Erwin Olaf Springveld (born 2 July 1959), professionally known as Erwin Olaf, is a Dutch

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographers As in other ...

from Hilversum.

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

magazine described his work as straddling "the worlds of commercial, art and fashion photography at once."

Biography

Erwin Olaf Springveld was born on 2 July 1959 in Hilversum,

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. Olaf is most famous for his commercial and personal work. He has been commissioned to photograph advertising campaigns for large international companies such as Levi's,

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...

and

Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, established in 1865. Nokia's main headquarters are in Espoo, Finland, i ...

. Some of his most famous photographic series include "Grief", "Rain", and "Royal Blood". Never one to shy away from controversy, Olaf's work is often daring and provocative. Humorously however, one of his early photographs was once expelled from a show on the basis of ''not'' containing nudity. His work has received many awards and he has held exhibitions around the world. Olaf studied journalism in the School of Journalism in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

. His work is shown in galleries and museums all around the world, for example at Wagner + Partner, Berlin; Flatland Gallery, Amsterdam; Hamiltons Gallery, London; Galerie Magda Danysz, Paris; Gallery Espacio Minimo, Madrid; and many others. Olaf designed the 2014

Dutch euro coins Dutch euro coins currently use two designs by Erwin Olaf, both of which feature a portrait of Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands. The new designs began circulating in 2014.King Willem-Alexander Willem-Alexander (; Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand; born ) is King of the Netherlands, having acceded to the throne following his mother's abdication in 2013. Willem-Alexander was born in Utrecht as the oldest child of Princess Beatr ...

Exhibitions

* 2021: ** Munich Kunsthalle - Solo Exhibition: Unheimlich schön (irreally beautiful) * 2019: ** Anniversary Solo Show, Gemeente Museum The Hague & The Hague Museum of Photography, The Hague, The Netherlands **Palm Springs Unseen, Flatland, Amsterdam * 2017: ** Album 13 d'Indochine, Galerie Rabouan Moussin, Paris, France ** Human&Nature, Gallery Kong, Seoul, Republic of Korea * 2016: ** Erwin Olaf - Four Series, Centro de Arte Contemporaneo de Málaga, Málaga, Spain ** Cell of Emotions, National Art Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria ** Homage Louis Gallait, The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, Russia * 2015: ** A Corps Perdu,

Magda Danysz Gallery Magda Danysz Gallery is an art gallery in Paris, France, owned by Magda Danysz, an art dealer and art curator. Magda Danysz Magda Danysz started in the art business in the early 1990s, when she opened her first art space in 1991 when she was 1 ...

, Paris ** Erwin Olaf: The

Empire of Illusion ''Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle'' is a 2009 nonfiction book by American journalist Chris Hedges. ''Empire of Illusion'' examines a claimed cultural decay in the United States as a result of a malignant con ...

, Museo de Arte Contemporaine de Rosario, Rosario, Argentina **Waiting, Flatland, Amsterdam ** "Retrospective," Fondation Oriente Museu, Macau, Chine * 2014: ** Art & Fashion,

, Paris * 2013 : ** "Erwin Olaf - Berlin," Rabouan Moussion Gallery, Paris ** "Erwin Olaf - Waiting," Rabouan Moussion Gallery, Paris ** "Émotions - Installations," La Sucrière, Lyon ** "Berlin," Hasted Kraeutler Gallery, New York ** "Berlin," Hamiltons Gallery, Londres * 2012: ** ''The Dark Side'', Rabouan Moussion Gallery, Paris ** "Works 2000 - 2010," Art Statements Gallery, Hong Kong ** "Erwin Olaf," Kong Gallery, Séoul ** "Short Stories," Wagner Gallery, Berlin * 2011: ** "Erwin Olaf," Art Statements Gallery, Tokyo ** "Paradise the club," Rabouan Moussion Gallery, Paris ** "High Tension," Carbon, Dubaï ** "Captured senses," Cer Modern, Ankara ** "Erwin Olaf," Nordic Light International Festival of Photography, Kristiansund * 2010: ** "Erwin Olaf Hotel,"

, Paris ** "Erwin Olaf Hotel," Paris-Benijing Gallery, Pékin ** "Erwin Olaf - Recent Work," Hamiltons Gallery, Londres ** "Hotel, Dawn & Dusk," Hasted Kraeutler Gallery, New York * 2009 : ** Dusk, Flatland, Amsterdam **"Série Laboral Escena,"

, Paris ** "Rain, Hope, Grief & Fall," Institut Netherlands, Paris ** "Darts of Pleasure," Domus Artium Museum, Salamanque ** "Moving Targets," Haifa Museum of Art, Haïfa

References

External links

Studio Erwin Olaf
official website
Galerie WAGNER + PARTNER
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1959 births Living people Dutch photographers People from Hilversum LGBT artists from the Netherlands Dutch contemporary artists {{Europe-photographer-stub