Bouquet V, 2008

Scheltens & Abbenes

On Wednesday evening, 29 May, Maurice Scheltens and Liesbeth Abbenes will lead you through the universe of objects from their exhibition ZEEN.

After a reflection on the work by the acclaimed British writer, critic and curator David Campany, he will be in conversation with Scheltens &amp; Abbenes and discuss the way they work, their fascination with the world of things, the role of the camera and their sense of aesthetics. Finally, Foam curator Kim Knoppers will speak about the work of Scheltens &amp; Abbenes in relation to the Dutch tradition of product and still life photography.
ATTENTION: this event is sold out
<img src="https://a.storyblok.com/f/113697/595x446/6b43f4d4f6/scheltens__amp__abbenes__cos__collections__light_bulbs__2012_595.jpg" alt="" width="596" height="446" /> Cos, Collections, Light Bulbs, 2012 &copy; Scheltens &amp; Abbenes
Read more about the exhibition Scheltens &amp; Abbenes - ZEEN, on view at Foam from 15 March until 5 June 2019 <a href="/museum/programme/scheltens-abbenes">here</a>.&nbsp; &nbsp;
ABOUT SCHELTENS &amp; ABBENES Scheltens &amp; Abbenes have been an artist duo since 2001. Maurice Scheltens studied at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, and Liesbeth Abbenes attended the Gerrit Rietveld Academie and the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam. Scheltens &amp; Abbenes produced commissioned photography for fashion and design brands such as Paco Rabanne, Maison Margiela, COS, Hermes, Scholten &amp; Baijings, Arper, Muller van Severen, Arita, Mutina and editorials for magazines including Fantastic Man, The Gentlewoman, Double, Pin-Up magazine, MacGuffin, The Plant and New York Times Magazine. They have had exhibitions at Jan Cunen Museum (2012), Huis Marseille (2013), De Kunsthal in Rotterdam (2013), The Ravestijn Gallery (2018), Limart/Tokyo (2012), Palais Galliera Mus&eacute;e de la Mode Paris (2012), The Art Institute of Chicago (2013) and Three Shadows Gallery/Beijing (2015). The books On Display (2008), I Put This Here (2012), Le Style (2012) and Unfolded (2012) have all become collectors&rsquo; items. Simultaneously with the exhibition, CASE Publishers has published the same-titled book ZEEN. Scheltens &amp; Abbenes won the ICP Infinity Award in New York (2012).
ABOUT DAVID COMPANY David Campany is a curator and writer, currently based in London. He teaches at the University of Westminster, London. He is the curator of three-city Biennale f&uuml;r aktuelle Fotografie, 2020. Recent curatorial projects include The Still Point of the Turning World: Between Film and Photography (FoMu Antwerp, 2017); The Open Road: photography and the American road trip (various venues, USA, 2016-); A Handful Dust (Le Bal, Paris, 2015; Pratt Institute New York, 2016; the Whitechapel Gallery London, 2017; The California Museum of Photography, 2018; David&rsquo;s most recent book is So Present, So Invisible &ndash; conversations on photography (2018). He has written over two hundred essays for monographs and museums. He contributes to Frieze, Aperture, Source and Tate magazines.
ABOUT KIM KNOPPERS Kim Knoppers is an art historian and curator at Foam since 2011. She has worked on solo exhibitions by Melanie Bonajo, Adam Broomberg &amp; Oliver Chanarin, Anne de Vries, Geert Goiris, Taiyo Onorato &amp; Nico Krebs and Lorenzo Vitturi, and group exhibitions including RE-Search: Alumni Rijksakademie, Collaborate: On Artists&rsquo; Collectives and Back to the Future: The 19th century in the 21st Century. She also initiated several archival exhibitions on commercial photo studios like Fotogalatasaray - Maryam Şahinyan's Photo Studio (2013), Disfarmer &ndash; The Vintage Prints (2016), Dynasty Marubi - A Hundred Years of Albanian Studio Photography (2016). Kim is a lecturer in the MA Photography program at &Eacute;cole cantonale d&aacute;rt de Lausanne (ECAL) where she initiated and developed the course Do Not Disturb &ndash; Curating in Progress. She contributes on a regular basis to Foam Magazine.
The exhibition Scheltens &amp; Abbenes &ndash; ZEEN is made possible by BeamSystems, the Mondriaan Fund and Kleurgamma Fine-Art Photolab. Courtesy of The Ravestijn Gallery Amsterdam.
Foam is supported by the BankGiro Loterij, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, City of Amsterdam, Foam Members, Olympus and the VandenEnde Foundation.

<div class="sidebar__content">Event info 
Wednesday 29 May 2019 19.00 - 20.30 hrs
 ATTENTION This event is sold out PRICE &euro;7,00 regular rate &euro;5,00&nbsp;<a href="/about/memberships" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Foam Members</a>
 LANGUAGE English</div>

The Microcosmos of Scheltens & Abbenes

Exclusively for Club Foam, Foam Family and Foam Fan+ members, Foam organises photography workshops in May based on the exhibition Scheltens &amp; Abbenes - ZEEN.

During this workshop, you will create your own photo, inspired by the artist duo&nbsp;<a href="/museum/programme/scheltens-abbenes">Scheltens &amp; Abbenes</a>&nbsp;and the way they create their iconic photographs. You are encouraged to carefully look at the material, fabric and patterns of the objects provided by Foam and be inspired to create an iconic pattern composition of your own. Whilst making the photograph, you will need to consider photographic aspects such as colour, framing and cropping.&nbsp;
<img src="https://a.storyblok.com/f/113697/2966x1994/9a592b652c/scheltens__amp__abbenes__fantastic_man__tracksuits_2__2016-595x400.jpg" alt="" width="595" height="400" /> Fantastic Man, Tracksuits #2, 2016 &copy; Scheltens &amp; Abbenes
Workshop 1: Sunday 12 May from 10.30am until 1.30pm <a href="/book-a-visit/public/club-foam-foam-family-fan-workshop-scheltens-abbenes/12-05-2019">&gt; Sign up now</a> Workshop 2: Saturday 18 May from 2.00pm until 5.00pm <a href="/book-a-visit/public/club-foam-foam-family-fan-workshop-scheltens-abbenes/18-05-2019">&gt; Sign up now</a> Please note: you can only sign up for one of the two dates. SIGN UP This workshop is free for Club Foam, Foam Family and Foam Fan+ members. It is possible to bring one guest. This person pays the regular workshop rate of &euro; 50,-. Foam provides Olympus OM-D cameras for this workshop. Of course, you are free to use your own camera if you prefer. In that case, remember to bring a fully charged battery, an empty SD card, and a transfer cable. The use of your own materials is at your own risk.
Foam is supported by the BankGiro Loterij, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, City of Amsterdam, Foam Members, Olympus and the VandenEnde Foundation.

<div class="sidebar__content">WORKSHOP INFO 
Sunday 12 May 2019 10.30 - 13.30 hrs Saturday 18 May 2019 14.00 - 17.00 hrs Please note:&nbsp;You can only sign up for one of the two dates
 PRICE&nbsp; Free for&nbsp;<a href="/about/memberships">Club Foam</a>, <a href="/about/memberships">Foam Family</a> &amp; <a href="/about/memberships">Fan+</a>&nbsp;members &euro;50,00 guests LANGUAGE Dutch</div>

Club Foam, Foam Family & Fan+ workshop Scheltens & Abbenes

You are invited to join us on 14 March for the official opening of the new exhibition: 

SCHELTENS &amp; ABBENES - ZEEN<a href="/museum/programme/scheltens-abbenes"><img src="https://a.storyblok.com/f/113697/3000x1800/f03e412298/cos_collection_soapbars_c_scheltens_abbenes_3000x1800px.jpg" alt="" width="595" height="357" /></a>Cos, Collections, Soap Bars, 2012 &copy; Scheltens &amp; Abbenes
Foam presents the largest museum solo exhibition of the artist duo Scheltens &amp; Abbenes so far. The duo is seen as the most progressive still-life photographers in the Netherlands today. Maurice Scheltens (1972) and Liesbeth Abbenes (1970) have managed to build an international artistic practice at the intersection of commissioned and autonomous photography.
Especially for this exhibition at Foam, the artist duo made a video installation. In addition to this installation, the exhibition consists of a large number of works that provide insight into the extensive body of work created by Scheltens &amp; Abbenes over the last eighteen years.
The exhibition will be opened on Thursday 14 March by Ernst van der Hoeven, co-editor in chief and art director at MacMuffin,&nbsp;Magazine on the Life of Things. You are welcome from 17.30 hours onwards.&nbsp;
The exhibition is on view until 5 June 2019.
<a href="/museum/programme/scheltens-abbenes">&gt; Read more about this exhibition</a>
Visit and revisit the works by Scheltens &amp; Abbenes, other exhibitions and <a href="/museum/programme/for-members">events</a> as a <a href="/about/memberships">Foam Member</a>.
The exhibition Scheltens &amp; Abbenes &ndash; ZEEN is made possible by BeamSystems, the Mondriaan Fund and Kleurgamma Fine-Art Photolab. Courtesy of The Ravestijn Gallery Amsterdam.
Foam is supported by the BankGiro Loterij, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, City of Amsterdam, Foam Members, Olympus and the VandenEnde Foundation.

<div class="sidebar__content">Official Opening 
Thursday 14 March 2019 from 17.30 hrs.</div>

Official opening:  Scheltens & Abbenes

Enjoy a special viewing of the exhibition of artist duo Scheltens &amp; Abbenes outside of regular museum hours.

The artist duo experiments with converting spatial dimensions into flat surfaces and explore intensively photography&rsquo;s potential for creating illusion.
Explore the works in the exhibition undisturbed for hours on end. In the first week of the exhibition, Foam opens the doors for a visit and complimentary guided tours.
Member Hours are open to Foam support members and employees of Foam's corporate partners. Present your membership or employee card for admission to the museum.
<img src="https://a.storyblok.com/f/113697/3000x1800/61dd29f36d/cos_collection_soapbars_c_scheltens_abbenes_3000x1800px.jpg" alt="" width="595" height="357" /> Cos Collection, Soapbars &copy; Scheltens &amp; Abbenes
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION Artist duo Maurice Scheltens and Liesbeth Abbenes are the sum total of a still-life photographer and the creative craftsmanship of an artist. Essential to their work is the laboratory process in the studio where they construct their settings with an attitude of conceptualization and solution-led thinking, regardless of whether they are editing or tackling commissioned or independent artistic work.&nbsp;
<a href="/museum/programme/scheltens-abbenes">&gt; Read more about the exhibition</a>
BECOME A FOAM MEMBER. <a href="/about/memberships">JOIN ONLINE</a> TODAY Do you want to join our Member Hours but are not yet a member? Then sign up today and start taking advantage of the many benefits. Foam Members enjoy privileges all year long, including free workshops, exclusive previews and, of course, member hours.
The exhibition Scheltens &amp; Abbenes &ndash; ZEEN is made possible by BeamSystems, the Mondriaan Fund and Kleurgamma Fine-Art Photolab. Courtesy of The Ravestijn Gallery Amsterdam.
Foam is supported by the BankGiro Loterij, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, Foam Members, Gemeente Amsterdam, Olympus and the VandenEnde Foundation.

<div class="sidebar__content">MEMBER HOURS INFO 
Tuesday 19 March 2019 18.30 - 21.00 hrs. exclusief voor Foam members guided tours included</div>

Member Hours Scheltens & Abbenes

The duo Scheltens &amp; Abbenes are seen as the most progressive still-life photographers in the Netherlands today.

Maurice Scheltens (1972) and Liesbeth Abbenes (1970) have built an international artistic practice at the intersection of commissioned and autonomous photography. Foam presents the largest museum solo exhibition of the artist duo so far.&nbsp;
The exhibition draws the visitor into a sense of wonder at the things we encounter in daily life. In their studio, Scheltens &amp; Abbenes analyse the essence of things by subjecting their anatomy to a meticulous and painstaking examination. These objects range from a colourful powder patch, a sharp crease in a shirt or lush flowers on a lorry. These objects come to life by lifting them from their everyday context, framing and zooming in on them, in order to penetrate to their innermost core.
ZEEN guides the visitor through an extensive oeuvre built up over the past 18 years. The exhibition comprises a large number of diptychs. Reproductions of magazine pages on which photographs by Scheltens &amp; Abbenes were originally published are combined with large prints that have been taken out of context. Through these combinations, Scheltens &amp; Abbenes examine the tipping point between commissioned and autonomous photography. This also shows how the different individual images in the various series relate to each other. Scheltens &amp; Abbenes also created a new video installation, specifically for this exhibition. Just as they treat the objects they photograph as building blocks for their final composition, they used their previous photographs as building blocks for this site-specific video installation. The installation perfectly captures their fascination for repetition, lines, surfaces and structures. The viewer is encouraged to look very carefully, and so to share the duo&rsquo;s fascination for the structure of things at a micro-level.
Visit and revisit the works by&nbsp;Scheltens &amp; Abbenes, other exhibitions and <a href="/museum/programme/for-members">events</a> as a <a href="/about/memberships">Foam Member</a>.
The exhibition Scheltens &amp; Abbenes &ndash; ZEEN is made possible by BeamSystems, the Mondriaan Fund and Kleurgamma Fine-Art Photolab. Courtesy of The Ravestijn Gallery Amsterdam.
Foam is supported by the BankGiro Loterij, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, City of Amsterdam, Foam Members, Olympus and the VandenEnde Foundation.
ABOUT SCHELTENS &amp; ABBENES Maurice Scheltens and Liesbeth Abbenes have been an artist duo since 2001. Maurice Scheltens studied at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, and Liesbeth Abbenes attended the Gerrit Rietveld Academie and the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam. Scheltens &amp; Abbenes produced commissioned photography for fashion and design brands such as Paco Rabanne, Maison Margiela, COS, Hermes, Scholten &amp; Baijings, Arper, Muller van Severen, Arita, Mutina and editorials for magazines including Fantastic Man, The Gentlewoman, Double, Pin-Up magazine, MacGuffin, The Plant and New York Times Magazine. They have had exhibitions at Jan Cunen Museum (2012), Huis Marseille (2013), De Kunsthal in Rotterdam (2013), The Ravestijn Gallery (2018), Limart/Tokyo (2012), Palais Galliera Mus&eacute;e de la Mode Paris (2012),The Art Institute of Chicago (2013) and Three Shadows Gallery/Beijing (2015). The books On Display (2008), I Put This Here (2012), Le Style (2012) and Unfolded (2012) have all become collectors&rsquo; items. Scheltens &amp; Abbenes won the ICP Infinity Award in New York (2012).

On Tuesday 2 October 2018, we offer Club Foam members the possibility to visit the studio of artist duo Scheltens &amp; Abbenes.

Maurice Scheltens (1972) and Liesbeth Abbenes (1970) live and work in a remodeled industrial warehouse that serves as a beautiful house and studio. They experiment with converting spatial dimensions into flat surfaces. Their oeuvre contains still lifes in which materiality and form play an important role. The whole working process, from concept to implementation, takes place in the studio and they intensively explore the potential of photography for creating illusions.
<a href="https://shop.foam.org/en/foam-editions-scheltens-abbenes-arper-stools-2011.html"><img src="https://a.storyblok.com/f/113697/1535x2047/e3138af1e1/arper_stools.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="400" /></a> Scheltens &amp; Abbenes - Arper, Stools, 2011 @ Foam Editions
During our visit Scheltens &amp; Abbenes will explain how they approach their work and you can admire the studio.
This visit is exclusively for Club Foam members and takes place between 6.30pm and 7.30pm.
REGISTER There are only fifteen places available. You can sign up by sending an e-mail to <a href="mailto:mathilde@foam.org.">mathilde@foam.org. </a> NOT A CLUB FOAM MEMBER YET? <a href="/about/memberships/club-foam">&gt; Read more and sign up</a>
Foam is supported by the BankGiro Loterij, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, City of Amsterdam, Olympus and the VandenEnde Foundation.

<div class="sidebar__content">Studio visit info 
Tuesday 2 October 2018 6.30pm - 7.30pm
LOCATION The exact location will be shared in the confirmation e-mail
This visit is exclusively for members of <a href="/about/memberships/club-foam" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Club Foam</a>.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
WANT TO JOIN?</div>

Studio visit  Scheltens & Abbenes 2018

Foam offers Foam Fund shareholders the unique opportunity to visit the studio of photographers Scheltens &amp; Abbenes.

The oeuvre of the photographers duo Maurice Scheltens and Liesbeth Abbenes contains still lives in which materiality and form play an important role. Subjects vary from folded shirts, tapestries and delicate flowers to room filling installations of furniture. The whole working process &ndash; from concept to implementation &ndash; takes place in the studio. They continuously research the possibilities photography offers to create remarkable illusions.
<a href="http://scheltens-abbenes.com/work">Scheltens &amp; Abbenes</a> live and work in a remodeled industrial warehouse that serves as a beautiful house and studio. During our visit they will explain how they approach their work.
This visit is exclusively for Foam Fund members and takes place from 18.00 to 20.00 hrs.&nbsp;
SIGN UP There are only twenty places available. You can sign up by sending an e-mail to&nbsp;<a href="mailto:mathilde@foam.org.">mathilde@foam.org.</a>
NOT A FOAM FUND MEMBER&nbsp;YET? <a href="http://www.foam.org/about/foam-fund">&gt; Read more and sign up</a>
Foam is supported by the BankGiro Loterij, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, City of Amsterdam, Delta Lloyd, Olympus and the VandenEnde Foundation.

<div class="sidebar__content">Studio visit info 
3 November 2016
18.00 - 20.00 hrs.
&nbsp;
This visit is exclusively for members of <a href="/about/foam-fund" target="_blank">Foam Fund</a>.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
WANT TO JOIN?</div>

Studio visit Scheltens & Abbenes

 in 2008. Using C-type as the medium, the artwork is displayed at 150 x 120 cm.

Foam is supported by the VriendenLoterij, Foam Members, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, the VandenEnde Foundation and the City of Amsterdam.

In 2021 Foam receives additional support from the Mondriaan Fund and Kickstart Cultuurfonds

visible in

 by Maurice Scheltens and Liesbeth Abbenes looks like a typical Dutch seventeenth-century still life. But like most floral still lifes from that time, this carefully arranged bouquet is far from realistic. Many seventeenth-century painters assembled bouquets in their paintings with an assortment of seasonal flowers, which could never flourish at the same time. Bouquet V is also an artistic construction: the duo cut all parts of the flower arrangement from books, magazines, and catalogs, which were accurately combined into a balanced composition. This two-dimensional construction was then photographed in a three-dimensional setting, distorting the viewers’ gaze and perception of reality. The still life we see is fake and real at the same time: although not quite what it seems, it is a true creation, not a digital tableau.