Ruth van Beek Netherlands, b. 1977

Ruth van Beek (b. 1977) uses the established visual codes of photography—a shadow, pedestal, dark backdrop, or gesture—to guide viewers into a belief in the incredible rarity or importance of the shown object, even when that object is unidentifiable. From a growing archive of found photographic material, van Beek arranges images in constantly changing ways. The primary source for her odd and playful collages is specialist books and magazines of the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Titles on subjects including the proper tending of bonsai trees, the care of cacti, and the art of Japanese flower arranging—often found at thrift stores across Europe and the United States—provide rich material for her unique pieces. From these odd combinations and decontextualized images, van Beek makes her work. By cutting and folding, adding shapes of watercolor-painted paper and forging visual connections between found pictures, the artist makes form, scale, and colors reverberate, often to unsettling or comical effect. These overt interventions are never hidden; indeed, they are central to the work. 

Van Beek lives and works in Koog aan de Zaan, the Netherlands. Her work has been shown internationally with exhibitions at Post Books (Tokyo); The Ravestijn Gallery (Amsterdam), De Warande (Belgium), Fraenkel Gallery (San Francisco); Foam (Amsterdam), Les Rencontres d’Arles, and Fotomuseum Antwerp.

Since 2014, she has taught at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. Work has been featured in magazines such as De Gids, The New Yorker, Vogue Magazine, Centrefold Magazine, Foam Magazine, IMA Magazine, The British Journal of Photography, The New York Review of Books, The Aperture Photobook Review, Elephant Magazine, and The New York Times. She has published numerous artist books, including ‘ The Arrangement’ (RVB Books, 2013), which was shortlisted for the Aperture Photobook of the Year Award in 2014, “The Cast” ( New Documents, 2017 ), and ‘How To Do The Flowers’(APE & Dashwood Books, 2018) to widespread acclaim. Her most recent books are ‘Eldorado’ ( 2020 ) and “The Oldest Thing” ( 2023 ), both published by Van Zoetendaal Publishers. The Oldest Thing was shortlisted for the Aperture Photobook of the Year 2023.