at HKU since 2007 and has exhibited internationally. '_At the European border_' is her submission for the Open Call EXODUS, a joint initiative by the Bijbels Museum and Buitenplaats Doornburgh.

This artwork was a submission for the Open Call EXODUS, a project by the Bijbels Museum and Buitenplaats Doornburgh. Specific ticketing or admission information for this particular submission is not provided on this page.