GERRIT BENNERprijs 2023: kinke kooi

From 28 October 2023 to 30 March 2024, the Fries Museum will present an exhibition around the winner of the GERRIT BENNER Prize 2023. This year, the prize will be awarded to artist Kinke Kooi (Leeuwarden, 1961), in special appreciation of her oeuvre. For over forty years, Kooi has been drawing that which falters. In lush drawings and paintings, she explores her own discomfort and dives into both "shameful" matters such as baby fat and menstruation, as well as more abstract subjects such as "the dictates of good taste". Together, her works form a gentle plea for subtlety and acceptance. An ode to what is often not shown or not seen.

kinke kooi

Kinke Kooi studied at the Academy of Visual Arts in Arnhem. Her artworks are included in the permanent collections of leading Dutch museums such as Museum Arnhem, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam and the Rijksmuseum. In addition, her work is included in several private art collections in the United States, where she has exhibited regularly since 1995. For more information, visit www.kinkekooi.com.

GERRIT BENNER Prize

The biennial provincial GERRIT BENNER Prize is named after the 20th-century Frisian landscape painter Gerrit Benner. In 2023, the prize will be awarded to a visual artist with work from a longer period: a so-called Oeuvre Prize. The art prize was established in 2003 by the Provincial Council of Fryslân and is has been commissioned by Keunstwurk and the Fries Museum on behalf of the province of Fryslân.