Introduction
Jan Koster - Dutchscapes
It has been said that landscapes exist only in the eyes of the observer. Most of the time, then, we look at landscapes through the eyes of the photographer. Robert Adam’s once described this genre as a combination of geography, autobiography and metaphor. Good landscape photography does more than simply document a piece of land, it allows it to transcend this form and become a personal statement. This can be seen in the images of Dutch photographer Jan Koster, an expert on his home country, who quickly developed a unique form of landscape photography. His works are expressions of an intensive debate with the history and experience of the landscape.
The geographical history of the Netherlands alone provides him with enough inspiration, its coastlines and coastal protection are key features of his works. Few countries are so threatened by flooding and the powers of disruption. Koster reveals the diversity of the dune dominated landscape by varying the standpoint only marginally. He also adds something symbolic to each view: the dunes are accentuated through a deliberate balance of colour and light, or are combined to create irritating double views. The sheer expanse of the landscape, juxtaposed by the theatrics of the sky, almost allows us to forget how much geological history and how many ingenious landscaping techniques are contained in the dunes. What remains hidden to the eye of the observer is less the objective element of pure documentation, and more the subjective or associative aspect of the landscape, something that only begins to appear on second glance. In Koster’s images we see how the dunes toss and turn on the bed of the landscape, as if dreaming a violent dream.
Stephan Reisner
Bio
1959 | Born in Kampen, Netherlands |
| Lives in Amsterdam, Netherlands |
Collections
Kunstmuseum Dieselkraftwerk Cottbus, Germany
Foam Photography Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Exhibitions
Solo Exhibitions
2012 | Veecaten & Dronthen – Jan Koster, Van Kranendonk Gallery, The Hague, Netherlands |
2006 | Jan Koster – de ramen, Galerie Michael Janssen, Cologne, Germany |
2004 | Jan Koster, Lindig in Paludetto, Turin, Italy |
2003 | Jan Koster – De Ramen en Dutchscapes, Galerie Paul Andriesse, Amsterdam, Netherlands |
2001 | Jan Koster, Galerie Michael Janssen, Cologne, Germany |
1999 | Jan Koster – Koelucht, Galerie Paul Andriesse, Amsterdam, Netherlands |
1998 | Jan Koster, Galerie Michael Janssen, Cologne, Germany |
Group Exhibitions
2010 | As Time Goes By, MK Galerie – Berlin, Deutschland und MK Galerie – Rotterdam, Netherlands |
2009 | I am a bird, AMC Brummelkamp Galerie, Amsterdam, Netherlands |
2007 | Vorm Horizont, Kunstraum Potsdam, Deutschland |
| 7. Internationale Foto-Triennale – Identität/ Identitätskonstruktion/ Heimat, Esslingen am Neckar, Germany |
2006 | Jan Koster/ Hans-Christian Schink, CBK Centrum Beeldende Kunst Dordrecht, Netherlands |
| Nederland 1, museumgoudA, Gouda, Netherlands |
2005 | Slow Art – Stilleben – Portraits – Landschaften, Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf, Germany |
| Willem von Zoetendaal – Marks of Honour, Foam Fotografiemuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Confrontation, Foam Fotografiemuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands |
2004 | Jan Koster & Jem Southam - Rise and Fall, Foam Fotografiemuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands |
2003 | LINK - Municipal Art Acquisitions 2002-2003: Photography, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Netherlands |
2001 | Das flache Land - Zur Ästhetik einer unspektakulären Sichtweise, Kunstmuseum Dieselkraftwerk Cottbus, Germany |
| the sleep of reason, Focal Point Gallery, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, UK |
1999 | Insight Out - Landschaft und Interieur als Themen zeitgenössischer Photographie, Kunsthaus Baselland, Basel, Switzerland and Kunsthaus Hamburg, Germany |
| Elger Esser - Jan Koster - Gerco de Ruijter – Landschappen, De Vleeshal, Middelburg, Netherlands |
1995 | Wim Janssen, Jan Koster & Rineke Dijkstra, Galerie Paul Andriesse, Amsterdam, Netherlands |