Johan Nieuwenhuize

For his work Johan Nieuwenhuize (b. 1980, Oost-Souburg, NL) draws from large self-created image archives and combines photos using artificial intelligence.

He does not focus on a single monumental image, but on a multiplicity of images. He always shoots series of photos in the same format, which has an equalizing effect on the total. This generic effect is reinforced by his preference for images that can hardly be traced back to a particular person or environment.

Characteristic is his photo series Collected Memory, on which he has been working since 2009. For this he photographs the skies above well-known disaster sites such as the WTC in New York, the island of Utøya, the Tiananmenplein in Beijing and the Bijlmer in Amsterdam. The fact that he takes these photos in the same months, days and hours that a disaster struck at such locations years earlier says something about how he understands memory. Photographically it is not the physical characteristics of the place that matters, but the reference to them is enough to activate the collective (media) memory.

Nieuwenhuize received his Bachelor’s degree in 2006 from the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague. His own work and that of artist duo OTANI NIEUWENHUIZE was shown in solo exhibitions in The Netherlands and abroad.
His work is represented in the art collections of Three Shadows Photography Art Center in Beijing, Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine Museum, Japan and Fries Museum, among others.

Artworks in the collection

The Bubble (2018, detail)