Erwin Olaf

Main shows :

2006
Nostalgia at galerie Magda Danysz, Paris, France

2005
Creating and directing the movie ‘Captain Tom’, produced by Burny Bos.
Rain, The Hairdresser’s, winner of a PDN Award Photography Annual New York
Lavazza Calendar, Selected for the PDN Award Photography Annual New York
New videoworks Erwin Olaf, Gallery Espacio Minimo, Madrid
Fashion & Style in Photography, Museum of Modern Art, Moscow
FotoArtFestival, Bielsko-Biata, Poland
Perverse Elegance, Australian Centre for Photography, Travelling through Australia
Golden Age, FOAM, Amsterdam
Viritatas Splendor Photographs 1988-2003, Lodz, Poland
Espacio Minimo, Madrid
Videoworks of Erwin Olaf, Montevideo, Amsterdam
FotoMuseum, Antwerp
Ricco Maresca Gallery, New York
Self-Exposure, ClampArt Gallery, New York
The Other Europe/ On Art and Politically Incorrectness, Bergen, Norway
Oog in oog fotocollectie/ Eye to eye photo-collection, Groninger Museum, Groningen
Baroque and Neo-Baroque/ The Hell Of The Beautiful, DA2, Salamanca, Spain
BAC !05, International Festival of Contemporary Art, Barcelona
Group Exhibition, Galerie Magda Danysz, Paris
Fotografi i Fokus, Malmö, Sweden
Going Dutch, Museum of New Art, Pontiac, USA

2004
For the third time Olaf works with designer Marcel Wanders on the series Moooi. He also works with Ingo Maurer in a campaign for Campbells soup. In October the monumental photo installation for the ceiling of the Dutch Embassy in Warschau will be opened.

Silver, The Association of Photographers, Separation, London
…., If ‘raining cats & dogs’, Sweden
Imitation of live, GAM/Modern Art gallery of Bologna / GenderBender, Bologna
Mois de la photo: Erwin Olaf, Galerie J. Rabouan Moussion, Paris
Magazzini Generali, Palazzo delle Papesse-Centro Arte Contemporanea, Siena
FotoAmerica 2004, The Cultural Center Espantagruélico, Santiago
Lies, lust Art & fashion- Signale der kleidung, Podewil, Berlin
30 years Dutch Phototgraphy, ACF, Amsterdam
Woman, Muzeum Miejskie we Wroclawiu, Wroclaw, Poland
Cultuurlaboratorium, Limburgs Museum, Venlo
Canarias Mediafest, CAAM, Centro Atlantico de Arte Moderno, Gran Canaria
Le Cinema des photographes Neerlandais (1917-2002), Institut Neerlandais, Paris
East-West RetroArtive, Arts Statements ltd., Hong Kong

2003
Erwin Olaf produces the new series, Separation. He wins several awards for his autonomous work, as well as his advertising campaigns/ He works for Walkers, Virgin, BMW, Audi, Nokia, Microsoft and Others. Olaf Designs a monumental photo installation for the ceiling of the Dutch Embassy in Warschau. The assignment is comissioned by the Ministy of Foreign Affairs.

Merit, The Association of Photographers, ‘Paradise The Club, London
‘Grote Paul’, for the most famous Dutch photographer, Rotterdam
Gold (commercial series), Photography District New York, ‘Nicorette advertising’, New York
Erwin Olaf, Tapper-Popermajer gallery, Malmo
Silver, Groninger museum, Groningen (cat)
Erwin Olaf, Museo Arte Contemp, Nuoro
Separation, B&D Gallery, Milan
Mais Quelle Tête tu fais! part two, Galerie Le Garage, Toulouse
Mortalis, Fotomuseum Den Haag
Fundancion Foto Colectania, Museo Artium, Vitoria-Gazteis
Child in Time, visions on childhood and youth, Gemeentemuseum Helmond
Dangerous Beauty, Chelsea Art Museum, New York
Melting Pop, Palazzo delle Papesse, Siene (together with David Lachappelle, Philippe Starck a.o.)

2002
Olaf makes an international breakthrough in the field of advertising. He works for Microsoft, Nintendo, Nokia, Virgin, Energy Jeans, and others. All campaigns are shown worldwide.
Prize commercial- festival New York, for Heineken ‘Line-up’, New York
Grand prix de l’affiche, Humour & Pub, ‘Charal advertising’
Golden Eagle, Zlote Orly, ‘Nescafé advertising’, Poland
Paradise, B&D Gallery, Milan
Paradise, Espacio Minimo, Madrid (cat)
Retrospective, Cultuurcentrum Knokke-Heist (cat)
Royal Blood, Bilbao Art Centre, Bilbao
Paradise, Flatland Gallery, Utrecht
Mind of their Own, Erasmus University, Rotterdam
Citizen K exhibition, Mois de la photo, Ville de Paris.
Love at First Sight, Noordbrabants museum, ‘s Hertogenbosch (cat)
Fotografen in Nederland een Anthologie 1852-2002, Foto museum Den Haag (cat)
Film by the sea, Centrum voor Beeldende Kunst, Vlissingen
Nicé Phore, 3e International Photography Festival, Montferrand (cat)
Cinema Sculptuur, Nederlands foto instituut, Rotterdam (cat)
Elvis is hier/ Hier is Cannes, FAXX podium voor hedendaagse kunst, Tilburg
Guardaroba 2002, Fashion Victims, Bari (cat)
FFF Videoshow!, Centraal museum, Utrecht
SHOCK & SHOW. Realta e alternative, Mostra internzionale dárte contemporanea a Trieste, Italy (togeter with Jake & Dinos Champman, Oleg Kulik e.a.)
The Mask_Il volto plurale, La Giarina, Verona (together with Cindy Sherman, Man Ray a.o.)

2001
New Paradise Club and Paradise Portraits series are created in the autumn. Olaf does commercial work for Nokia and Nintendo, among others.
Silver Lion, commercial-festival for Heineken ‘Corner’, Cannes
Erwin Olaf, Trans photographiques, Lille
Action (Erwin Olaf & Paul Smith), Galway Arts Centre, Galway
Mature, Miller Gallery, New York
Mature, Groninger Museum, Groningen
Retrospective, Museum of Modern Art, Hasselt; Crown Gallery, Brussels
Erwin Olaf film works, The KunstRai/ Flatland gallery, Amsterdam
Erwin Olaf, Insinger de Beaufort Art Gallery, Amsterdam
Attention Please, Man Museo d’Arte Provincia di Nuoro
Biennal, Valencia (cat)
Sense of Space, revisited, Fotofestival Noorderlicht, Groningen (cat)
Sexual Healing, Reflex Gallery, Amsterdam
Polderlicht, Video Arts Amsterdam, Amsterdam
Italia, il richiamo eterno, Tadzio, Flatland Gallery, Utrecht.
Revisited; Adam & Eve, on sex, tolerance and other dependencies, Stichting De Appel, Amsterdam (cat)
Blaffende Honden, Gorcums museum, Gorinchem

2000
Olaf makes the Fashion Victims series in the summer. In November, the new series, Royal Blood, is shown at Paris Photo. During the entire year, Erwin works on several projects for advertising companies: Camel, Animal Protection Society (against use of lab animals), Heineken, Carling Beer, and others.
Olaf directs a music video for the Dutch band Volumia.
He ends the year with a party Fucque les Balles in Paradiso, organised in conjunction with Speedfreax. He makes the 3-minute film Clowns for this occasion.
Commercial award, for the commercial against the illegal copying of cd's
Mature, Espacio Minimo, Madrid
Mature & Royal Blood, Paris Photo/Flatland Gallery, Paris
Fashion Victims, Il Ponte, Roma
Retrospective, Arsenal, Prague (cat)
Violence & Passion, Reflex Gallery, Amsterdam (cat)
Schijn en wezen, portretten en codes, Nederlands Foto Instituut, Rotterdam (cat)
Bodies, Clothing, Surfaces, Museum fur Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg (cat)
Ecce Homo, het beeld van Christus, Kunsthal, Rotterdam.
3e Internationaal Fotofestival, Turnhout.

1999
VPRO Broadcasting Company asks him to direct six short documentaries called Het begin: with married couples talking about the conception of their child. Olaf creates his Mature series: ten pin-up pictures of elderly women, 60-90 years old. In the summer he works for Silk Cut, Levi's, Hennessey Cognac, Laurent Perrier and Rifle, among others. He directs a commercial against the illegal copying of compact discs, for which he wins a Dutch award. Makes the clip Dancing With You, to be broadcast on television in Millennium night.
Members choice PANL; Photographers Association of the Netherlands
Mature, Kunst Rai / Flatland Gallery, Amsterdam
Mature, Il Ponte, Rome
Theatre-compagnies works, De Meerse Theatre, Amsterdam
Haks was here, Groninger Museum, Groningen (cat)
Noorderlicht Festival, Groningen (cat)
PANL, Photographers Association of the Netherlands, Amsterdam (cat)

1998
Olaf photographs a worldwide campaign for Diesel, the jeans/fashion brand. One of the pictures wins a 'Silver Lion' at the Cannes commercial festival. The Diesel company is honoured as ‘Advertiser of the year'. He is asked to do the art direction for the experimental theatrical music and dance performance, Grip, and also makes a documentary on the making of the show. He directs a music video for the AIDS Foundation. Organises his first Fucque les Balles party in Amsterdam.
Silver Lion, commercial-festival for Diesel Dirty Denim, Cannes
The Deadly Sins, Amsterdams centrum voor de fotografie, Amsterdam (cat)
Standje Franciscus, Flatland Gallery, Utrecht

1997
Completes a series of eight posters for the ‘Das Schauspielhaus’ theatre in Vienna Olaf photographs a series of CD covers of Wagner’s music performed by The Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. He directs a music video for Dutch singer Paul de Leeuw. He develops 3 sunshades with colourful clowns for the Dennendal institute for the mentally handicapped. He makes photos of Walter van Beirendonck’s winter collection for View on Color magazine.
Triptych, Museum van Bommel van Dam, Venlo (cat)

1996
He creates a photographic artwork for a new prison in Zutphen. In conjunction with the architect Rem Koolhaas, he designs a public toilet for men and women in Groningen. An interview in the magazine Lürzer's Archiv leads to a breakthrough in commercial photography. Makes the Lorena Bobbit Boys series.
Chessmen, La Bonbonniere, Maastricht
Mind of their Own, Il Ponte Contemporanea, Rome
Stars in Black & White & Colour, Roselyn Oxley Gallery; Sydney Tolarno Galleries, Melbourne (cat)
Home is where the heart is, Fremdkörper Westergasfabriek, Amsterdam.

1995
Mind of their Own series: 18 portraits of mentally handicapped people, with the première at the Naarden photo-festival. Erstwhile Dutch Prime Minister Kok opens the exhibition. The portraits are also published by Focus under the same title. Olaf co-directs a television show about Karin Bloemen, a leading Dutch singer/actress. Creates The Patrick Bateman Girls, his first series using Paintbox.
First prize, ‘Woord en Beeld 1995’ applied photography, Federation of Parents Association Mentally Disabled
Girls 1985 – 1995, Galerie Steltman, Amsterdam, Galerie Steltman New York
Erwin Olaf Fotografien '84 -'95, Museum, Erlangen.
Erwin Olaf, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt
Erwin Olaf, 10 years of photographs, Wessel O'conner Gallery, New York
Mind of their own, Fotofestival, Naarden (cat)

1994
After his successful retrospective, he organises five dinner parties in The Supper Club in Amsterdam. He directs two videos for the Dutch National Ballet. He directs another music video with singer Mathilde Santing for AVRO television. Exhibition of his work during the opening of the new Groninger Museum of Modern Art by the Queen. He travels to the USA and France for several major magazines. His poster for the Dutch film 06 causes a minor scandal when revealed to the public.
L'ottobre degli Olandesi, Galleria Planita, Rome (cat)
Tafel van 10, Flatland Gallery, Utrecht
La Beaute Inexacte, Gallery Oz, Paris
10 years of European Photo-prize, Kulturzentrum Englische Kirche, Bad Homburg (cat)

1993
The Art Foundation Groningen contracts him to make a series of ten pictures called Ten Tables. He creates nine images entitled Bodyparts for the toilets of the Roxy discotheque in Amsterdam. A selection of his work is published in a book, Joy.
Erwin Olaf , AB Gallery, Paris
Ten Tables, CBK, Groningen (cat)
Joy, Kunsthal for Modern Art, Rotterdam (cat)
Manipulation, Staten Gallery, Den Haag (cat)

1992
For NOS Television, Olaf creates a music video (Oh la la) to celebrate Hans van Manen's sixtieth birthday.
Style Shapes Function, (with Borek Sipek), Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (cat)
Double Dutch, Sala Uno, Rome (cat)
Photography in assignment, Beurs van Berlage, Amsterdam
Illusions and Travestissements, (Joel Peter Witkin, Cindy Sherman, Pierre et Gilles, Robert Mapplethorpe),AB Gallery, Paris.
Reflex Miniatuur museum voor moderne en hedendaagse kunst, AMC ziekenhuis Amsterdam (cat)

1991
In conjunction with painter F. Franciscus, he writes and directs the 30-minute film Tadzio. For VPRO, a public broadcasting station, he creates six children's videos. He directs a music video with renowned singer Mathilde Santing for AVRO television. Makes photographs of design objects by Borek Šípek in Slovakia, an assignment from the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.
The Fourth Wall, Oude Kerk, Amsterdam (cat)

1990
The theatre company Het Zuidelijk Toneel contracts him to make a series of posters, of which several are banned as being too shocking. In his new series Blacks – seventeen royal portraits, Olaf experiments with black (-painted) models against a black background. First film work: three music videos of singer La Pat for VPRO television.
Blacks - seventeen royal portraits, Fodor Museum, Amsterdam (cat).

1989
Olaf works on assignment for Vrij Nederland. When his series ‘SM in Holland’ is published, the magazine is sold out in one day. The series provokes a major row.
Preis für Junge Europäische Fotografen, Museum Ludwig, Köln (cat)
Das Portrait, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt (cat)
La Biennal de Barcelona, Centre de Cultura Contemporania, Barcelona (cat)
Exuberance Now! Less is a Bore, Groninger Museum, Groningen (cat)

1988
Creation of the series Chessmen, an attempt to play the game. Focus publishes all 32 pictures in a book. Olaf is awarded first prize in the Young European Photographer competition, and the photographs are exhibited in the Ludwig Museum in Cologne.
First prize, Young European Photographers, Deutsche Leasung AG Bad Homburg.
Chessmen - an attempt to play the game, Focus Gallery, Amsterdam (cat).
Behold the Men, The Photographer's Gallery, London; Stills Gallery, Edinburgh.

1987
Publication of a portfolio in the Vrij Nederland weekly magazine results in a breakthrough. Besides working for magazines, Olaf starts to work for film and record companies. He creates a complete exhibition of photographs of nude older women and females with overweight for the film Een maand later (A month later) by Noushka van Brakel. Makes a portrait photograph every week for the Haagse Post.
Nudity in front of the camera, Meervaart Theater, Amsterdam (cat)

1986
Does much commissioned work, including covers for the Vinyl music magazine, and begins working for the Haagse Post weekly magazine.
Männer sehen Männer, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt (cat)

1985
He publishes his first booklet, Stadsgezichten (Faces of the City), a mixture of photojournalism and studio photography.
The art of seduction, Melkweg, Amsterdam

1984
Begins writing articles in Focus on aspects of photography. Olaf’s work is removed from the photo exhibition in the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam because the bodybuilding models in his pictures are not nude. This results in major publicity.
Foto 1984, Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam

1983
Choreographer Hans van Manen brings him into contact with the work of Robert Mapplethorpe and Paul Blanca. Makes photographs for Jeugd en Samenleving (Youth and Society), the journal for workers in the welfare sector. Publishes photos in the French Gai-Pied, American The Advocate, British Gay Times, German Rosa Flieder, Dutch Gaykrant.
Among Men / Among Women, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam

1980 - 1982
Works in Amsterdam as assistant photographer to André Ruigrok, who teaches him photojournalism. First steps as an independent photographer as a volunteer for the COC magazine Sek.