Biography
There is always a tension between attraction and repulsion in Ophuis’ work: the paintings contain a beauty but cause a shudder at the same time. With his distinctive paint treatment and meticulous compositions, Ophuis strategically makes use of that which the aesthetic of oil painting offers him. But the subjects he choses are usually confrontational, expecting the viewer to take a stand on what is depicted. With the power of painting, Ophuis challenges the viewer to relate to the content of the work.
Ronald Ophuis (1968) lives and works in Amsterdam. He studied at the Aki Academy of Fine Arts in Enschede and the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. He won various awards including the Jeanne Oosting Prijs (2004), the Charlotte Köhler Prijs (1998) and the Kunstprijs Provincie Overijssel (1997). He had solo exhibitions in the Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam, Jan Cunen Museum Oss and in a variety of international galleries. His work was also shown in a large variety of group exhibitions in The Netherlands and abroad, including the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Museum Arnhem, Museum De Paviljoens Almere, Fondation Francès Senlis, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, Kunstraum Innsbruck, Kunsthal Rotterdam and Stedelijk Museum Zwolle. His work is included in leading collections of private, corporate and museum collections such as the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, Centraal Museum Utrecht and Museum De Fundatie Zwolle.
Photo: Hugo Keizer