About
Pieke Pleijers (Utrecht, 1993) is an artist and photographer based in Amsterdam. He recently graduated from the VAV department at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie. His graduation work consisted of a series of 36 black and white still portraits mounted on the wall, the text piece The Body Is Rocked In Disbelief printed as a poster multiple, and a video registration of the work Mutual Weight, performed as part of the Rietveld Uncut 2023 program in Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. His thesis is titled “A body to hold, unveiling the symbolism and meaning of carrying in art.” By researching different ways of carrying, using examples from art history and contemporary culture, he examined its different meanings and implications. Examples range from paintings, photography and performance.
Pieke is interested in how the body positions itself, and how the body is read. Photography and the visual imaginary are the starting points for explorations of duration, endurance and performativity, in which the body plays a central role. His projects focus on how individuals form a collective which is able to accommodate the other, emphasizing interpersonal knowing and systems of care. Recurring thematics are binary contrasts and its dissolution: comfort and discomfort, rest and restlessness, stillness and movement, the possible and the impossible. In his works he aims to create a radical space of inclusion that connects bodies and provides shelter. In Pieke’s photography, the body is isolated, accentuating its still, sculptural qualities.