Merijn Bolink

Over the past decades, Merijn Bolink (1967, Amsterdam) has developed a playful yet conceptually sharp practice that moves between sculpture, installation, and public art. His works often reconfigure familiar forms – animals, objects, human figures – and place them in new spatial or narrative contexts, balancing humour with thoughtful reflection.

Bolink is known for his many public commissions across the Netherlands, where he transforms everyday urban spaces into encounters with imagination and curiosity. Whether creating site-specific sculptures or architectural interventions, he treats public space as a stage for shared experience.

Educated at the Academy of Art and Industry (AKI) in Enschede, Bolink has exhibited at institutions such as the Groninger Museum, Kunsthal Rotterdam, Kunstmuseum Den Haag, and the Cobra Museum. His works are represented in museum, corporate and municipal collections throughout the country.

CV

Born: 1967, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Lives and works in: Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Born: 1967, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Lives and works in: Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Education

1987–1992: Academy of Art and Industry (AKI), Enschede, The Netherlands

Awards & Grants

2011 Amsterdam Public Art Award (Straatkunstprijs)

1998 Mid America Arts Alliance Award & Residency Program

1997 Charlotte Köhler Award, Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds

1993 Zeebelt Award

Solo Exhibitions

2023 LANG, Amsterdam 

2021 Art Rotterdam, LANG, Rotterdam

2019 Club Solo, Breda

2018 LANG, Amsterdam

2013 Galerie Ton de Boer, Amsterdam

2012 Kunstreservebank, Amsterdam

2011 Galerie Ton de Boer, Amsterdam
         21 Rozendaal, Enschede
         ABN, IJsseltoren, Zwolle

2009    AMC, Amsterdam

2003 Galerie Fons Welters, Amsterdam

2000                All in Line, Groninger Museum, Groningen
        Post Gallery, Los Angeles, U.S.A.
        Exedra, Hilversum

1998        Galerie Fons Welters, Amsterdam

1996 Kunstraum Düsseldorf, Germany
      Gemeentemuseum, Helmond
      Kunstvereniging Diepenheim, Diepenheim

1995 Galerie Fons Welters, Amsterdam
        Het Glazen Huis, Amstelpark, Amsterdam

1993 Galerie Fons Welters, Amsterdam (duo with Paul Cox)

Selected Group Exhibitions

2021 NATURE / NATURE, duo show with Lin de Mol, LANG Amsterdam

2020 Vliegend Vrij, St. Barbarakerk, Culemborg

2018 Tourist Land, Vrij Paleis, Amsterdam
          Nobody on the Road, Vishal Haarlem (with Eli Content)
          Design Week, Łódź, Poland

 2017 Human + Artificial Creativity, Design Week Turkey, Istanbul
          Humans Need Not Apply, Science Gallery, Dublin, Ireland
          9th Gyeonggi International Ceramic Biennale (GICB), South Korea

2015:             About Trees, Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern, Switzerland

2012:             Binnenstebuiten, CBK Assen (with Richard Deacon, Tony Cragg)

2011:                 Alter Nature, Z33, Hasselt, Belgium
         Apparently Not Enough, KADE, Amersfoort

2010:             Galerie Phoebus, Rotterdam; Galerie Lutz, Dordrecht

2009                 Anningahof, Zwolle

2008                 Dierlijk Getroffen, LUMC, Leiden

2007                 Vit-A-rti, Opening show Verbeeck Foundation, Kemzeke, Belgium
         A Faithful Eye, ABN AMRO / Grand Rapids Museum of Art, U.S.A.

2006                 Spooky, Het Gebouw, Leidsche Rijn
         EDEN DNA, 5th Design Biennale, Saint-Étienne, France

2005                 Z33, Hasselt, Belgium
         HxBxD, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag

2004              Lustwarande 04, Tilburg
     Design etc., Tri Postal, Lille, France

2001-02        Mobiel Dromen, Kunsthal Rotterdam

2001             Galerie Fons Welters, Amsterdam

1999              Fauna, Zacheta Gallery of Contemporary Art, Warsaw, Poland
     Avoiding Objects, Apex Art, New York, U.S.A.

1998             What Remains, Groninger Museum, Groningen
     Büro Friedrich, Berlin, Germany

1997              The People’s Choice, Kunsthal Rotterdam
     Still, The Old Leadworks, Bristol, U.K.

1996              Exchanging Interiors, Museum van Loon, Amsterdam

1995              La Valise du Célibataire, NS Station, Maastricht

1994             Het Grote Gedicht, Grote Kerk, The Hague

1993             Thing Makers, BEAM, Nijmegen
     Galerie Fons Welters, Amsterdam

Art Fairs 

2021 Art Rotterdam / LANG

2019 PAN Amsterdam / LANG

2018 Art Amsterdam / LANG

2013 Raw Art Rotterdam / Galerie Ton de Boer
          Slick Brussels / Galerie Ton de Boer

2007 Art Amsterdam / Galerie Fons Welters

2005 Frieze / Galerie Fons Welters, London, U.K.

2000 ARCO / Galerie Fons Welters, Madrid, Spain

1998 Art Brussels / Galerie Fons Welters, Brussels, Belgium

1995 Art Cologne / Galerie Fons Welters, Cologne, Germany

Works in Public Space 

2024 Wilhelmina Catharinaschool Monument, Amsterdam 

2018 WWII Monument, Parnassia, The Hague

2016 G. van Wijkschool, The Hague
           Risdammerhoutpark, Hoorn

2015 Medisch Spectrum Twente, Enschede
          RABO Bank, Middelharnis
          Rotonde Havengebied, Enschede
          AMC, Amsterdam
          Town Hall, Westerveld (Drenthe)

2014 Candyman in Boat, Wijkpark Risdammerhout, Hoorn 

2007 LUMC, Leiden

2005 Zoutkeetsplein, Amsterdam

2004 Zeeburgerdijk, Amsterdam

1999 Parnassia, The Hague

1993 De Tol, Apeldoorn

Projects

2021 Pandocheion, Muziekgebouw/BIMhuis – multidimensional music and visual arts production with David Kweksilber

2018 Contribution to the film Parallel by Ruth Meijer & Ellen Blom – shown on national TV and film festivals (awarded Best Film, Israel Film Festival 2020)

2018 & 2021 Designs for €5 and gold €10 coins, Royal Dutch Mint

Others

Teacher: Gerrit Rietveld Academie (Jewelry / Linking Bodies, VaV, Dogtime, PRE)

Guest Lecture: Academie voor Bouwkunst Amsterdam; State University of New York (U.S.); St. Lucas Art Academy, Ghent; Amsterdam University of the Arts; Artless Amsterdam; Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; various Dutch art academies

Exam Committee Member: AKI Enschede; Sandberg Instituut (Master); Academie Kampen

Lectures: Chr. Lyceum Veenendaal; NASK Utrecht; University of Maastricht; TEDx Rotterdam (2011); multiple Dutch art academies

Publications – Monographs

2011 Michael Babeliowsky 

2003 232 Ideeën 

1999 New Dutch Sculptors 

1998 There Must Be a Simple Way to Make Everything Quite Clear 

1993 Instruments, Organisms and the Construction of Ideas 

Publications – Selected Contributions

2017 Doorkijken (Merel Bem)

2011  The Art of Nanotechnology (Twente University – cover)

Per Ongeluk Expres (Bianca Stigter – cover)

2009 De Fonteinen van Amsterdam (2009 – cover)

2008  Wanderlust (2008)

Cognitie in Kunst en Wetenschap

A Faithful Eye: Topstukken ABN Collectie

Kunst uit Huis: Collectie Otto Schaap

Sprenkelingen (K. Schippers)

Het Wonder Werkt (Pam Emmerik)

Merijn Bolink, Suchan Kinochita, Job Koelewijn