In her ground-floor studio are large, thickly painted black and white depictions of a mother and child. The emotion in these paintings surges out to the edges, spilling over the edge. ‘I fell in love with those pictures’, explains Marliz about her first oil paintings. ‘I enjoyed the resistance that the images provoked, their mockery and irony and giving the painting a new, loving layer. ’Marliz Frencken was ahead of her time; glamour was not yet an issue, and there were all sorts of unwritten rules in art, such as ‘Thou shalt not paint Barbies’ or ‘Fashion is superficial’ or ‘male themes are better than female themes’.
This female, feminine or the gestalt of a woman has been a recurring theme within Frencken’s oeuvre. An oeuvre that consists of paintings, sculptures and installations, and moves in between photorealist, surrealist, and abstract interpretations of beauty, vulnerability, hysteria, and comfort.
Born in 1955, Panningen, The Netherlands
Lives and works in Hilversum, The Netherlands
EDUCATION
1975 – 1980
Academy of Fine Arts, Arnhem, The Netherlands
1985 – 1987
Stipend, Fund of Fine Arts
AWARDS
1987
Longlist Prix de Rome
1987
Shortlist PS1 art prize residency
APPOINTMENTS
Professor, Academy of Fine Arts, Kampen, The Netherlands
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2021
How we met through Instagram, duo exhibition with David Brian Smith, Althuis Hofland Fine Arts, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (duo exhibition)
2019
A vase is a painting is a sculpture, Althuis Hofland Fine Arts, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2017
Selection 1985 – 2017 – Watch out for a red painting, Ornis A. Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2015
Crazy woman, Ornis A. Gallery, curated by Hanne Hagenaars, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2013
Brown Sugar, Ornis A. Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2012
Beyond Beauty, Museum Het Valkhof, curated by Frank van de Schoor, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Because you’re a wonderful wife, Ornis A. Gallery, Utrecht, The Netherlands
2011
Women, Women, Women, deWILLEM3, Vlissingen, The Netherlands
2010
Madonna’s, Museum ‘Het land van Thorn’, The Netherlands
2009
Cultural centre de Halle, curated by Kris Cuypers, Geel, Belgium
Cruel Beauty, Stux Gallery, New York, USA
2008
Cobra Museum for Modern Art, curated by Jan Hein Sassen, Amstelveen, The Netherlands
2007
Cruel Beauty, MARTa Herford Museum, curated by Jan Hoet, Herford, Germany
2006
Flatland Gallery, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Gallery Helga Hofman, Alphen aan de Rijn, The Netherlands
2001
Hommage aan Matisse, Gallery Helga Hofman, Alphen a/d Rijn, The Netherlands
1996
The Surinaams Museum, Fort Zeelandia, Suriname
1993
This can also happen to your children, Gallery Fred Dorfman, New York, USA
1991
Gallery Barbara Farber, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1990
Gallery Duràn, Madrid, Spain
Pictures from an exhibition, Gallery Bébert, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
1989
Gallery Bébert, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
1988
First Blossom, Gallery Hans Gieles, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1986
Galerie Hans Gieles, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Schilderijen – gouaches 1985/1986, Museum Het Kruithuis, ’s Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands
1985
Gallery Hans Gieles, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2018
Fabric Faces, Powder Phrases, Althuis Hofland Fine Arts, (i.a. Vaginal Davis, Sophie Lee, Soshiro Matsubara, Hannah Perry, Julie Verhoeven, Isabel Yellin), Amsterdam Art Weekend, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Ain’t Them Body Saints, New Release Gallery, New York, USA
2016
When friendship becomes art, Galerie van Gelder, (i.a. Marlene Dumas, Voebe de Gruyter, Sigurdur Gudmundsson, Kristján Gudmundsson, Mike Kelley, Sigmar Polke, Dieter Roth, Lily van der Stokker), Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2015
Arcadia, curated by Hanne Hagenaars & Heske ten Cate, Kunstvereniging Diepenheim,
When things cast shadow, Peter Kilchmann gallery, Zurich, Switzerland
German promises, invited by Armin Boehm, Ornis A. Gallery, Amsterdam
2014
+/- A4, Ornis A. Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2013
Middle Gate Geel 13 curator Jan Hoet, various locations, Geel, Belgium
As Tears Go By, Cokkie Snoei, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Un été spectaculaire, Ornis A. Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2012
Personalities on paper, Ornis A. Gallery, Utrecht, The Netherlands
2011
Madonna’s, Museum Flehite, Amersfoort, The Netherlands
Galerie Wanda Reiff, Maastricht, The Netherlands
2008
De Utrechtse Salon, curated by Robbert Roos, Centraal Museum, Utrecht, The Netherlands
2006
Gallery Peninsula, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
2004
Gallery Graus, curated by Wanda Reiff, Echt, The Netherlands
2005
DeWillem3, Vlissingen, The Netherlands
2003
Exhibition for Red Cross Foundation, Museum Jan Cunen, Oss, The Netherlands
2001
Vette Vazen, Brutto Gusto, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
1999
Gallery Helga Hofman, Alphen aan de Rijn, The Netherlands
1998
De Utrechtse Salon, Centraal Museum, Utrecht, The Netherlands
1997
Pop Art, Fries Museum, Leeuwarden, The Netherlands
Gallery Quintessence in Villa Bloemenheuvel, Zeist, The Netherlands
1994
Centraal Museum, De Stelling, Utrecht, The Netherlands
1993
Morgen Gemaakt, Arti et Amiciciae, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Realities, Arti et Amiciciae, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Nieuw Portret van een Galerie, Gallery Ton Peek, Utrecht, The Netherlands
1992
Realities, Museum Circulo de Bellas Artes, Madrid, Spain
De mensen en de dingen, Gemeentemuseum Roermond, Roermond, The Netherlands
Rijksmuseum Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands
1991
Biennial of Obidos, Bio-International, Portugal
El Apartamento, Gallery Duràn, Madrid, Spain
Frans Halsmuseum, Souvenirs, Haarlem, The Netherlands
1990
Château-Musée Grimaldi, Cagnes-sur-Mer, France
AVEC: curated by Eric Troncy, APAC centre d’art contemporain Nevers, Nevers, France
1989
Halle Sud, Haut Pay Bas, Geneva, Switzerland
Rijksaankopen 1988, Rijksmuseum Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands
Gallery Nikki Diana Marquardt, Paris, France
1987
Gallery Westersingel 8, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
1986
De Gele Rijder, Arnhem, The Netherlands
1985
Koninklijke Subsidie voor Vrije Schilderkunst, Paleis op de Dam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands