ARJA HOP & PETER SVENSON
Arja Hop
0031 628441883
Peter Svenson
0031 638820246
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Studio
Rechte tocht 7K
1507 BZ Zaandam
Arja Hop
I spent my childhood in a forested lanscape, wandering over fields and sandy paths along streams and waterways collecting objects of interest. The fascination for nature and its processes, microscopic observation, determination and arrangement have become important aspects of my work as an artist.
Analogical photography, drawing and painting are the media through which my conceptual ideas become visual objects. My developement as an artist began with oil, pigment and canvas and has growen towards experimental photography.
I studied fine art at the St. Joost Academy in Breda, and followed one year of Philosophy at the UvA in Amsterdam, where I live and work.
My work has been exhibited in The Netherlands and abroad and I have recieved three 'basis stipendia' grants.
My interest in philosophy brought me in contact with the work of Wittgenstein, and his notes concerning colour. Also Heidegger whose description of a country lane as a conscious entity observing its world from its own perspective was an inspiratiion.
Reading these abstract observations I felt as in a time machine returning me to my early youth, picking dandylions on my fathers farmland, my hand glowing yellow in the summer sun. This experience worked as a catylist for my current work.
Peter Svenson
The first photo I ever made was of a brand new 1963 PA Vauxhall, parked on the forecourt of the Mobile service station on the corner of Purnell street, Wanganui New Zealand. I shot it front on from a low angle, full frame on my brothers " Box Brownie ".
It was the beginning of a lifetime exploratory fascination with the art of photography. I studied photographic technique at Wellington Polytech in 1975, worked for Kodak as a process controller in 1976, moved to Auckland in 1977 and worked as an assistant medical photographer in the Auckland public hospital until 1980.
In 1982 after moving to europe I began work for photo-lab John Kingma b.v. in Amsterdam as a “laborant “. In 1986 I began work as a colour printer for S-Color b.v. in Amsterdam. During the following nineteen years I concentrated on developing my printing skill and awareness of colour through the gift of being allowed to work for some of Hollands most prestigious artists.
In 2005 as a response to the announced closure of the analogical darkrooms at S-Color I started Aap-lab together with Gerrit Berghuis specializing in analogical photographic techniques.
I;ve been photographing throughout my entire working life , but seldom had the time or focus to complete or fulfill the personal projects I began. That changed at the beginning of 2015 when I met artist Arja Hop with whom I’ve been working as an artist’s duo since.