Caja
Boogers
Caja
Boogers
Caja
Boogers
In his paintings, Caja Boogers unpacks inheritance in a broad sense, traversing not only what we may—or may not—be handed personally, but also what kinds of gazes are imparted to us sociopolitically as well. Thumbing his way through various collections of references, Boogers sits with the restlessness he feels in more familial contexts in a practice of embodiment through painting that could be likened to a process of grasping for his culture—not necessarily feeling entitled to it, but able to enter it through means of interrogating the Western gaze within a history of painting. Significantly, this insistence on piecing together from a condition of fragmentation is practised through the act of painting itself. The paintings evolve through the principles of collage being executed in motion. Brushwork is built up and colour dispersed before being worked back with sandpaper, pigment dust sedimenting on the floor. In many instances, layers are erased and then painted over, only to be erased or rubbed back again, the resulting texture scratchy and blurred. In the midst of working, Boogers habitually approaches his in-process canvases to test if they’re dry enough to return to, pressing the tip of his index finger into an area of colour and then rubbing it down the wall to remove any paint transferred in this process. These are actions that take place outside the frame, but speak to a methodology of time and revision.
Boogers evidently works within a tradition of archival realism, and with materials that are already themselves outcomes of interpretation—however much mainstream discourse may claim otherwise. In this manner, the work is highly referential, borrowing—Boogers would say ‘stealing’—tropes from questionable though nonetheless important figures like Rudolf Bonnet and reconfiguring them from within. In this way, he seeks to undermine the feeling of a masterpiece or master narrative, sometimes incorporating sketches, fragments, and nearly-finished renderings into the works as a way of undoing the autonomy of a single painting (or painter), and locating it, rather, in a documentary thread. Here, articles from mainstream newspapers and political cartoons join the legion of art historical figures present within the work—sites of ‘knowledge’ that package up and in turn truncate depictions of difference, in this case of Indo-Dutch histories. Boogers sees this as a process of upending the surrealism of the ‘neutral’ gaze with realism. Having built his compositions solely from archival photographs and materials in the past, he now also includes clippings from his imagination, resulting in a reclaiming of the narrative, each painting a view into a larger story of self-representation.
Exhibitions
Exhibitions
CV Caja Boogers
Born in Vlaardingen, Netherlands, 2001
Lives and works in Vlaardingen, the Netherlands.
Education
2019 – 2023 BA Fine Art Hogeschool voor de Kunsten, Utrecht
2022 Internship Pennie Key Rijksakademie, Amsterdam
Selected exhibitions
2024
‘As far as I know,’, Galerie Gerhard Hofland, Amsterdam (NL) solo
Harvest 2024, Lakeside Collection, Depot Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam (NL) duo
Last Show, Collectie De Groen, Arnhem (NL) group
Daily encounters and how to catch them, Museum Helmond, Helmond (NL), group
ECHTER, Moving Gallery, Utrecht (NL), group
Best of Graduate Legacy, Art Rotterdam, Galerie Ron Mandos, Amsterdam (NL), group
Art Rotterdam, Galerie Gerhard Hofland, Amsterdam (NL), group
2023
Closing Distance, Galerie Weisbard, Rotterdam (NL), solo
Maidentrip, Collectie De Groen, Arnhem (NL), solo
Best of Graduates, Galerie Ron Mandos, Amsterdam (NL), group
HKU Exposure, HKU Fine Art, Utrecht (NL) graduation show
PARTITIONS, Galerie Gerhard Hofland, Amsterdam (NL) duo
TRAILER, AG, Utrecht (NL), group
A Touch of Light, Museum Kranenburgh, Bergen (NL), group
2022
PEEK Pastoe, HKU Fine Art, Utrecht (NL), group
The NEXT: Kapsalon, Herman van Veen Arts Centre, Soest (NL), group
2021
CURRENT CURRENT CURRENT, OMSTAND, Arnhem (NL), group
Virtual Empathy, AG, Utrecht (NL), group
Residencies
2023 Artist-in-residence in Depot Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam (NL)
Collections
FENIX Collection
Museum Voorlinden
De Groen Fine Art Collection
Akzo Nobel Art Foundation
Lakeside Collection
Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken
ING Collection
Verder Collectie
Prizes/nominations/grants
2023 Lakeside Collection Award 2023 (winner)
Publications
2023
‘De vliegende start van drie jonge kunstenaars’, Anna van Leeuwen, de Volkskrant 10 juli 2023
Metropolis M: Inkomen & Eindexamens 2023, Eli Witteman
Nu te Zien ‘A touch of light’, AVROTROS, 18 juni 2023
MuseumTV: Kunstbeloften: Caja Boogers, 30 november 2023
