Upclose | Ilona Plaum

During Amsterdam Art Week 2025, dudokdegroot presents Upclose a solo exhibition by Ilona Plaum, running parallel to the solo exhibition Presence at Huis Marseille. The exhibition will open during the Festive Gallery Night on Thursday 22 May from 17:00.

Ilona Plaum invites the viewer to descend into her poetic universe, where she destabilises our perception. It is only when doubt sets in that one encounters an indisputable truth: doubt compels observation and makes you experience your own existence.

Plaum unites her three-dimensional scale models, painted imagery and the flat photographic plane in illusions. Within these illusions, she employs the logic of paradox: alternating between sensations of surface and depth, turning background into foreground; shadows become tactile and seem to shift. Plaum thus guides the viewer between imaginary and real spaces, and back again. Intentional imperfections visible within the work reveal that the elements are handcrafted. For a moment, this returns the viewer to the artwork's origin, the very moment of its creation by the artist.

On Friday 23 May Ilona Plaum will present the book at the gallery, followed by an artist talk addressing her work in the exhibition and the publication.

Ilona Plaum
Ilona Plaum (1970, Amsterdam) studied metalsmithing and jewellery design at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam, subsequently establishing her practice as an autonomous artist. In addition to the museum collection of Huis Marseille, her work is held in corporate collections including Ahold, UMC Utrecht and NN Group, as well as private collections in the Netherlands and abroad. Plaum is represented by gallery dudokdegroot.

Solo PRESENCE in Huis Marseille
Amsterdam Art Week also marks the opening of Ilona Plaum's first museum solo exhibition at Huis Marseille. The museum has followed Plaum's practice for many years. Her work entered the collection in 2012, 2013, 2017 and 2019, and was featured in De herontdekking van de wereld (2013) and Pictures from Another Wall. The Huis Marseille Collection on Show in De Pont (2020).

Publicatie
In May, Jap Sam Books een gelijknamige publicatie over het work of Ilona Plaum will be published. Authors are Hans den Hartog Jager and Ilona Plaum, with graphic design by Meeusontwerp. This publication was made possible with the generous support of the Mondriaan Fonds, the Stichting Jaap Harten Fonds, the Stichting Niemeijer Fonds, and crowdfunding via Voordekunst.