Ruth van Beek (1977) uses the established code of photography. Her work originates in her ever growing archive. The images, mainly from old books, are tools, source material and context. Van Beek physically intervenes in the picture. By folding them, cutting them, or adding pieces of painted paper, she rearranges and manipulates the image long enough to reveal the universe that lies within.

Her work has been shown internationally with exhibitions at Post Books (Tokyo), The Ravestijn Gallery (Amsterdam), De Warande (Belgium), Fraenkel Gallery (San Francisco), Foam (Amsterdam), Les Rencontres d’Arles and Fotomuseum Antwerp.

Her work has been featured in magazines such as Vogue Magazine, Foam Magazine, IMA Magazine, The Aperture Phonebook Review, The New York Times and many others.

She has published numerous artist books including ‘The Arrangements’ (RVB Books, 2013) which was shortlisted for the Aperture Phonebook of the Year Award in 2014 and ‘How To Do The Flowers’ (APE & Daswood Books, 2018) to Widespread acclaim.Her latest book Eldorado (Van Zoetendaal Publishers) came out in 2020.

Ruth is represented by Ravestijn Gallery in Amsterdam.

http://ruthvanbeek.com

Photography © Shinji Otani