Ilona Langbroek (1970)
Graduated with honors from the Fotoacademie in Amsterdam and based in Hilversum, The Netherlands.
“Silent Loss”, is a personal series based on her family history in the former Dutch East Indies. The Netherlands has a long history with the Dutch East Indies, which leave all kinds of traces that are reminiscent of the vast but also complex colonial past between these two countries. In fact, her work is about the lost identity of the large number of people who were forced to leave their country after the Independence and their emotions regarding this loss which are dormant but still very much alive.
Langbroek invites the viewer to become part of this memory of the Dutch East Indies, by a metaphorical representation of memories and fantasies through poetic images. She depicts the experience of a time in a distant almost magical country and a life that no longer exists. The sharp contradiction: on one hand a mythical land full of warmth, splendor and beauty, on the other hand violence, oppression and war.
In her artwork she has therefore chosen to express this atmosphere of nostalgia and sadness, but also of poetry and beauty. Using a strong contrast between light and dark, to create a twilight zone as a metaphor for the disappearing past. To achieve this, she uses chiaroscuro, but also the soft lighting used by painters of the 17th century Dutch Golden Age, such as Vermeer, Rembrandt or the Italian painter Caravaggio.
As Zelda Cheatle, a renowned British curator of photography writes: “Ilona Langbroek is the discovery of 2021 for me.”
Upcoming and Current Exhibitions
2023 8th dec '23 - 24th feb '24, solo exhibition REMEMBRANCE, Bildhalle Amsterdam
2024 29th feb, opening solo exhibition, Bildhalle Zürich - Switzerland
25th - 28th April, Aipad, Park Avenue, New York - United States
16th - 29th May, Photo London, Sommerset House, London - United Kingdom
7th - 10th November, Paris Photo, Grand Palais, Paris - France
Exhibitions
2023 Solo exhibition REMEMBRANCE, Bildhalle Amsterdam - Netherlands
PAN Amsterdam, RAI, Amsterdam - Netherlands
Paris Photo, Grand Palais Éphémère, Paris - France
The San Francisco Fall Show, San Francisco - United States
Bildhalle, The Showroom, group exhibition, Zürich - Switzerland
Photo London - United Kingdom
2022 Bildhalle, The Showroom, group exhibition, Amsterdam - Netherlands
Exhibition 'TRACES', Museum Hilversum - Netherlands
PAN Amsterdam, Art Fair - Netherlands
Phillips Auction London - United Kingdom
Photo London - United Kingdom
Photo Basel - Switzerland
Bildhalle - Ocean, group exhitibion, Amsterdam - Netherlands
2021 Solo exhibition "Terra Incogita" Bildhalle Hazenstraat Amsterdam – Netherlands
Anna Singer Art, Singer Museum Laren - Netherlands
PAN Amsterdam, Art Fair - Netherlands
Photo Basel - Switzerland
Unseen Amsterdam - Netherlands
Photo London - Great Britain
2020 Photo Basel Virtual 2.0 – Switzerland
Photo London Digital – United Kingdom
2019 Expo FOS, Loods 6, Amsterdam – Netherlands
Fresh Eyes, Tbilisi Photo Festival, slidepresentation - Georgia
Fresh Eyes, Les Rencontres d’Arles, slidepresentation - France
Fresh Eyes, Photo Basel, Volkshaus Basel, slidepresentation - Switzerland
2017 Expo Het Oog, Fotoacademie, Amsterdam - Netherlands
Publications & Interviews
2021 A Photographic Life, podcast - United Kingdom
Het Parool, Special PAN 2021 - Netherlands
NRC, fine arts review - Netherlands
L'Oeil de la Photographie - France
Medium Format Magazine, cover + interview + portfolio - International
PF Magazine, cover - Netherlands
2019 Moesson Magazine, cover + interview + portfolio - Netherlands
Shutr Magazine, interview + portfolio - Netherlands
PF Magazine, interview + portfolio - Netherlands
Uncoated, platform Emerging Photo Talent - Germany
Kiekie Tabloid, interview – Netherlands
Nominations & Awards
2019 Selected FRESH EYES, a book presenting the 100 greatest emerging
photographers in Europe
2018 Silver Award ,The Portrait Masters, international award - America
Presentations
2019 Podium MH, Museum Hilversum, oral presentation – Netherlands
Photoplaza, Kasteel Woerden, oral presentation – Netherlands
Education
2015 – 2019 Fotoacademie, Amsterdam (Graduated with honors)
1996 – 2000 Akademie Vogue, Amsterdam