Aardgordels

A new monograph on the work of Dutch visual artist Karin van Dam (Eindhoven, 1959), with an essay by art critic, investigative journalist and curator Lucette ter Borg.

'My work is a travelogue that winds its way through the universe, the cosmos, to cities and landscapes. From the traces that appear close to our feet to the edges of our coastline. Constructions and forms unfold, reflected on both a macro and micro level in installations, sculptures and drawings.
By chance, I come across my “building materials” such as found pipes, tubes, rubber and all kinds of recognisable items. Added to this are knitted items developed in the textile lab in Tilburg and in the studio. They form the palette for “temporary” installations that I realise in special places in museums, but also on the roofs of buildings or on the corner of a street.' - Karin van Dam

Karin van Dam exhibited her work nationally and internationally in solo and group exhibitions at venues including the Karachi Biennale 19 / with Robbie Cornelissen (PK), Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam (NL), Kunstmuseum Den Haag, The Haque (NL), Lethbridge Art Gallery (CA), Songzhuang Art Center Beijing (CN), Ars Longa Djupivogur (Iceland), Drawing Now Art Fair, Paris (FR), Kunstlerhaus Dortmund (DE), TextielMuseum Tilburg (NL), International Festival for art and Media Yokohama (JPN), CEAC Xiamen (CN), De Vleeshal Middelburg (NL), Museum The Reach Abbodsfort (CA), Museum Kranenburgh, Bergen (NL) AMNU museum Nanjing (CN), The Abbaye de Mauboisson, Saint-Ouen l’Aumône (FR).

She realized several commissioned works for the public space. For instance, for Station Bijlmer Arena Amsterdam (NL), MST Medical Center Enschede (NL), St. Maartens Clinic Nijmegen (NL), Justitieel Complex, Schiphol (NL), KMPG, Rotterdam NL. Van Dam’s work is included in the collections of the TextielMuseum Tilburg (NL), Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam (NL), Kunstmuseum, The Hague (NL), AKZO NOBEL, Teylers Museum, Haarlem (NL), Centraal Museum, Utrecht (NL), Lethbridge Art Gallery (CA), Ars Longa Djupivogur (IS), Fries Museum, Leeuwarden (NL), and numerous private collections.

For research, she travelled to Mongolia, Canada, Japan and China. She spent extended periods in residencies in Japan, China, France and Canada. From 2006 to 2024, she taught Fine Art at the University of the Arts, Artez in Arnhem.