Biography
Born in 1991 in Willemstad, Curaçao
Lives and works in Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Gilleam Trapenberg (1991, Willemstad, Curaçao) moved to the Netherlands at the age of nineteen and graduated from the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague in 2017. He participated in multiple group exhibitions, such as In The Presence of Absence at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (2020). In 2017 he published his first photo book Big Papi and in 2018 he was one of the nominees for the Foam Paul Huf Award. He’s the fourth recipient of the Florentine Riem Vis grant (2020). His first solo exhibition at Foam, Amsterdam opened in 2021. Gilleam Trapenberg lives and works in Amsterdam.
Through his work, Trapenberg reflects on the contradictions that are part of the social landscape in Curaçao, were the idea of a utopian paradise is diametrically opposed to the realities of post-colonialism and tourism. He explores stereotypes and tropes that have manifested themselves through social culture and the Western media.
CV
Education
- 2017 BA Photography at KABK, The Hague
- 2015 Researchlab KABK, The Hague
Internship Stefan Ruiz, New York City
Solo exhibitions
- 2021 Foam Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Unbé t’aweró
Selected group exhibitions
- 2021Art Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, Prospects & Concepts 2021
Nederlands Fotomuseum, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, Gallery of Honour of Dutch Photography - 2020 Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, The Presence of Absence, Municipal Art Acquisitions 2020
UNFAIR 2020, Amsterdam, The Netherlands - 2017 Paris College of Art, Paris, France, Blurring The Lines
FOTODOK. Utrecht, The Netherlands, Beyond Us and Them
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, VOV
Istanbul Photobook Festival, Istanbul, Turkey, My Name In 100 Colophons
LhGWR, Den Haag, The Netherlands, My Name In 100 Colophons
- 2016 Rotterdam Contemporary Art Fair, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, The Safest Neighbourhood
- 2015 UNSEEN 2015, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Mt. Figure #3
