Marjan Teeuwen Dutch, b. 1953

The practice of Dutch artist Marjan Teeuwen (b. 1953) unfolds within the unconventional studios of semi- and soon-to-be demolished buildings. Exploring themes relating to architecture, reconstruction, loss, and memory through sculpture, installation, and photography within these dilapidated spaces, Teeuwen illustrates the polarity between the constructive and destructive forces of mankind. Her process often begins with a search for a building slated for demolition and the approval to make use of it. With the help of a contractor and technical assistants, Teeuwen converts the crumbling space into a three-dimensional collage. Debris from doors, walls, and floors become sculpture under her guidance, and the lines between architecture and art blend. These sculptures are near mono-chromatic and issue a newfound sense of order to the previous chaos of the detritus. These temporary living artworks are present for their surrounding community to experience, but they ultimately exist only though carefully composed photographs, which Teeuwen captures for posterity with her large-format camera.

Beginning in 2008, Teeuwen began seeking out such buildings in her native Holland, notably crafting a floor-to-ceiling composition within a former sex shop in Leiden. She has gone on to construct several of these compositions, which all exist independently from their previous incarnations, yet occupy the same physical location as before. In 2016 she visited Gaza and created a work within a home that had been bombed. With this project her process of rebuilding took on a deeper gravitas in the context of a territory defined by humanitarian conflict. Her many series of Destroyed House began with Destroyed House (2008), and now include Destroyed House Piet Mondriaanstraat (2010/2011), Destroyed House Leiden (2015), Destroyed House Gaza (2017), and Destroyed House Kyoto (2020).

Born in Venlo, Holland, Teeuwen attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Tilburg, followed by the Academy of Fine Arts and Design St. Joost in Breda. She participated in a residency in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2014 and now lives and works in Amsterdam. Teeuwen’s work has been exhibited widely in institutions and is held in numerous private and public collections including ARCAM, Amsterdam; Museum de Lakenhal, Leiden; Nederlands Fotomuseum, Rotterdam; Museum Van Bommel Van Dam, Venlo; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Centraal Museum, Utrecht; and the Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation in Miami, Florida.