Notes

John Nieland (1966) was born in Baflo, Groningen and grew up in Friesland. He showed creative talent from an early age. Nieland only attended the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam for a short time. However, working according to academic methods hinders his free style, after which he decides to follow his own path.

His work has its own style with a strong tendency towards the abstract, expressive, uninhibited and surrealist, inspired by art from the time of CoBrA. The colorful and often large dimensions of his work are characterized by thickly applied layers of paint in which he captures emotions from the past. Due to the enormous layering, the work is a lot more complex than it first appears and several paintings are often hidden beneath the surface. Every creation contains a piece of history, a story, an emotion, a secret, powerful and innovative. Artistic expression is a necessity of life for Nieland.

In 1996 Nieland founded the Lamütta Artists Group in Amsterdam. The group consists of visual artists, composers, filmmakers, fashion designers and designers including Herman Brood, Karel N.L. Grazell and Edwin Donders.

His first exhibition was in Café de Duvel in Amsterdam in 1996. Nieland has since exhibited regularly both nationally and internationally, including in Japan, Ibiza, Spain, Belgium, Amsterdam, The Hague, Hilversum, Laren and Naarden Vesting.