The Studio #4: Floor Martens

As soon as the museum opens its doors again, visitors can see the fourth edition of The Studio. The Studio provides a platform for small-scale solo presentations, in which artists give an account of recent developments in their work.

In this fourth studio presentation, it is the turn of Floor Martens (Reuver, 1998), whose exhibition includes an exceptional photo series entitled Lijftaal (Body Language), which addresses themes like power and love, and loss and grief.

Deep-rooted intuitions

For The Studio #4, Floor Martens has spent the past months exploring photographic processes and techniques at the Jan van Eyck Academy, taking the human body as her subject and focusing on her own vulnerability and feelings of loss, fear and insecurity. Moved by an intense dance performance based on Ayahuasca ceremonies, she took part herself in a series of Ecstatic Dance sessions; a sort of meditative, expressive, free dance form. The free movement released a lot in Martens, who was amazed at the body’s instinctive capacity to express deep-rooted intuitions. ‘In dance, the essence is much closer’, says Martens.

She takes photos of herself while dancing, and also asks friends to dance or move for the camera. Martens presents the analogue shots of the young men and women as a series of framed black and white photos on the wall. They look like emblems; symbols that illustrate abstract concepts such as power and love.

Martens’ amazement at the essence and truth of individual physical expression thus becomes an exploration of a new mental and emotional language. Besides the new photo series, Martens is presenting excerpts from her diaries and correspondence, both as audio works and as big sheets of typed text.

Online interview

Floor Martens will talk about the exhibition in an interview with our curator of contemporary art Paula van den Bosch. After the opening of the exhibition, the interview will be available online through the social media channels and the Bonnefanten website.

Stimulating the work of young artists from Limburg

Floor Martens is the second recipient of the Limburg Beeldende Kunst Stipendium (LBK), a new grant set up by the Province of Limburg that aims to stimulate the work of young artists from Limburg and bring it to the attention of a wider public. The grant comprises a working period at the Jan van Eyck Academy, an exhibition in The Studio and a sum of € 5,000. Floor Martens spent the autumn of 2020 working at the Jan van Eyck Academy. The result of her work is now presented in The Studio #4.

Note for the press: for a press preview, more information and visual material, please contact Justin Livesey through pressoffice@bonnefanten.nl or 0031 (0)6 53 22 68 16.