Souvenir d’Intime

Published with an exhibition at the Flatland Gallery in Amsterdam, this catalogue presents two series by visual artist Ruud van Empel: ‘Still Life’ and ‘Souvenir d’Intime’. The latter is a sequel to Ruud’s earlier ‘Souvenir’ series, which is themed around his childhood and can be described as pictured collections of the everyday objects of nostalgia. ‘Still Life’, on the other hand, comprises a series of works inspired by themes of the ‘Vanitas’. Looking closely, it is clear that none of these meditations on past and present are installations photographed as such. Van Empel captures each element separately, later assembling them into a whole and creating a new reality.