Artist statement
Donald Schenkel (1991) creates subtle gradients with oil paints. He seeks for smoothness in color transitions that can lead the eye into the faraway. Sometimes these colors flash purely from the canvas, at other times they are diluted into darkening twilights. Diverse surfaces like glass or canvas carry layers of paint in distinctive ways, giving rise to an ever-greater sense of depth or translucent lightness.
During the years of working on gradients, several threads have emerged in his artistic practice. Approaching oil paints as material instead of a means to create an image, led to a focus on the qualities of paints and the behavior of colors. Translucent blues lead the way to a sense of endless space and light. Translucency expresses depth in the sense of an expanse: it gives space. Color gradients can invoke the impression of translucency, yet at the same time it is a very real characteristic of oil paint as it can appear like glass or lacquer. Often fixed on aluminum plates these color transitions seem to float.
On the other hand there is the depth expressed by shadows dark gradients in which the lighter colors seem to dissolve. Shadows linger on the edge of the unknown, mystical and dark. Yet these gradients contain a soothing subtlety that makes them the natural viewpoint for contemplation. Often made on wood and sometimes appearing as sculptures, these color transitions are grounded but deep.
As the visual language develops geometrical shapes form the boundaries of gradients. It is not clear whether they float in space or are planes of gradients put in perspective. These shapes play with the same sense of depth and immaterial that also seems to be the quality of blue itself. In working with glass and perspex as transparent materials a whole new field of possibilities is laid bare.
Selected Exhibitions
2024
KunstRAI 2024, Root Gallery, 27 March – 3 April – group (upcoming)
2023
MOORDN Art Fair 2023, ATTN Gallery, Guangzhou, P.R. China, 8-12 December – group
THERESI_ART 08, ART[S] Gallery Simone Jansen, the Netherlands, November – group
Art The Hague 2023, Root Gallery – The Hague, the Netherlands, October – group
KunstRAI 2023, Root Gallery – Amsterdam, the Netherlands, May – group
New Group Show, group, Root Gallery – Rotterdam, The Netherlands, March-April
Group Show, group, Root Gallery – Rotterdam, The Netherlands, Jan-March
2022
THERESI_ART 05, ART[S] Gallery Simone Jansen, the Netherlands, November – group
Wild Summer of Art Part I – Brutus, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, juli-aug – group
KunstRAI, Root Gallery – Amsterdam, the Netherlands, April – group
THERESI_ART 02, ART[S] Gallery Simone Jansen, the Netherlands, January – group
2021
The Others Art Fair, Root Gallery – Turin, Italy, November – group
THERESI_ART 01 – group, ART[s] Gallery – Noordwijk, the Netherlands, September
Multiples of One – solo, Root Gallery – Rotterdam, The Netherlands, Aug-October
Meditations on colour – solo, Art23 Contemporary Art Gallery – Guangzhou, China
KunstRAI – group, Amsterdam RAI, Root Gallery – Amsterdam, the Netherlands, September
Amsterdam Fashion Week x HUB – group, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, September
The Calm – group, Art23 Contemporary Art Gallery – Guangzhou, China
2020
Big Art – solo, Root Gallery – Zaandam, The Netherlands, October
Meshbox #9 – duo, Foundation Mesh – Rotterdam, The Netherlands, January
2019
The White Mirror – solo, Assembled by Root gallery – Rotterdam, The Netherlands, October
The Others Art Fair – group, Assembled by Root – Turin, Italy, November
Orange Wave – solo, Galerie 95 – Biel/Bienne, Zwitserland, August
KunstRAI – group, Amsterdam RAI, Assembled by Root – Amsterdam, the Netherlands, April
CO/LAB 4 – group, Torrance Art Museum – Torrance, United States of America, March
Behaviour Of Colours – solo, Art23 Contemporary Art Gallery – Guangzhou, China, March
The New Current – group, Cruise Terminal Rotterdam – Rotterdam, the Netherlands, February
Colour Composition No. 1 – solo, Gortemaker Algra Feenstra – Rotterdam, The Netherlands, January
2018
This Art Fair, Beurs van Berlage – group, Assembled by Root – Amsterdam, the Netherlands, December
Rolling Snowball, AMNUA – group – Nanjing, P.R. China, December
Art The Hague, Fokker Terminal – group, Assembled by Root – the Hague, the Netherlands, September
Presentation of artworks at American Chamber Of Commerce of South China – Guangzhou, P.R. China, 2018
Beyond and Below – duo, Assembled by Root gallery, Rotterdam
Club Gem Summer Show – group, Club Gem, Rotterdam
The Mattering of Colour – group presentation and co-curator at the St Job building for MILLTEN Rotterdam
Night Shift Edition #1 – group, Galerie de Kromme Elleboog, 2018
Qade Solo Projects 2018 – solo presentation by Assembled by Root, Rotterdam
KickstART II – group exhibition and project, In4Art Projectspace, Amsterdam
2017
Intangible Materials – duo, Assembled by Root gallery, Rotterdam
De Aanschouw wissel #832 – solo, Rotterdam, August
Masters of Rotterdam at North Sea Jazz – group, Rotterdam
KunstRAI 2017, Assembled by Root, Rotterdam
Tension Transitory: Non-Word – Stroop Rotterdam, duo exhibition with Patricia Qi
The New Current 2017, Rotterdam
Colour, ACE exhibition – group, S/ash Ga\\ery, Worm, Rotterdam
Rotterdam Contemporary 2017 – group presentation, Assembled by Root, Rotterdam
Museumnacht 010 – group, Bob Smit Gallery, Rotterdam
2016
Winterwolven, Roodkapje Rotterdam – group, in collaboration with Patricia Qi, Arminius Church, Rotterdam, November
Court of Justice – solo, Rechtbank Rotterdam
The Faraway Comes Near – solo, Root Expositions Gallery, Rotterdam, September
NO WALLS EXPO – group, North Sea Jazz, Rotterdam, July
Route du Nord – group, curated by CBK, Rotterdam, June
In This Moment – group, Root Gallery – Rotterdam, April
OBJECT Rotterdam – duo, Root Gallery- Rotterdam, February
Root vindt Thuis – group, Root Expositions Gallery, Rotterdam
2015
Damage Playground – group, Root Expositions Gallery, Rotterdam, October/January
Inside | Outside at Kreaz – group, Makkum, July/September
Keilefest – group, Root Expositions – Rotterdam, July
Root Expositions #2 – group, by Root Expositions Rotterdam
2014
Dutch Design Week – group, Eindhoven
Passkey Festival – group, Montepulciano, Italië
Root Expositions #1 – group, by Root Expositions Rotterdam
Education
2012-2017
Bachelor of Education, Willem the Kooning Academy, Rotterdam
2014-2015
Propedeuse, International Bachelor of Arts and Culture, Erasmus University Rotterdam
2009-2011
Propedeuse Game Design and Development, Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht
2003-2009
VWO, Atheneum, Stanislascollege Westplantsoen, Delft
Internships
2017
Internship at Het Lyceum Rotterdam
2015-2016
Internship at KunstPunt Gouda
2015-2016
Internship at Gallery Frank Taal, Rotterdam
2014
Assistent to artist Sarah van der Pols
Additional
2019
Co-curator at Galerie Lecq, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, in collaboration with Sue van Geijn
Co-curator of Face Value, Rotterdam, in collaboration with Yvonne de Jong and MILLTEN Rotterdam
Co-curator of When the Dust has Settled, Rotterdam, in collaboration with Yvonne de Jong and MILLTEN Rotterdam
2018
Co-curator of The Mattering of Colour, Rotterdam, in collaboration with Yvonne de Jong and MILLTEN Rotterdam
2017-2020
Teacher in Art History, evening course for adults at Stichting Cultuur Moerdijk, in collaboration with Inouschka de Nooijer
2017
Assistent at Gallery Frank Taal
2014-2016
Organizing lectures/debates on Art, Design and the Art World
2014-2015
Peer coaching at Willem the Kooning Academy
Publications
2019
05-02-2019 – De Volkskrant – Article and interview “Vijftien jonge kunstenaars presenteren hun werk in de Cruise Terminal tijdens de Art Rotterdam Week
06 – 03 -2019 – My Guangdong Radio – 15 minute interview
12 – 03 – 2019 – Dutch Artist Donald Schenkel on Adopting a Chinese State of Mind, Thats Mags Guangzhou: https://www.thatsmags.com/guangzhou/post/27191/dutch-artist-donald-schenkel-on-adopting-achinese-state-of-mind? from=singlemessage&isappinstalled=0
12-03-2019 – Thats Mags Guangzhou – Article and interview “Dutch Artist Donald Schenkel on Adopting a Chinese State of Mind”
01-04-2019 – Collection Auction Magazine, April – Article and review “唐纳德·山克尔,因“入色”而出色”
Collections
Part of the In4Art collection