Emo Verkerk
Over the past decades, Emo Verkerk (b. 1955, Amsterdam) has developed a singular and wide-ranging practice, one that moves between painting, drawing and sculptural assemblage, and integrates portraiture, found materials and intuitive humour. Working initially with the human face, Verkerk’s painted portraits of writers, philosophers, musicians and artists recall the conventions of likeness, yet they always carry the trace of abstraction, emotion and material experimentation.
From 2000 onwards, Verkerk extended his practice into three-dimensional “objects”: painted assemblages made of everyday household materials, wood, metal, cardboard and recycling-elements. These works emphasise the process of creation, the layering of images and materials, and the idea that a work may never reach a final definitive form.
Verkerk’s interest in portraits springs from fascination with particular lives and ideas: he reads biographies, studies photographs, and allows form and colour to “take on a life of their own”. His works are described as intuitive rather than purely cerebral, and he treats his artistic practice as a method of self-investigation and becoming “a kinder, wiser human being”.
Based in Den Helder since around 2000 (after earlier periods in Bergen, Amsterdam and the United States) he also engages with the local art scene and seeks to connect art and community: for example initiatives of accessible exhibition-spaces in public places.
Born 1955, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Currently lives and works in: Den Helder, The Netherlands
Education
Studied Philosophy at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1978: Admitted to De Ateliers ’63, Haarlem, The Netherlands
Solo Exhibitions
2025 2021 2015 2015 2000 1999 1999 1997 1988 1982 Hilaritas, Museum Beelden aan Zee, Scheveningen, NL
Tempo e spazio. Il ponte tra di noi, Galleria Massimo Minini, Brescia, IT
Emo Verkerk: Why Not?, Luhring Augustine, New York, US
Graag of niet / Love me or leave me, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, NL
Belle van Zuylen, Willem Baars Projects, Amsterdam, NL
Emo Verkerk, Fries Museum, Leeuwarden, NL
Nass und Trocken, Brandenburgische Kunstsammlungen, Cottbus, DE
Schilderijen, aquarellen en objecten, Art & Project, Slootdorp, NL
Emo Verkerk, Stadsmuseum Woerden, Woerden, NL
Emo Verkerk, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, NL
Emo Verkerk, Marian Goodman Gallery, New York, US
Selected Group Exhibitions
2025 Katten en Ketters, with Kiana Girigorie, LANG, Amsterdam, NL
2022 First Choice 2022, Willem Baars Projects, Amsterdam, NL
2015-2016 Held op sokkel, Haags Historisch Museum / Museum de Gevangenpoort, The Hague, NL
2015 Wrijving van gedachten, Antwerpen‑Zundert – Het Vincent van Gogh Huis, Zundert, NL
2014 Facing Nature, Museum Belvédère, Heerenveen / Oranjewoud, NL
2011 Rob Birza, Morgan Betz, Frank Koolen, Joseph Semah en Emo Verkerk, Willem Baars Art Consultancy, Amsterdam, NL
1984 An International Survey of Recent Painting and Sculpture, MoMA, New York, US
Art Fairs
2025 Art Antwerp – LANG
2022 Luhring Augustine at Art Basel 2022, Luhring Augustine
2021 Willem Baars Projects at PAN Amsterdam 2021, Willem Baars Projects
2020 Luhring Augustine at Frieze New York 2020, Luhring Augustine
2019 Luhring Augustine at Art Basel in Miami Beach 2019, Luhring Augustine
2019 Luhring Augustine at Art Basel 2019, Luhring Augustine
2016 Willem Baars Projects at Art Rotterdam 2016, Willem Baars Projects
Museum & Public Collections
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, NL
Centraal Museum, Utrecht, NL
Bonnefanten Museum, Maastricht, NL
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, NL
Rijksmuseum Twente, Enschede, NL
ABN AMRO Kunststichting, Amsterdam, NL
Kunstcollectie KPN, The Hague, NL
Akzo Nobel Art Foundation, Amsterdam, NL
Ahold Kunst Stichting, Zaandam, NL
Awards & Grants
2025 Victoriefonds Oeuvreprijs / Lifetime Achievement Award, Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar
2010 Joanne Oostingprijs
2000 Van Duyl‑Schwartzeprijs
1981 Koninklijke Prijs voor de Vrije Schilderkunst
1980 Buning‑Brongersprijs