2022

In Mijn Vaders Huis / In My Fathers House

Installation

In Mijn Vaders Huis (In My Father’s House), 2022
In Mijn Vaders Huis (In My Father’s House), 2022
Wood, prints, drawing, paintings, and various objects, 230 x 221,5 x 245
In Mijn Vaders Huis (In My Father’s House), 2022
In Mijn Vaders Huis (In My Father’s House), 2022
wood, prints, drawing, paintings, and various objects, 230 x 221,5 x 245
In Mijn Vaders Huis (In My Father’s House), 2022
In Mijn Vaders Huis (In My Father’s House), 2022
Wood, prints, drawing, paintings, and various objects, 230 x 221,5 x 245
In Mijn Vaders Huis (In My Father’s House), 2022
In Mijn Vaders Huis (In My Father’s House), 2022
Wood, prints, drawing, paintings, and various objects, 230 x 221,5 x 245

In Mijn Vaders Huis / In My Fathers House

Iris Kensmil chose the title In My Father’s House as homage to the book by Anil Ramdas. Her house offers a personal interpretation of the dilemmas raised in his volume. For this installation, Iris Kensmil works from memories of her childhood in Suriname, where various beliefs and Winti[2] rituals and taboos were part of her family tradition. She takes a Black feminist perspective in her translation of the role of memory and ritual into a presentation that creates space for all manner of references and connections with other themes in her work.

Iris Kensmil is well known for her topical work about those engaged in the struggle for a future created by and for Black people, about the battle for freedom and emancipation from slavery, and about equality. In her perspective on the future, she does not focus on the past, but on what her protagonists do or did with it. By making these choices, they create their own identity and become important to us.

Another  common thread of sisterhood and brotherhood runs through Iris Kensmil’s work. One can recognize the struggle for freedom and equality in her work, but she also refers to the ideas of Marcus Garvey and other advocates of Black self-determination in segregation. These topics represent the possibility for Black people working on the future to share together feelings based on their shared experiences and traditions; of being at home in one’s father’s house.

2021

We the People Who Are Darker Than Blue

Installation

Iris Kensmil, We the People Who Are Darker Than Blue,
Iris Kensmil, We the People Who Are Darker Than Blue,
2011-present, ink pastel on paper; acrylic on Wall and music set, 772 x 437 cm + 709 x 437 cm + 457 x 437 cm, 2021, execution i.c.w. StudioAdemagic, location: Art Institute Melly Rotterdam, (ph) Kristien Daem.

 

Dutch Nurses 2021, @ Royal Palace Amsterdam

Installation

Iris Kensmil, Dutch Nurses, 2021 (2015), 15 drawings, ink, pastel on paper, acrylic, 210 x 531 cm, @ Royal Palace Amsterdam, NL
Iris Kensmil, Dutch Nurses, 2021 (2015), 15 drawings, ink, pastel on paper, acrylic, 210 x 531 cm, @ Royal Palace Amsterdam, NL
(ph) Benning&Gladkova

2019

Six Women (Understanding Futurity) 2019, @ Museum of Art, Haifa

Installation

Six Women (Understanding Futurity)
Six Women (Understanding Futurity)
2019, charcoal on paper, acrylic on Wall, 325 x 1435 cm, @ Museum of Art, Haifa
(Wadiaa Qadoura Khartabil, Claudia Jones, Huda Sha'arawi, Philomena Essed, Suzanne Cesaire, Octavia E Butler)

 

Dutch Nurses, 2019, @ Museum Kranenburgh, Bergen, NL.

Installation

Dutch Nurses
Dutch Nurses
2019 (2015), 16 drawings, ink, pastel on paper, pigment, casein on wall, 210 x 589 cm,

 

Iris Kensmil, When I dare to be powerful, 2019 @ Times Art Center, Berlin, DE

Installation

When I dare to be powerful
When I dare to be powerful
2019, pencil on wall, oil on canvas, 400 x 439 cm. @ Times Art Center, Berlin, DE (May Ayim, Katharina Oguntoye)

 

Landgenoten #2

Installation

Landgenoten #2
Landgenoten #2
2019, oil on canvas, 90 x 65 cm + De ware geest van 't vrije, vrije Suriname, 2009, opl. 60, print op 15 kaarten, 97 x 33 cm

 

Venice Biennial 2019: The New Utopia Begins Here #1, 2019 @ Dutch Pavilion @ Venice Biennial

Installation

The New Utopia Begins Here #1
The New Utopia Begins Here #1
2019, acrylic paint on wall, oil on canvas, 550 x 1596 cm. @ Dutch Pavilion
(Hermina Huiswoud, bell hooks, Amy Aswood Garvey, Sister Nancy, Octavia E. Butler, Claudia Jones, Suzanne Césaire) (ph Gerrit Schreurs

 

Venice Biennial 2019: The New Utopia Begins Here #2 (Audre Lorde), 2019 @ Dutch Pavilion @ Venice Biennial

Installation

The New Utopia Begins Here #2
The New Utopia Begins Here #2
2019, ink and acrylic paint on wall, 580 x 390 cm. @ Dutch Pavilion at Venice Biennial (Audre Lorde) (ph) Gerrit Schreurs

 

Venice Biennial 2019: Beyond the Burden of Representation, 2019, @ Dutch Pavilion @ Venice Biennial

Installation

Beyond the Burden of Representation
Beyond the Burden of Representation
2019, acrylic paint on wall, oil on canvas, books on shelves, 580 x390 cm. @ Dutch Pavilion at Venice Biennial (stanley brouwn, David Hammons, On Kawara, Charlotte Posenenske, Adrian Piper) (ph) Gerrit Schreurs.

2017

Study in Black Modernity

Installation

Study in Black Modernity
Study in Black Modernity
2015 - 2017, mixed media installation, 300 x 2300 cm, commissioned for collection Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Curator: Annie Fletcher - detail, (p) Peter Cox
Study in Black Modernity
Study in Black Modernity
2015 - 2017, mixed media installation, 300 x 2300 cm, commissioned for collection Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Curator: Annie Fletcher - detail, (p) Peter Cox
Study in Black Modernity
Study in Black Modernity
2015 - 2017, mixed media installation, 300 x 2300 cm, commissioned for collection Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Curator: Annie Fletcher - detail, (p) Peter Cox
Study in Black Modernity
Study in Black Modernity
2015 - 2017, mixed media installation, 300 x 2300 cm, commissioned for collection Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Curator: Annie Fletcher - detail, (p) Peter Cox

Study in Black Modernity

“Dutch artist Iris Kensmil has made a new work for the Van Abbemuseum’s collection. Kensmil combines abstract patterns, classical portraiture and references from politics and literature that resonate with her position as a Black artist.

The installation includes a series of publications from key figures within what Kensmil calls Black Modernity. All of these books are available to read in our Library. In the installation, these books are accompanied by a series of drawings, large and small, which reflect on the historic position of the back subject within emancipatory politics, art history, hiphop and the anti racist and Black Lives Matter protests which have recently gained increasing visibility and traction.  For Kensmil her style of painting and use of portraiture has a specific function. By bringing them into the European art museum she gives Black individuals, who have had a formative historic role, their place in art history.

BECOMING MORE

Study in Black Modernity was commissioned as part of Becoming More, a ten-day caucus event comprising lectures, performances, screenings, commissions, discussions and food hosted by the Van Abbemuseum. Kensmil has been invited along with other artists to develop and co-author the caucus. Drawing on previously neglected histories and generating new work with promising artists in the Netherlands stimulates the Van Abbe to take part in a broader dialogue as a catalyst for change. In this context Iris Kensmil has convened the programme of the opening on Thursday 18 May (lecture by Gloria Wekker) an the programme On experiences and Choices on Friday 19 May.”

2015

Rhythm of Dutch spoken Words, 2015, @ Club Solo, Breda NL

Painting

Rythm of Dutch spoken Words
Rythm of Dutch spoken Words
2015, pigment casein on wall, oil on canvas, 350 x 517 cm.

 

Voices across the Ocean

Installation

Voices across the Ocean, 2015
Voices across the Ocean, 2015
Installation 394 x 700 cm, @ Club Solo, with Here the new Negro begins, 2015 en Angela Davis #2, 2015 (both collection Van Abbemuseum)

 

We the People who are darker than blue, 2015 (second version)

Installation

We the People who are darker than blue, 2015, (second version)
We the People who are darker than blue, 2015, (second version)
Ink, pastel on paper (310 x 470 cm), dj-set on table.
We the People who are darker than blue, 2015, (second version)
We the People who are darker than blue, 2015, (second version)
Ink, pastel on paper (310 x 470 cm), dj-set on table.

2013

Granman Oso

Installation

Granman Oso
Granman Oso
2013, sculpture of Basraloksi with inside triptych, acrylic op board, 320 x 200 x 178 cm, center: Gazon Sokoton Matodja 1966-2011, Ma Luni Apuukiyo, Left: Pai Amatodja 1937-1947, Akontu Velanti 1950-1964, right: Papa Amakiti 1916-1929, Oseyse 1884 – 1915.
Granman Oso,
Granman Oso,
2013, sculpture of Basraloksi with inside triptych, acrylic op board, 320 x 200 x 178 cm, center: Gazon Sokoton Matodja 1966-2011, Ma Luni Apuukiyo, Left: Pai Amatodja 1937-1947, Akontu Velanti 1950-1964, right: Papa Amakiti 1916-1929, Oseyse 1884 – 1915.
Inauguartion Granman Oso
Inauguartion Granman Oso
2013, sculpture of Basraloksi with inside triptych, acrylic op board, 320 x 200 x 178 cm,

2011

Wie spreekt

Installation

Wie spreekt
Wie spreekt
2011, ink, pastel on paper, pigment caseinon wall, 344 x 298 cm. collection Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam

2010

No Sidon na bakra sturu, with Charl Landvreugd, @ Kara Walker Studio NY

Solo Exhibitions

No Sidon a bakra sturu
No Sidon a bakra sturu
I.c.w. Charl Landvreugd, tempera, casein on wall + ink, pastel op paper, sizes variable, Location Kara Walker studio, New York, USA
No Sidon a bakra sturu
No Sidon a bakra sturu
I.c.w. Charl Landvreugd, tempera, casein on wall + ink, pastel op paper, sizes variable, Location Kara Walker studio, New York, USA

 

Sidonhopo

Installation

Sidonhopo
Sidonhopo
Print on canvas, pigments en casein, ink, pastel on paper, ca. 465 x 1140 cm, Location, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
Sidonhopo, detail
Sidonhopo, detail
Print on canvas, pigments en casein, ink, pastel on paper, ca. 465 x 1140 cm, Location, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
Sidonhopo, detail
Sidonhopo, detail
Print on canvas, pigments en casein, ink, pastel on paper, ca. 465 x 1140 cm, Location, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
Sidonhopo, detail
Sidonhopo, detail
Print on canvas, pigments en casein, ink, pastel on paper, ca. 465 x 1140 cm, Location, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam

2008

And assorted men came to hear

Installation

And assorted men came to hear
And assorted men came to hear
6 x 244 x 244, ink, pastel on paper, latex, pigment, casein, dvd, beamer on turning-table

 

Then They Marched

Installation

Then they marched
Then they marched
Tempera, casein on wall + ink, pastel op paper, sizes variable

 

The True Meaning

Installation

The true meaning
The true meaning
Tempera, casein on wall + ink, pastel on paper, sizes variable

 

Ragga Dance

Installation

Ragga Dance
Ragga Dance
2008 @ Museum Jan Cunen, Oss, wall painting, drawings, coloured neon-lights.

2007

To Determine the Destiny

Installation

To Determine the Destiny, general view (click right for details)
To Determine the Destiny, general view (click right for details)
2007, pigments casein, ink on paper, 300 x 1650 +300 x 750 cm. @W139, Amsterdam
To Determine the Destiny, detail 1 (click right for detail 2)
To Determine the Destiny, detail 1 (click right for detail 2)
2007, pigments casein, ink on paper, 300 x 1650 +300 x 750 cm. @W139, Amsterdam
To Determine the Destiny, detail 2
To Determine the Destiny, detail 2
2007, pigments casein, ink on paper, 300 x 1650 +300 x 750 cm. @W139, Amsterdam.

 

The Problem of Defense

Installation

The problem of defense
The problem of defense
Tempera, casein on wall + ink, pastel on paper pigment casein on wall, ink, watercolour, pastel on paper, 294 x 60 cm, Collection Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam